NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

  
Boy, 11, stabbed to death as gangs clash

DUBAI - MAR 07: An 11-year-old Emirati boy was stabbed 11 times and left to die after being caught in the middle of a melee between two groups of teenagers.

Dubai Police are still searching for those involved in the fight in Al Rashidiya on Thursday.

The police received a report at 9.30pm that a boy, later identified as HM, had been killed.

The police said HM was not part of the two groups of teenagers, who were also Emirati, but happened to be in the same neighbourhood and somehow sustained 11 stab wounds, some to his chest and back.

A police officer who was near the scene rushed HM to hospital, but the boy died on the way.

A police dog led officers to the knife that they believe was used in the attack. The weapon had been dropped in an alley some distance from the scene.

Police believe the fight began after one group of teenagers, who had been racing in two four-wheel-drive vehicles, got into an argument with another group.

A witness told police that one youngster suddenly got out of a car and began chasing four boys from the other group.

Those involved in the melee were estimated to be aged 15 and 16.

Free baby car-seats for new parents

ABU DHABI - MAR 07: Parents of all babies born in the capital will receive free baby car-seats later this year.

The plan is part of a drive by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) to educate parents about the risks of carrying their children in vehicles unrestrained. Up to 4,500 seats are to be handed out at every maternity ward in the city for a two-month trial period, which is expected to start in the second half of the year.

“A cultural change has to happen in this region,” explained Dr Jens Thomsen, HAAD’s section head of occupational and environmental health. “From a public perspective point of view, it should not be up to the personal choice of the child if they want to be restrained or not. This is something that the parents have to enforce.”

The health authority also announced that all injury cases, including those of children hurt in traffic mishaps, are to be recorded on a database that will be introduced in all hospitals in the emirate this year. It will provide the first comprehensive picture of both fatalities and injuries to children on the roads.

HAAD’s figures for last year show that 44 youngsters under 17 died on the roads in Abu Dhabi.

Although the UAE does not yet have its own statistics, figures from the US show that for every child who dies in a crash, 171 are injured.

In each hospital, designated staff members will teach parents about the seats, while staff at nurseries will provide similar instructions using demonstration seats.

Depending on the success of the scheme, HAAD may consider making it mandatory that every newborn leaving hospital is carried in a suitable car seat. The rule already exists in certain parts of the US.

Last week, the Ministry of Interior confirmed plans to finalise a federal bill to make child car-seats and seat belts mandatory in 2011, replicating a situation that exists in 46 countries, including Britain, Bulgaria, Namibia and Saudi Arabia.

According to the European Transport Safety Council, 83 per cent of children who are belted or in car seats escape road collisions unscathed.

Yet, according to research gathered at UAE University, 98 per cent of children in the UAE are not restrained when they travel. Last year, traffic accidents accounted for 63 per cent of all child deaths in the emirate.

“Road traffic injuries in the UAE, and especially Abu Dhabi, are a very high priority,” Dr Thomsen said. “In terms of fatalities, it’s the leading cause of injury-related deaths, and the second leading cause of all deaths.

“The population is increasing and so is the number of seriously injured or fatally injured children on the roads. If we don’t stop and reverse the trend we will see more and more of these injuries.”

The seats would be given to all families “regardless of nationality or insurance status”, said Dr Thomsen, and their distribution would be accompanied by a radio, television and newspaper awareness campaign.

“We will decide which path to go down, whether to use shock tactics or not,” he said.

Car seats cost between Dh150 (US$40) and Dh700 at the retail level. No information was available on what brand of seats will be used.

Amira Wali, the director of public health and communications at the capital’s Corniche Hospital, which delivers 40 per cent of babies in Abu Dhabi, believes that in child safety, education is the catalyst.

“The impact and the potential to prevent harm through trauma and even death is tremendous,” she said. “Any parent who understands the benefit to their child would, no doubt, be fully on board. Awareness is key.”

Having specialist staff trained to educate parents and fit the appropriate seats would be core to HAAD’s campaign, she added.

“It only takes two seconds for something that you never expected to happen that changes your life. Parents are responsible for their children and they need the proper tools to protect them. It is our responsibility to provide these tools.”

