Source: www.rta.ae
The Roads and Transport Authority announced the launch of the School Outreach Program at schools in Dubai to coincide with the start of the new scholastic year 2013-2014.
Engineer Maitha bin Udai, CEO of Traffic & Roads Agency at the Authority congratulated the students and faculty in schools, universities and institutes on the occasion of the beginning of the current academic year 2013-2014, and called on drivers and parents to be cautious while driving in order to keep students safe and to spare them traffic accidents.
She said that the School Outreach Program which the Agency started to coordinate for with schools and kindergartens includes workshops, lectures for students and school bus drivers and parents, stressing the Authority’s commitment to its awareness responsibilities in supporting traffic culture in the community in order to reduce road accidents and fatalities caused by accidents, according to the vision of the Authority: “Safe and Smooth Transport for All”
Engineer Maitha bin Udai alerted bus drivers and parents to focus while driving, especially in school districts, noting that the main causes of traffic accidents in these areas is the lack of attention, negligence and driving frivolously and recklessly.
She pointed out that the Agency started since the end of the last academic year to produce awareness movie cartoons directed to school students under the slogan “Our goal is your safety,” and the Agency started in the dissemination of those movies in elementary and high schools and broadcast on Tozan Satellite Channel throughout the month of September, in cooperation with the Channel and Emirates Driving Institute, the cartoon movies focus in a dramatic manner on what needs to be done by students or children to avoid accidents and traffic accidents in particular.
She added: We also worked since the beginning of the month of September to raise e-awareness for school students through electronic publishing in the social networks of the Authority such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook and in the most prominent educational forums browsed by students, parents and teachers, where awareness flashes are published in those sites and focus on the necessary steps that student or driver must pay attention to when passing near school of going to it.
The CEO of Traffic & Roads Agency said that the Agency has coordinated with some shopping malls such as Union Cooperative Society and shopping centers for cooperation in the awareness campaign targeting school students, where awareness flashes will be displayed on the advertising screens of cash registries and printing some awareness drawings on shopping bags of those centers.
She pointed out that traffic awareness supervisors at the Agency will intensify at the beginning of the school year their visits to schools and kindergartens to distribute awareness flyers for students and activate what has been incorporated in them through the school radio and awareness lectures, in addition to the distribution of Salamah (safety) Magazine, which included in September issue a variety of drawings and stories that focused on how to receive the new academic year and how to avoid traffic accidents.
Engineer Maitha bin Udai stressed that traffic awareness and safety teams at the Agency developed educational and awareness programs for the targeted groups of students, parents and drivers. Pointing out that the traffic safety is one of the priorities of the Agency that it is working on strengthening in the streets of Dubai, especially during seasons where the traffic in the Emirate witnesses some changes, such as back to school and during weather changes which are considered two of the main topics in the awareness that we will focus on during the last quarter of the current year.
She said: we have an inclusive awareness program for schools and universities, according to school grades which continues to be implemented throughout the academic year, as well as awareness campaigns carried out by the Traffic Department at the Agency in cooperation with our partners at the Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police, confirming that the Traffic and Roads Agency organized more than 150 effective awareness activities in schools during the last academic year 2012 – 2013.
Engineer Maitha bin Udai urged school bus drivers and parents who take their children to school to abide by the traffic rules, and avoid parking in wrong places, and not to leave children crossing the street on their own, stressing that students should not be allowed to disembark from the left door of the vehicle, and advised parents to use security lock for the rear doors. More info
