Abu Dhabi: Motorists driving way below the speed limit prevent others from driving at permitted speeds and make them late for work, a traffic expert has said.
Mahmoud Mohammad Abdul Qadir, a traffic expert at the Abu Dhabi Police Security Research and Study Centre, said that driving too slow on the middle and left lanes of the road is a violation because it is not considered driving at a safe speed so as to avoid traffic accidents.
Other drivers, in his opinion, will not be able to drive at permitted speeds, and so will be late for work as they are caught in traffic.
Rights
Abdul Qadir added that the road represents a community and its users have to take into consideration the rights of other road users .
The traffic expert also emphasised that driving at slow speeds on highways increases the possibility of accidents because slow vehicles on the fast lane will cause cars moving at the permitted speed to crash into them. Slower vehicles on fast lanes also confuse other drivers, forcing them to commit errors.
Colonel Hamad Adeel Al Shamsi, Abu Dhabi Traffic and Patrol Cars, Police Department, advised those who want to travel at low speeds to drive on the right-most lane, especially on highways.
The observations were released by the Abu Dhabi Police, along with traffic statistics for 2009.
There were 3,172 crashes in 2009, of which 2,916 were caused by men and 256 by women — almost 10 per cent of the total number of accidents, despite the fact that women tend to drive at lower speeds than men.
Male drivers caused 311 accidents soon after they obtained their driving licence as opposed to 47 by women.
Violation tickets were issued for those driving below the lower speed limit on highways. Dr Jihad Sbaitah, Director General of the Emirates Co for Driving, said there is nothing as female or male driving, as driving habits cut across gender lines.
