RAS AL KHAIMAH // Two Emirati brothers, 15 and 16, were killed in a head-on collision yesterday involving another 16-year-old driver, RAK Police reported. The accident happened at 5.30pm on Al Ghayl-RAK road when the driver tried to overtake a lorry. The brothers died immediately and the driver of the second vehicle was admitted to Saqr Hospital with moderate injuries, police said.
The accident was the latest involving teenagers below the driving age of 18 taking to the road. Underage drivers accounted for six per cent of road accidents in the emirate last year. So far 66 people have died in road accidents this year. "The problem is coming from the family, how the family gives the car to young people who are 15 or 16 years old?" said Col Nasser Muradad, director of the RAK Traffic and Licensing Department. "This is a problem for our country."
Underage drivers can face fines of Dh5,000 (US$1,400), and vehicles can be impounded for two months. Car owners in such cases face penalties of 24 black points. azacharias@thenational.ae
