Dubai: Dubai Police seized a vehicle driven by an Indian motorist for endangering the life of his son who was sticking his head out of the vehicle’s sun roof.
Major General Mohammed Saif Al Zafein, Assistant Chief for Operations Affairs at Dubai Police, and Director of Federal Traffic Council, said that a friend sent him a picture of a Land Cruiser on Umm Suqiem road on 9am on Sunday, with a little boy aged around five years with his head out of the car.
“I asked to check on the plate number and we identified the location and sent a police patrol immediately. It was driven by an Indian motorist who said that he didn’t realise it was a dangerous act,” Maj-Gen Al Zafein said.
Dubai Police discovered that the vehicle’s registration had expired last November and belonged to a company.
Police fined the driver for driving in a way that may have caused danger to others, and seized the car.
“The father’s answer showing his low level of traffic culture was disconcerting,” said Maj-Gen Al Zafein. “He only needed a push on the brake and the child may have been thrown out of the window. Luckily, his reckless behaviour caught the attention of other drivers.”
Meanwhile, a study made by the Road Safety UAE about the importance of seat belts for children showed that one-third of motorists do not have proper child seats or child booster seats.
The survey was conducted in February 2017 and is based on a representative sample of more than 1,000 UAE residents.
The survey already showed that UAE’s motorists display a limited understanding and low usage of back seat belts and also, that only a small percentage of motorists ‘always’ prompt all passengers, including children, to wear their seat belts.
Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of Road Safety UAE told Gulf News: “The poor behaviour of adults translates into poor habits to protect our children. We see one-third of motorists failing to provide proper restraint systems for their kids and the identified reasons need to be addressed. If you love your kids, buckle them up on all trips.”
The study showed that only 56 per cent of drivers ‘always’ ask everyone in their vehicle to buckle up.
Only 11 per cent of all respondents (adults) ’always’ buckle up by themselves in the back seat.
As many as 55 per cent of those not buckling up in the back seats claim, ‘When I sit on the back seat, I feel safe enough without seat belt’.
“Adults behave poorly with regards to the use of back seat belts and this translates into poor habits of making sure our children travel safely in our vehicles.”
Of those motorists with children who need proper child seats or booster cushions, 34 per cent do not have those. The numbers are even more alarming for Emiratis — a staggering 47 per cent do not have proper child seats/booster cushions and 42 per cent of the young parents in the age group of 18-29 years.
