Cycle safety, or the lack of it, has been a controversial issue in the state recently, ignited by the sorrowful but high-profile deaths of several riders who were in the limelight.
Most recently there were the deaths of triathlete Roy Nasr, who was hit on an early morning training ride in Abu Dhabi in September, and Mehdi Karasane, who died in hospital 11 days after being knocked down on the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai last month.
In this respect, a considerable number of cycling clubs have pointed out that the UAE’s roads too dangerous for entertainment and fun.
But few of the discussions and calls for action indicate to the hundreds of thousands of mostly workers living in industrial areas, who put their lives in jeopardy every day. Many of them have no alternative.
Their bicycles, which usually cost between Dh100 and Dh150, are the only affordable way for them to commune and travel.
The head of the emergency department at Dubai’s busiest public hospital estimates it sees at least one bicycle-related casualty a week, but says he suspects many more go unreported.
The consultant and the head of the emergency department at Rashid Hospital, says statistics on cycling-related injuries and deaths do not exist in the emirate.
“We have cases but we don’t have statistics because we group them with the road-traffic accidents,” Dr Butros says. “Some of them are wearing helmets but many, many do not.”
The most common bicycle-related injuries are spinal, which can cause paralysis, and those to the “long bones”
In Abu Dhabi the monitoring of cycling accidents is better, although still relatively new.
The Health Authority Abu Dhabi did not provide figures but a representative said it had been monitoring bicycle-related injuries for three years.
While it is known is that about 11 per cent of all deaths, and 62 per cent of injury-related deaths, result from traffic accidents. There is no any decrease for the numbers of bicycle-related injuries or fatalities.
A study of 130 patients admitted to Al Ain Hospital between October 2001 and October 2007 for bicycle-related injuries showed a complete lack of safety awareness.
Not one of the casualties was wearing a helmet.
“The majority of hospitalized injured cyclists in our study were low income adults using cycling as a cheap transportation method,” said the UAE University team behind the study, published in the international journal Injury last year.
“Compulsory helmet use by bicycle riders and subsidizing helmet cost should be adopted to reduce morbidity and mortality of bicycle-related injuries.”
The cheapest helmet at Carrefour sells for about Dh70, and the most expensive Dh269.
In 2010, Dubai passed a law making it obligatory for cyclists to put on helmets and high-visibility jackets. Otherwise, the laborers have to pay Dh500 fine which is considered as a remarkable portion of a person’s monthly wage. But despite a high-profile and effective campaign in the beginning, the numbers of cyclists without any safety gear again appears far more than those who have been instructed about safety measures before taking to the roads.
