Abu Dhabi Police has launched a road safety campaign to remind parents, teachers and residents across the city that they all have a part to play in keeping the capital’s children safe.
This week, Brigadier Eng. Hussein Ahmed Al Harithi, director of traffic and patrols directorate, at Abu Dhabi Police visited schools to promote the new road safety initiative, ‘Students Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility’.
Al Harithi called on parents to drop children off at designated areas only and to wait and make sure that they cross the road safely. Parents were also asked not to let children out of their vehicles using the doors on the left side, and advised to park properly to avoid blocking secondary roads and causing traffic jams outside of the school building.
Al Harithi said: “This year, we are presenting new awareness initiatives. They will run throughout the year as part of the Abu Dhabi traffic programme to help limit traffic accidents via social media sites such as: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This campaign aims to spread traffic awareness among all societal categories.”
“The new initiatives will include the launch of traffic activations that targets students across all school levels. It aims to engage them and raise their traffic awareness.”
Al Harithi also stressed the importance of placing children under the age of ten in the back seat of the car and advised schools to refrain from overloading school buses, while providing a seat for each child.
Children were taught about safety precautions to take while boarding and exiting school buses, and how to cross the capital’s busy roads.
A total of 150,000 copies of brochures and colouring books are being distributed in Abu Dhabi schools as part of the campaign, in addition to toys, schools bags and school supplies.
To date, five educational short films have been produced, focusing on traffic safety rules such as the importance of wearing a seatbelt. To watch the films visit: youtube.com/UAETogether. For more information visit: facebook.com/UAETSchool
