Police launch ‘Safe Distance’ campaign

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

The Traffic Department of the Sharjah Police General Directorate has launched a traffic campaign entitled “Leave a Safe Distance” that will last for a month from now. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness and protect the lives of road users from traffic accidents, which result from not leaving a safe distance between vehicles. Such campaigns successfully fulfil the vision of Sharjah Police, which is in line with the Ministry of Interior’s strategic objective of making the roads safer.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdulrahman Khater, Director of Traffic Awareness and Media, said: “The aim of launching the campaign is to raise the awareness of drivers and road users on the dangers of not leaving enough space between vehicles; therefore, multilingual awareness pamphlets have been distributed among employees of the government sector in Sharjah, in order to introduce them to the proper procedures that must be followed while driving for their personal safety.”

Lt. Col. Khater noted that leaving a sufficient, safe distance between the vehicles enables the driver to fully control the car and stop in time during any emergency. Leaving a safe space is also very necessary during fog and rainfall, which both might cause the vehicles to slide or get out of the driver’s control. He also emphasised the importance of drivers not harassing each other on the road, and to abide by the speed limit that is set to be another safety measure for road users to avoid fatal accidents.

The Director of Traffic Awareness and Media also stated that the traffic fine for not leaving enough distance between vehicles is worth Dhs400, in accordance with Article 52 of the UAE Federal Traffic Law.

Lt. Col. Khater called upon drivers to leave a safe and enough distance between the vehicles, adhere to traffic rules, adhere to the set speed limit of roads, and to stay alert while driving in order to prevent accidents from taking place.