Dubai: Tailgating is the third-leading cause of traffic deaths, a Dubai Police official said.

Lt. Colonel Homoud Saeed Al Amiri, director of awareness and campaigns at Dubai Traffic Police, said that tailgating caused 26 deaths in 2014, and 11 deaths between January and May this year.

His statements came at the launch of the annual “Keep a safe distance” traffic campaign on Sunday, which will continue for two months.

In 2014, Dubai Traffic Police issued 69,964 fines for people not leaving a safe distance between vehicles on Dubai roads and in 2015, they have already issued 19,975 fines in the first four months.

“We found out that most deaths caused by tailgating take place in Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, followed by Emirates road. We also found that most victims were Emiratis, with eight deaths in 2014.” Al Amiri said.

He said that they will be intensifying patrols on both roads during the campaign.

The penalty for tailgating is a Dh400 fine and four black points.

He said there will also be police monitoring tailgaters in unmarked cars. “When people see a police car they will abide to the rules, that’s why we will have these unmarked patrols, so people would abide to rules all the time.”

In 2014, There were 10 deaths caused by tailgating on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and five on Emirates Road.

The campaign will include awareness drives in malls and streets where members of Dubai Police will speak to the public about the dangers of not leaving enough distance between vehicles.

There were 1,714 complaints against tailgaters by the public through the “We are all police” project in 2014, and 647 in the first four months of 2015.

Total is the official sponsor of the campaign.

David Khalife, Managing Director of Total Marketing Middle East, said that they are pleased to participate in this campaign. “We produce dangerous products and we transport them on the roads sometimes, that is why we are getting on this initiative as road safety is important to us. Also we want to give back to the community.”