On Sheikh Rashid Road, a dual carriageway in Dubai city, the minibus crashed across the central reservation and into an oncoming car.
The driver of the minibus and four passengers were killed, four others were injured including the driver of the other car.
Looking at photographs of the wreckage it would have been a bigger death toll had the minibus been full:
Gulf News photo
I, and others, have talked about the standard of driving displayed by bus drivers many times in the past. And the roadworthiness of the buses.
I see, almost on a daily basis, huge construction worker buses, minibuses and large private buses being raced around the streets. In Dubai Marina and Knowledge Village in particular I often see them lurching around the small roundabouts almost on two wheels.
On a post a while ago a comment was left by a pupil who said his school bus driver frightened them with his dangerous driving.
This latest crash is being blamed on speeding and possibly the driver falling asleep, pending investigation. I don't think speeding is in any doubt, looking at what happened and the damage caused.
Five more lives needlessly wasted.
And on another aspect of the same subject that I've talked about many times, two more vehicle fires are reported.
A refrigerated van hit a donkey, killing the animal and 'caused the vehicle to burst into flames'. And a 4x4 hit a motorcycle left in the road after an earlier accident and 'the crash led to the loud explosion of the petrol tank'.
We keep talking about it, we keep saying the obvious, that action must be taken but the crashes and the fires keep happening.
And more and more people continue to needlessly, and avoidably, lose their lives.
Gulf News has the stories and photographs here and here.
7 comments:
Except the driver, I knew everyone on that bus. I do most of my meetings with my agency in that coffee shop. The staff was very nice, friendly and always with a smile on their faces...
May their souls rest in peace :(
In the papers and on radio many people have said similar things about them Moryarti. What a tragedy. RIP indeed.
Honestly, this is getting really ridculous. How many people must die, how many accidents must we see before the police become more proactive? Police action here is very reactive. With the opening of Garhoud Bridge, it was easily predicted that cars would come flying down the new overpass from Deira. All they did was put up signs warning motorists that the road is 'monitored' and the speed limit is 80. Try traveling at 80 and you'll get knocked off the road by speeding cars until they reach the speed camera near Wafi. Its a complete joke - cameras and patrols need to be out in greater force. Its still a breeze to speed without getting caught.
Agree with jad aoun, it seems that the carnage is endless, and the measures by the RTA & Police are clearly not working. Coupled to this is the lack of educational campaigns, it seems that increased penalties are the only measure that the Govt understands how to implement.
This is yet another tragedy of the loss of innocent lives in the UAE.
I have a big issue with the speed limits in some of the new roads. Business Bay Bridge for example: I'm sorry, but you can't build a huge wide smooth 6 lane highway and expect people to drive at 80, so you get them driving at 140 and then slamming on the anchors when they spot a speed camera, or think they spot a speed camera.
anon, it's part of the bad road management. Another example of your point is the new road that runs parallel to Al Sufouh Road from Knowledge Village. A wide dual carriageway through desert but it has a 60 limit, which everyone ignores. These things help to establish the mindset that speed limits can be ignored.
The news was incredibly frightening especially that three young Filipinos were there in that minibus. May their souls rest in peace and may this accident be an eye opener to those who wrecklessly drive and so as to those concerned authorities to immediately do something about this redundantly-shocking-event-life-taker, for all of us who are trying to live a peceful life here in dubai away from our loved ones.
A sincere prayer is indeed offered to them. :(
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