Following the crash involving a minibus and a truck which claimed the lives of three people and injured eight others in Dubai on Monday, July 16, calls for the banning of minibuses as a form of transportation in the UAE continue to grow.
Proponents of the call to ban minibuses as form of transportation cited the increase in the number of accidents and fatalities involving minibuses as the main basis for the call, reported Gulf News.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the Traffic Department of Dubai Police, said there were 24 accidents in Dubai involving minibuses during the first half of the year. These accidents reported seven fatalities while 49 others sustained injuries, six of whom sustained serious injuries.
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Currently, a Federal Traffic Council recommendation has been issued proposing the banning of minibuses as a form of passenger transport in the UAE.
Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, had also instructed the traffic council to conduct an investigation on minibuses in partnership with the Ministry of Health as psychological condition of drivers are observed as one of the possible reasons in the accidents.
Speed-breakers have also been installed in 2013 to ensure minibuses are only running at a maximum speed of 100kph.
