Safe drivers to be awarded all week

Dubai: Ten safe drivers stand a chance to win Dh1,000 every day on UAE roads this week, starting Sunday.

The second of the bi-annual Porsche RoadStar campaigns will be in Dubai between November 8-10 and in Sharjah between November 11-12, where they will award safe driver who adhere to traffic rules in the strictest sense.

Organisers will identify safe drivers who will then be rewarded with cash and a certificate signed by the police of the respective emirates.

The 34th edition of the campaign is sponsored by Porsche Centre Dubai, Al Nabooda Automobiles, with RSA Insurance and EMA Lubricants as co-sponsors. Media partners are Gulf News, Josh FM and Radio 2. The Porsche RoadStar Contest is organised by Ciel Events for the Emirates Motor Sports Federation. Aimed at promoting safe driving, the campaign was launched over a decade-and-a-half ago which has seen thousands of drivers win one Dh1,000 each of the Dh10,000 daily cash awards, in addition to a certificate issued by the police of the concerned emirate.

Drivers who adhere to the basic principles of good driving such as wearing seat belts, use child safety seats, use indicators and hands-free mobiles, observ lane discipline and display courtesy, in addition to staying within the prescribed speed limits will come under the organisers’ scanner.

The campaign made its debut in 1998 with the Emirates Motor Sports Federation (EMSF) and the full support of the police departments of the concerned emirates.

Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of Dubai Traffic Police, said, “We do everything possible to educate drivers on the need to adhere to traffic rules and regulations. But campaigns like the RoadStar, which has been running for a very long time, helps us in our efforts to further spread awareness of the need for safe driving.”

He added that the Porsche RoadStar campaign aims not just to educate but also reward safe drivers, which serves to encourage other road users to keep to the rules.

K. Rajaram, CEO of Al Nabooda Automobiles, the sole distributor for Porsche in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, expressed his happiness at being part of the campaign.

“This is a great initiative and a positive way to incentivise and promote safe driving around the country, a cause that that the team at Porsche Centre Dubai fully supports. We want to instil a culture and attitude of safe driving in the UAE, not just for current drivers, but for the next generation and I believe the RoadStar contest is the perfect medium to encourage that.”