An insurance company and a road-safety group in the UAE recently undertook a survey of motorists to find out the reasons why they speed. Not surprisingly, perhaps, across all age groups surveyed, drivers ticked the response “running late” as their reason for speeding. And almost half across all age groups said they sped “out of habit”.
The first group has an issue with time management, while the second category simply haven’t got the message that speed kills. And anyone who has driven on the roads of the UAE can see for themselves how speeding is commonplace. Indeed, the same survey shows that one in five drivers felt speeding was culturally acceptable. But it’s not.
Roughly, 15 per cent felt they wouldn’t be caught. Clearly, when it comes to policing, there needs to be a move away from static radar cameras — they have a place as a deterrent, but policing needs to be more active and assertive.
One driver in 20 answered that speeding fines were too low to be a deterrent. There we can see a solution that will have immediate effect.
