Dubai sees 90% drop in road fatalities and traffic incidents, pedestrian deaths also fall
- Travel
- April 14, 2025
Data shows that road fatalities fell more than 91 per cent from 21.7 per 100,000 people in 2007 to 1.8 in 2024. Pedestrian fatalities dropped from 9.5 to 0.3, and the combined rate of fatalities and serious injuries declined from 36.2 to just 4. The death rate per 10,000 registered vehicles also fell from 4.2 to 0.45.
These were announced at a meeting between the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Police to review the progress on the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy 2022–2026 and examine the road safety performance indicators for 2024. The strategy has a ‘Zero Fatalities’ vision.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director General at RTA, highlighted that the two entities had ongoing collaborations that led to the execution of 53 joint initiatives and programmes in 2024, playing a key role in achieving the strategy’s fatality reduction targets.
Some of these included identifying 23 high-risk locations with recurring incidents, installing 54 raised pedestrian crossings, and upgrading multiple sites to enhance the safety of soft mobility users.
These 53 initiatives were implemented across four key pillars: 21 in road and vehicle engineering, 16 in systems and management, 11 in traffic awareness, and 5 in enforcement. Work is also underway to develop a smart management system for public transport drivers to improve safety within the sector.
Enforcement efforts were expanded to enhance compliance in pedestrian crossings, high-risk violations, and the safe use of motorcycles, bicycles, and electric scooters.
Under the systems and management pillar, Dubai introduced the law governing autonomous vehicle operations and its executive regulations. The high-frequency incident location tracking system has been upgraded, and work continues to upgrade the traffic incident reporting platform.
Awareness campaigns
Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, credited awareness campaigns for playing a “vital role” in achieving these results. He said these were highly effective in “promoting road safety” and “encouraging compliance” among drivers.
“Eight awareness campaigns reached over 255,000 individuals,” he said. “More than 24 educational videos—highlighting the severe consequences of traffic violations, including injuries and fatalities—were produced, gaining over 117 million views.”
Joint efforts between RTA and Dubai Police included 19 site visits to truck rest areas and 85 awareness workshops and field visits targeting delivery riders, engaging over 15,000 drivers. Additional pedestrian safety campaigns reached more than 10,000 workers and vehicle drivers.
