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Dubai: The mother of a young man killed in a car crash on Al Wasl Road has called on authorities to install traffic lights at every U-turn on the notorious arterial route.
Lynne Vowles' son Stuart and his girlfriend Kimberlie Stols died last January when their car burst into flame after being struck by another vehicle at a U-turn.
Lynne has never driven along Al Wasl Road since the horrific accident because it brings back bad memories and she considers it too dangerous.
She said: "Al Wasl Road is nothing like Shaikh Zayed Road. It is a residential road and not everybody using it is going in the same direction; that surely has to be taken into consideration."
"I can understand the viewpoint of those who don't agree with closing all the U-turns because that would be an inconvenience.
"But there is absolutely no reason not to install traffic lights at every single one of them.
"The situation on Beach Road is much safer because every U-turn has a set of traffic lights."
A Dubai Police Traffic Department official told Gulf News last week he believed the problem could be solved by installing traffic lights at all U-turns.
Lynne, a teacher, said: "I know after what happened to Stuart and Kim some people supported the idea of closing all U-turns on Al Wasl Road because they felt they were dangerous. But others were against the idea because they thought it would take very long to get through the traffic lights.
"It is not the fault of people using the U-turn, because the accidents are not being caused by the U-turns themselves but by drivers who aren't keeping to the speed limit."
Three members of a Pakistani family, including a two-year-old girl, were burnt alive earlier this month after their car was hit by another vehicle while they were making a U-turn.
The Roads and Transport Authority has since cut down several trees at the U-turn because they were obscuring the view of motorists.
Another resident was killed in a similar accident on Al Wasl Road last year.
Lynne said: "I feel terrible for the relatives of the family [involved in the crash earlier this month]. Al Wasl Road is extremely dangerous because people drive at considerable speeds and there is no way of slowing them down. The police are doing very little about the dangerous situation."
Gulf News spoke to several Al Wasl Road residents last week and found the majority of them to be concerned about the current U-turn situation.
Lynne added: "When you are waiting at a U-turn it sometimes looks like the cars are a long distance away. But when people are driving at speeds of up to 120km/h they are on you within a matter of seconds."
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