Police of Abu Dhabi has announced that crowding around accident sites in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will attract a penalty of Dh 1,000.
In a social media post, Abu Dhabi police warned those who crowded around such scenes were committing an offence. Section 74 of the federal traffic and traffic act states blocking traffic (gathering) during accidents could attract a fine of Dh 1,000.
Abu Dhabi Police have also shared a video where motorists can be seen quickly gathering around two cars that collided with each other, randomly parking their vehicles and blocking the entire traffic at a stretch.
Also, in the video, people who were passing by were seen taking photos of the crash on their phones which is stated as another offence inviting legal action.
The penalty for recording accident scenes is stricter. According to The Interior Ministry, penalties for accidents and posting of photos and clips on social media are punishable by a fine of 150,000 dirhams.
The circulation of these images is unacceptable as it can cause a psychological shock to the families of victims when they view such images.
Gathering at accidents is one of the behaviours that are negative and unacceptable, restricting the arrival of ambulances, emergency vehicles, traffic patrols and civil defence.
These emergency arrivals try to reach as quickly as possible to perform their duties of providing humanitarian assistance to the injured and save their lives. Parking in inappropriate places shall be avoided.
Police can be called on 999 from anywhere in the UAE in case of an accident. They can be informed about the accident by mentioning the location of the accident and then the instructions given by them shall be followed. All residents must be aware that no traffic incident in the UAE shall go unreported.
If it is a minor accident and no one is hurt, the individual should move his car to the shoulder lane to avoid blocking traffic. The individual must wait for the police at a minimum distance of 15 meters away from the car.
If any person involved in the accident sustains injuries, all vehicles should be left exactly where they are, and wait for an ambulance to arrive.
In the event of a collision, the eCall system will automatically establish a two-way voice communication via the cellular network to the nearest emergency centre. The emergency centre will dispatch a medical team to the location of the accident as soon as possible.
Emergency phone numbers
In case of an emergency, an individual shall call the following numbers while anywhere in the UAE:
999 for Police
998 for Ambulance
997 for Fire Department (Civil Defence)
996 for Coastguard
991 for electricity failure
922 for water failure.
