RoadStar contest takes to roads on Sunday

Dubai: The Caltex RoadStar Contest, one of the UAE's most successful road safety campaigns, kicks off again on Sunday.

The event is organised by the Emirates Motor Sports Federation (EMSF) in association with Dubai Police and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). It has received a huge boost this year following AXA Insurance's decision to associate itself with the campaign.

Held in association with Dubai Police and the RTA, Caltex is the main sponsor while Lexus (Al Futtaim Motors) and Bridgestone (Nasser Bin Abdullatif Alserkal) are the other co-sponsors with Gulf News, Wheels and Radio2 FM as media partners.

In its tenth year and having invested over two million dirhams so far in a campaign aimed at promoting safe driving, the RoadStar team will patrol Dubai's roads during morning rush hour in an attempt to identify at least 15 safe drivers. The campaign will run for five days.

Drivers who observe basic principles of good driving such as wearing seat belts, using child safety seats, indicators and hands-free mobiles, observing lane discipline and displaying courtesy in addition to adhering to speed limits will come under the organisers' scanner during the campaign.

Besides being rewarded with a cash award of Dh750, gifts and a certificate endorsed by Dubai Police, the campaign also aims to contribute to making a difference to the lives of the many winners, who most often send the reward money back home to support their families.

EMSF Director of Marketing and Business Development, Roshanara Sait, said the aim of the campaign was not to change driving habits overnight but to create public awareness and get people to talk about safety.

Traffic awareness

During the first phase of the campaign this year in March, Brigadier Eisa Aman, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Traffic Department, said. "The initiative by the EMSF contributes to increasing traffic awareness among the public and we will support this initiative which encourages road users to abide by traffic rules."

The first RoadStar winner during phase one was Filipino Anthony Santos who said: "I was terrified when the police asked me to pull over, but I maintained my composure. It was the first time I had ever been pulled over by the police, but I was delighted and did not expect this surprise."

Another winner, UAE National Ali, said there had been a drastic change in traffic today compared to when he started driving 13 years ago.

He recalls that then vehicles were fewer and roads narrower compared to many roads today.