Accidents involving delivery riders have increased by 23% from 170 in 2020 to 210 this year in Abu Dhabi.
Following the sharp rise in the number of road accidents and deaths, the authorities are mulling new policies to ensure riders wear personal protective equipment and improve their driving behavior.
Around 162 crashes involving riders took place in 2019, which increased to 170 in 2020 and hit 210 this year. The number of deaths has also risen from nine in 2019 to 13 in 2020.
Sumaya Saeed Al Neyadi, road safety section head at the Integrated Transport Center, said there have been a lot of accidents and fatalities over the last two years and they are seeking to increase the awareness on the use of personal protective equipment.
Use of helmet, jacket, boots, gloves, trousers is seen as reducing the chance of a severe injury by 50 per cent.
A standard helmet is likely to reduce the risk of severe head injury by 70 per cent and the root cause for most of the accidents – about 79 per cent – is believed to be non-compliance with traffic laws and tailgating.
