Light vehicles top road accidents in UAE in 2025

Statistics from the Ministry of Interior reveal that light vehicles were the primary contributors to traffic accidents nationwide last year, accounting for 3,834 incidents. Motorcycles followed in second place with 1,224 recorded accidents.

Heavy freight vehicles ranked third, causing 325 accidents, while bicycles came fourth with 158 incidents. Heavy buses (designed for 27 or more passengers) took fifth place, with 131 accidents reported. Sixth place went to scooters, which were involved in 120 accidents. Light buses (carrying fewer than 27 passengers) ranked seventh, with 115 accidents. Electric bicycles held the eighth spot with 62 accidents.

In ninth place were vehicles of unknown types, linked to 31 accidents. Heavy mechanical devices came in tenth with 13 incidents, and light mechanical devices ranked eleventh, with only a single accident reported.

Regarding the causes of traffic accidents, also sourced from the Ministry of Interior's open data, sudden deviation emerged as the top reason, contributing to 1,074 accidents. This was followed by driver distractions of various kinds, which caused 948 accidents. The third leading cause was failing to maintain sufficient distance between vehicles, resulting in 849 accidents. Lastly, negligence and inattentiveness led to 661 reported incidents.

Statistics from last year on traffic accidents by type revealed that a total of 6,014 incidents occurred across the country. These were categorized as follows: 4,085 collisions between vehicles, 1,102 pedestrian-related incidents, 800 crashes, and 27 classified as other types of accidents.

The causes behind these accidents were attributed to a variety of factors—160 in total. Key reasons included failure to yield right of way to pedestrians, reckless driving that endangered oneself or others, unsafe overtaking, abrupt stops, distractions while driving, running red lights, sudden lane changes, tire blowouts, failure to stay within designated lanes, insufficient following distance, negligence, lack of focus, and speeding without considering road conditions, among others.