Legal and Traffic: Parents bear the greatest responsibility
"Scooter children"... Possible victims of run-over accidents
Motorists are surprised when the "electric scooter" is out on the street.
Emirates today
A call for the concerted efforts of the Ministry of the Interior, the media, families and schools to treat the phenomenon.
Cinematography: Mostafa Qassemi
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Traffic and law experts have held their parents responsible for the occurrence of traffic accidents for children who drive electric scooters on public roads.
They considered them as part of the main reasons for the occurrence of this type of accident due to their ignoring the warning messages and awareness campaigns implemented by the competent authorities, in which they stress the need to adhere to safety requirements and avoid unsafe places when driving an electric bike.
They said that many parents insist on allowing their children to drive this method despite its danger, noting that "children who drive scooters on the public road are the most vulnerable to run-over accidents."
Finally, the state recorded two accidents of this kind within one week, the first occurred on the 14th of last month, and resulted in the death of an (Asian) child after he was run over in the vicinity of his house, in the Muwailih area in Sharjah, after he got out of his house while driving a "scooter". The electrician” to buy school supplies, as he was run over on the public road, which led to him being seriously injured, which required him to stay in the hospital for 15 days for treatment, but he died of his injuries.
On the 20th of the same month, a 13-year-old citizen was injured when he was run over near the Pearl Roundabout, in Khorfakkan, while he was driving an electric scooter. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
This was preceded by other incidents, as a 16-year-old (Arab) child suffered a fracture in the third vertebra of the spine, after falling from the scooter, and colliding with his brother, who was using another device, and was walking behind him on the Qawasim Corniche in Ras Al Khaimah.
The traffic expert, Executive Director of the "Saed Association for the Reduction of Traffic Accidents", Jamal Al-Amiri, said that the use of the "electric scooter" has become a general phenomenon in society, as many use it to go to work, and benefit from it to spend short trips, but children use it without Observing traffic safety measures, which poses a permanent threat to their safety and the safety of other road users.
Al-Amiri explained that «the problem begins when the child goes out to the road and drives the scooter in the public street, because he does not pay attention to vehicles, and cannot determine directions, in addition to his inability to control the steering wheel, and on the other hand, motorists will not be able to see children who are driving the electric scooter on the road. The road is due to their short stature, or they may be obscured by the body of a car parked on the road, which makes them vulnerable to accidents.”
He added that motorists are surprised when the "electric scooter" is out on the street.
He stressed that the treatment of the phenomenon requires the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Interior, the media, families and schools to raise awareness of the dangers of driving "electric scooters" on the roads and public places.
He said that the competent authorities should implement a campaign to seize and confiscate the "electric scooters" that children drive on public roads, and summon their parents to educate them about the dangers of this behavior on their children and other road users.
Lawyer and legal advisor Amna Al Zaabi confirmed that the law stipulates that a penalty of imprisonment from one month to three years or a fine of no less than 5000 dirhams shall be imposed on anyone who endangers the safety of the child, or used to leave him without supervision or follow-up, and takes him to places that may threaten his life or Negatively affect his health, such as places of smoking or the emission of toxic gases and the manufacture of weapons, as well as places where various diseases and epidemics spread.
Al-Zaabi added that the law on the rights of the child criminalizes every act or omission that would cause harm to the child and prevent his upbringing and development in a sound, safe and healthy manner, including the failure of the parents or the caretaker of the child to take the necessary measures to preserve his life and physical integrity.
Lawyer and consultant Hamid Darwish stressed the need to establish specialized units to develop and implement mechanisms and measures that would protect the child, through preventive intervention in cases where it was found that his health and physical, psychological, moral or mental integrity are threatened or at risk due to neglect.
The Ministry of Interior set the hotline 116111 to protect children, and facilitate reporting cases of child abuse, as it did the electronic reporting process through the Ministry's Child Protection Center website, and launched the "My Protection" application on smart phones.
The Deputy Director General of Police Operations, Brigadier General Dr. Ali Rashid bin Awash Al Yamahi, head of the team addressing the phenomenon of practicing electric bicycles, stressed the dangers of using electric bicycles in residential neighborhoods, main roads and between vehicles.
He explained that the Fujairah Police General Command launched the "Hand in Hand for the Safety of Our Children" campaign to spread awareness and provide advice about the dangers of driving "scooter" before issuing violations, stressing the importance of the role of community members in addressing this phenomenon.
The Director of the Traffic and Patrols Department at the General Command of Fujairah Police, Colonel Saleh Mohammed Al-Dhanhani, stated that children's scooter users are more at risk of run-over accidents and injuries, due to their lack of interest in safety requirements, adding that they "must be driven in places far from public roads and paths that witness traffic." Vehicles, in order not to cause confusion in traffic, or to expose their driver to accidents with dire consequences.
He pointed out that the "electric scooter" is used by children and young people, and it requires a statement of the importance of following the safe ways to drive it, which is to adhere to the means of security and protection, including wearing a helmet, and driving it in the designated places, so as not to confuse traffic, or expose its driver to Accidents have dire consequences.
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