Last June, HAAD launched its Drive Safe, Save Lives project, focusing on speed limits and on seat belts for adults. The following month, The National launched its Road to Safety campaign, calling on the Government, drivers, and pedestrians to make the Emirates’s roads safer. The campaign was in response to the deaths of three Emirati sisters who were hit by a car as they crossed Airport Road.

Slower taxis offer a safer ride, say passengers

ABU DHABI - MAR 07: Taxis are being relegated to the roads’ “slow lanes” to the delight of most passengers, who say they now feel safer riding in a cab.

The speed of more than 2,000 of the emirate’s silver taxis is being monitored by an automated system through the vehicle’s GPS-enabled data terminal.

Fines are levied against drivers if they exceed 80kph within city limits or 120kph on other roads, such as the Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway, where private vehicles drive up to 160kph without facing a fine.

However, some drivers say the limits are too restrictive and their inability to exceed the posted speed limit will anger customers who are in a hurry. One driver said he lost a fare to Dubai because he could not drive faster than 120 kph.

“We cannot drive like this,” said one driver from Nepal. “Some passengers will complain.”

TransAD, the hire car regulator, announced in late January that, to improve driver safety, it was launching an automated system to monitor taxi speeds throughout the emirate with a GPS-enabled meter. The system had been introduced in stages and was being installed in hundreds of taxis each day, TransAD said.

Although a taxi is not physically restricted from exceeding the imposed speed, the automated system can see, through the GPS-enabled data terminal in the cab, the type of road on which the car is travelling. Warnings and a fine can be issued electronically.

A warning will flash across the cabbie’s screen, accompanied by a voice message saying: “Please slow down, you are crossing the speed limit.” The driver has 30 seconds to slow before receiving another automated warning.

If he continues to speed, he receives a fine. Drivers are fined Dh100 (US$27) for a first violation, Dh200 for a second and Dh500 for a third.

The driver from Nepal, who works for National Taxi, said the 80 kph limit on Abu Dhabi’s streets was too low once he left the congested city centre.

He wanted to be able to drive at around 100 kph after crossing Al Saada Street, which, on Airport Road, is just after the Immigration Department.

A reporter from The National took a taxi with the automated system from the bus station on Fourth Street to the town of Al Bahia yesterday. The system continued to issue warnings that the driver was exceeding 80 kph after the car had crossed Al Maqta Bridge. The difference in speed between the cab and the cars around it was noticeable, but the other drivers did not tailgate or honk their horns.

The Nepalese driver said that he had to explain the new rules to an angry male passenger who was yelling at him and demanding he drive faster. “He said ‘Why you go slow?’ I had to say, ‘OK, cool down sir, cool down’.”

Most drivers have taped a sheet with a list of the violations and fines to their dashboard.

Another driver with National Taxi said he had received a fine on Khaleej al Arabi Road, just past Al Saada Street. When driving in one of the middle lanes, he was tailgated by another vehicle.

“I tried to slow down, but a big car was coming behind me very quickly, so I could not slow down,” said the Nepalese man.

The system is getting drivers to slow, according to passengers spoken to recently. They said drivers were abiding by the speed limit.

“Especially in the city, I think it is much better, because it is more safe,” said Jocelyn Estanbarte, a nurse at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. However, she thought that the car should be able to travel around 100kph once outside of the city centre.

Tafadzwa Tombanewaka, a Zimbabwean, said he was not sure if slowing down the silver taxis would improve road safety.

“People still drive here like it is some crazy race anyway,” said Mr Tombanewaka, who lives in London and is studying civil engineering in Abu Dhabi.

“I guess I would have to say it is good to keep them driving within reason, but everyone else is driving crazy, so I still feel a bit unsafe.”

A driver from Pakistan, working for Arabia Taxi, said he lost a fare to Dubai when the passenger demanded to be dropped off in Meena after the driver told him he could not exceed the speed limit.

“I think 120 is too slow,” said the driver, who has been working in Abu Dhabi for six months. “After I got a warning, I told him I could not go fast. He said ‘Drop me off here’.”

However a driver from the Philippines said he had not had any complaints.

“For me it has been no problem,” he said.

“I haven’t even heard a complaint from a customer. They complain about the traffic only.”