Source: www.rta.ae
The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has carried out as much as 43 school awareness events since the start of the current school year, spanning educative lectures, training workshops, brochures and cartoon movies covering a myriad of traffic behaviours.
Hussain Al Banna, Director of Traffic, RTA Traffic & Roads Agency, said: “Improving traffic attitudes of students is a top priority objective of the traffic awareness drive in the Agency with the aim of nurturing a generation well aware of traffic issues, and committed to the implementation of traffic instructions & guidance, adding that Dubai schools have witnessed no school-related accident fatalities over the last four years.
“The Agency has mapped out a host of programs oriented to the educational environment of schools & universities where “Safety Friends” program has been dedicated to students at nurseries and primary stage of schools in order to educate this student bracket on how to board and alight the bus, safely cross roads, highlight traffic rules & signals, and how to use and benefit from them. Another program, entitled “School Events” is oriented to the intermediate & secondary stage as well as drivers of school buses. The Program focuses on the use of the safety belt, risks of excessive speed, and the importance of complying with traffic rules besides raising the traffic awareness of parents, teaching staff, drivers, and road users in school zones.
“The plans oriented to the educational environment are not based on the old methods but on other means including school websites, provision of educative materials, and electronic/print materials including cartoon movies, radio spots, brochures, leaflets and posters,” explained Al Banna.
He further added: “Over the last three years, the RTA has issued 74 electronic/print publications of which more than 700 thousand copies have been distributed including RTA monthly Salam magazine of which 10 thousand copies are published every month.
“The Traffic Dep’t was keen on motivating & encouraging students to interact with traffic issues through rolling out nation-wide innovative quizzes in conjunction with the Ministry of Education for which several prizes were allocated. Last October, the Agency honoured the winning students in an event held in the presence of H.E. Humaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education,” he added.
Al Banna referred to the technical procedures introduced by the Agency in about 250 schools covering directional signs, 36 pedestrian crossings, and over 160 traffic calming devices. “The Traffic Department will continue running awareness initiatives oriented to the school environment and will be rolling on new initiatives to build further on the initiative of the Traffic Track which has been opened earlier in Al Aqsa School where students started acquainting themselves with the traffic elements, and how to protect road users from traffic accidents,” said Al Banna in a final remark. More info
