Sharjah, November 23: Unlicensed motorists as young as 12 are among those who have caused the deaths of 13 people and severe injuries to 64 others in road accidents in Sharjah in the last three months.
Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Arif Al Shamsi, director of Traffic and Licence Department at Sharjah Police said the children involved in these accidents were generally between 12 and 15 years old.
“We have found out that many tragic road accidents that occurred in the Sharjah inner and outer roads were caused by motorists who illegally drive cars without licence,” Al Shamsi said.
“Driving at a very young age is very risky as motorists are too immature. Young drivers are jeopardising their lives and others’ lives through their reckless behaviour.”
An unlicensed driver can be jailed for three months and fined Dh5,000, according to the traffic law.
“Young drivers commit various fatal mistakes while driving,” he said, “Many motorist wrongly overtook other cars in roads where overtaking is prohibited leading to fatal accidents.”
Al Shamsi urged parents of teenagers to stand tough against the demand of their children who insist on driving illegally without attaining a licence.
“Parents who approve of their children driving without a licence are killing their children with their own hands and they are personally jeopardising their children’s life,” he said
Mohammed Ruwaishid Al Baloushi, a UAE national in Umm Khanoor told Khaleej Times there was enormous peer pressure on students to drive to school. Al Baloushi said his 14-year-old son used to beg him to drive to high school everyday.
“I had always warned him not to drive the car until he turned 18, but one day, on March 17, I had to travel to Oman for a business matter,” Al Baloushi said.
“I received a call that my son was hospitalised along with his friend Khalil after he drove my car in my absence and crashed into an electricity pole in the Al Jazzat area. The car turned over several times causing serious injuries to the occupants,” Al Baloushi said.
“They were in hospital for a month as they had fractures and skull injuries and were discharged from the hospital.”
Al Baloushi said his son had resumed school but missed a lot of classes.
“I hope school managements do not allow children to come to school driving cars and should ban this practice and punish students who do so,” Al Baloushi said. Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Abdul Aziz Shuhail, head of the Traffic Department at the Licence and Traffic Department, said that during summer time, when children were not at school, traffic accidents by unlicensed motorists increased by 10 per cent.
“We have come across many road accidents that were caused by teenagers who fled the accident scene right after causing an accident as they know they are illegally driving cars,” Shuhail said.
“Majority of these roads accidents were in the Sharjah industrial area roads, Al Dhaid area, and the Wasit and Al Maleeha areas. Other accidents were also caused at schools compounds and residential areas.”
–Agencies