Dubai's transport authority is planning to review speed limits on all roads over the next two years in a bid to improve safety, an official said on Monday.
By
Andy Sambidge, Monday, 5 March 2012 6:04 PM
Maitha bin Udai, CEO of the Licensing Agency, part of the Roads &
Transport Authority (RTA), said speed limits would be assessed and
revised if necessary.
The two-year programme comes as the RTA approved a Speed Management Manual which has been compiled by a British consultant.
"The RTA has chalked out a time frame over the next two years for
assessing the maximum speed signs fixed all over roads and streets of
Dubai Emirate including revising them, if needed," bin Udai said.
"The strategy of road safety in Dubai is a top priority aligned with
RTA's vision and therefore every effort is continuously being made to
make the roads of the Emirate the safest in the world," she added.
Among the key objectives of the strategy is to curb traffic-related
mortalities to bring them in line with the rates of the most developed
countries by 2015.
The RTA said it has made good progress as traffic fatalities has
fallen from 21.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2007 to 6.7 cases per
100,000 last year.
"Despite the fact the traffic fatality rate in Dubai is better than
countries such as Malaysia, South Africa and the United States, the RTA
is still aspiring to place Dubai amongst the cities with the least
traffic fatalities in the world," said bin Udai.
International studies indicate that increasing the driving speed by
up to 5 percent over and above the specified speed limits result in the
rate of traffic accidents causing injuries rising by 10 percent and
fatalities by 20 percent.
Last month, figures showed the number of people killed on the UAE’s roads fell by 12.8 percent last year compared to 2010.
In 2011, the Interior Ministry’s General Administration of Traffic
Co-ordination registered 720 deaths as a result of traffic accidents,
down from 826 in 2010.
The total number of traffic accidents in the UAE declined from 7,642 in 2010 to 6,700.
"The instrument used for assessing safe curve speed limits is a ball bank indicator. The angle and buzzer settings reflect the operating
speeds of US Federal, State, and local roads and highways, based upon
the "Speed Zone Theory" and "85th Percentile Speeds", which is adapted
by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO); Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and as
defined in the Federal and/or State Manual of Uniform Traffic Control
Devices, (MUTCD). " Skip Gosnell, Rieker Inc.
