Dubai: Using miniature roads and cars set up at schools across the UAE, children will once again be taught the basic rules of road safety thanks to roads, police and business officials.
Dubbed ‘My First Licence — I Know My Road Rules’, 3,000 schoolchildren at nine schools over two weeks will learn traffic rules as the programme moves from Dubai this week, on to Sharjah and then finishes in Abu Dhabi.
The way it works is via a mini road travel scenario which is replicated within each school, including a network of road signs, zebra crossings, a roundabout and traffic signals.
An instructor runs through basic road safety rules and teaches the youngsters the difference between key road signs. Using miniature cars, the students then learn to navigate the road network by the RTA and police, who highlight how the road safety rules that were discussed in class previously can be applied in practice.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), car accidents are the second biggest contributor to fatalities in the UAE and continue to grow every year.
More than 5,000 students aged six-nine took part in a similar campaign last year at schools in the UAE.
The event is being supported by the Roads and Transport Authority, Knowledge and Human Development Authority and Abu Dhabi Police.
It is also sponsored by BMW Group Middle East, AGMC and Abu Dhabi Motors, and Ciel Events.
The key to the programme is starting road safety when children are young, said sponsors.
“These children will one day be motorists on our roads. We therefore need to instil good road safety habits and ensure they are aware of their responsibilities as pedestrians, passengers and future drivers from an early age to ensure safer roads for the future,” said Leanne Blanckenberg, communications manager for BMW Group in the Middle East.
“We collaborated with Ciel Events for My First Licence – I Know My Road Rules because it does just that. It also builds upon our award-winning road safety campaign ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’. which has been encouraging various stakeholders of different ages to buckle up, every time, since its launch in 2010.”
