Traffic Safety in Dubai, UAE
Photo by Lina Mamone.
Traffic safety has come a long way in Dubai, since the 1980s when workers heading to job sites could be seen sitting in the back of pickup trucks. I know a lot about this subject since I have lived in the city since the early 80’s and have researched this topic for years, and reviewed hundreds of crashes. I have also followed the development of cars around the world, and those sold in the UAE market, and how they are used and by whom.
A large country like India for example, has a very diverse road user base (as seen in videos online – I have not visited yet!), but traffic in Dubai is somewhat more uniform, with private cars dominating the roads, with many heavy vehicles being used, alongside some lighter traffic like pedestrians, motorcycles and e-scooters. The number of heavy vehicles might decrease with the introduction of a dedicated national railway network Etihad Rail to transport cargo and people.
The first fixed speed cameras were introduced along the famous Sheikh Zayed Road that connects Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the early 2000’s, while mobile speed cameras have been used in the area for at least two decades before. The effect on traffic calming and speed differentials was highly noticeable (as a regular user of that road) and soon the number of fixed speed cameras grew from single to double to triple digits in 2020, with over 500 cameras of various configurations.
Where is Dubai today?
In terms of comparison, one of the main indicators for the level of transport safety on roads worldwide is the number of fatalities for every 100,000 people in a population (termed “fatality risk”), and in that measure, Dubai used to have around 6 fatalities /100,000 in the early 2000’s (from my PhD thesis published in 2010) while the current strategy aims for 1.5/100,000 as per the UAE Government official website. That is a huge improvement in a relatively short period of time. Considering the road network is constantly growing and the amount of traffic, vehicles and drivers are also growing, along with increased tourism, this is a remarkable feat.
Overall, using the roads for transport in Dubai is relatively safe and low-risk, but a lot can be done to improve things further, as the Emirate aims for the number one spot worldwide, in line with the vision of our wise leaders.