Sharjah: It took only one moment before Saif Nabeel Alani realised that his life could have been cut short because of his phone.
The Iraqi engineer escaped what could have been a fatal accident as he was driving on Al Dhaid Road months ago.
The 42-year-old says he is not the type of driver who constantly looks at his phone, but the second he took his eyes off the road to look for a GPS location, he was met with a nasty surprise.
“I was not sure which exit I needed to take to reach Emirates Road, so I decided to use the GPS on my phone while driving on the highway. Suddenly when I looked back on the road, I saw a taxi slam the brakes right in front of me,” he told Gulf News.
Alani said he was driving at 80km/h, but he was less than six metres away when he realised that he was about to crash into the taxi in front of him.
“The taxi was trying to avoid another accident, so the driver pushed the brakes and it almost came to a complete stop. There was no way I could have avoided the accident because the other lanes were busy, so I slammed the brakes to reduce the impact of the crash as much as I could,” he said.
Alani, who’s been driving for 25 years, said taking his attention off the road almost cost his life. “I’m glad to be alive. If I took a millisecond longer to look at my phone, the consequences could have been worse.”
Luckily, he came out of his car safe and the taxi driver was also not hurt, but both cars were destroyed as a result of the crash.
It was a lesson for the UAE resident of nine years, but for many other drivers, young and old, the habit of using their phone to text and drive continues.
“Even though I had to use my phone to get the right directions, it was my mistake to search the location while driving. I was supposed to park on the side of the road.
“I learnt a good lesson, and now I will never use my phone while driving. If I really have to, I would do it only after I park on the side.
“I realised the danger I put myself in. God saved me.”
Alani said he has noticed many drivers who are either constantly surfing on their phones while driving and others who can’t wait until the traffic light turns red so they can use their phone.
“I think all drivers should think about the dangers they are putting themselves and others in. It’s a big risk. There’s always time to look at the phone later, don’t do it while driving,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Interior statistics, the main causes of traffic accidents, deaths and serious injuries in the UAE since 2013-2015 are sudden swerving, lane changing, misjudgement, not leaving enough distance between vehicles, entering a road without checking if it is clear, speeding, lack of attention, jumping red light, and lack of lane discipline.
In Sharjah, where 130 road deaths were recorded in 2016, the most common causes of fatal accidents were speeding, reckless driving and using mobile phones while driving.
While in Dubai, 12 people were killed in traffic accidents in January this year, as compared to nine deaths in the same month last year.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Director of Traffic Department at Dubai Police, told Gulf News in an earlier interview that “the number of deaths on the roads is a worrying figure as we aim to have zero death by 2020 as part of our strategy to reduce casualties on our roads”.
The fatal accidents in Dubai were a result of dangerous offences like not leaving enough distance between vehicles, not paying attention to the roads and sudden swerving.
