khaleejtimeonline, Thursday 3 Jun 2010

New Traffic Drive: Police To Check Vehicles, Tyres

Dubai, Amira Agarib:

The General Department of Traffic of Dubai Police, on Monday launched a three-month land travel campaign themed ‘Your safety, your vehicle safety’.

Speaking about the drive, launched in cooperation with Emirates Explorers and Bridgestone tyre distributor Nasser Nasser bin Abdullatif Alserkal Est., Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Director of General Department of Traffic of Dubai Police, said it is aimed at spreading awareness among car drives about safety measures including tyres.

During the drive, the technicians accompanying the traffic police patrols on Shaikh Zayed Road and Hatta borders will examine the tyres of vehicles, to ensure safety of drivers.

At a press conference held on Monday in the presence of Shaikh Awad bin Mejren, founder of Emirates Explorers and Yaqoub Abdullatif Al Serkal, owner of Nasser Nasser bin Abdullatif Alserkal Est., Al Zafin said that UAE is located far away from the native places of Arab residents who travel in summer, who are supposed to take precautions regarding the condition of roads and their cars. He said, “Some travelers do not know how important it is to ensure that tyres are fit for use, causing even fatal accidents when they are not. Tyres unfit for use on the roads are the prime cause of vehicles overturning.”

Brigadier Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, called on owners of vehicles wishing to travel by land to comply with the specifications and standards laid down by car manufacturers — that tyres should be changed every five years, and the brake power should be taken into account while installing new tyres.

He added that in the event of any damage seen on the tyres, they should be examined by expert technicians.

Maj. Gen. Al Zafin emphasized on the importance of maintaining proper air pressure in tyres, as recommended by manufacturers as using tyres having less air pressure than necessary, causes them damage and leads to overheating of the vehicle.

Al Zafin said that the overloading of a vehicle too puts the lives of passengers in danger, adding that load carried by the vehicle should be appropriate to its size. Apart from drivers and passengers fastening their seat belts without fail, drivers should use the lights at sunrise and sunset.

Campaign Program

Al Zafin said that during the campaigns the cars will be checked at two police points, one near Saih Shuaib, and the other one on Hatta border. The tyres would be examined for free by Nasser bin Abdullatif Al Serkal company. He stressed that the traffic police will distribute brochures on safe driving in various shopping centers.

Emirates Explorers

Shaikh Awad bin Mejren United Arab Emirates Explorers team is also participating in the campaign. He said, “We will provide guidance and expertise on land travel to all segments of the society during the campaign. We experience a travel of 150,000km by road around
the world.”

He said, “According to our experience, we believe that overloading vehicles and the condition of the tyres are the two most important things to be considered by drivers. He called for drivers to keep a first aid kit inside their vehicle and to ensure that the air-conditioning is working properly. Also, people should not drive if they are feeling sleepy.”

Yaqoub Al Saerkal said that Nasser bin Abdullatif Al Serkal “is a key partner in such campaigns. We are providing integrated technical team from the company to examine the vehicles on the roads”.

Engineer Masood Al Abaidly, from Nasser bin Abdullatif Al Serkal said that drivers should check the car tyre pressure at least twice a month. They should carry out rotation every 10,000km, never overload their vehicle and should always check the tire tread near indicators, he said.

Maj. Gen. Al Zafin said that about 12,000 traffic violations were recorded in 2009, in which it was found that tyres were unfit for use, while nine people lost their lives last year due to the explosion of tyres.

He said that traffic police patrols will prevent any vehicle with a load of 50% of weight of the vehicle from proceeding.

amira@khaleejtimes.com