Dubai: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) recently announced that by July, all passengers in vehicles will be obligated to wear seat belts – or risk a Dh400 fine and four black points.
With stringent measures already in place against drivers, why would they not wear their seat belts? Or ask their passengers to do so?
RoadSafetyUAE and QIC Insured carried out a survey in February 2017 of more than 1,000 UAE residents, and found that 44 per cent of drivers do not ask their passengers to buckle up.
Why UAE residents do not wear seat belts
- When I sit on the back seat, I feel safe enough without a seat belt 55%
- On short trips, it is not necessary to wear a seat belt 25%
- I am a safe driver and I will not be involved in an accident, so I don't need seat belts 14%
- Other safety features like airbags protect just as well as seat belts 13%
- Seat belts are inconvenient to wear 11%
- Seat belts crinkle my cloths 10%
- Seat belts don't increase safety 6%
- It is not part of our culture 5%
- I don't like the look of seat belts 5%
- Religious reasons 4%
Thomas Edelmann, Founder and Managing Director of RoadSafety UAE, said: “We are very proud of this unique piece of research which times very well with the recent MoI announcement of the introduction of the holistic seat belt law. The findings of this study will help all stakeholders to develop hard-hitting awareness and education initiatives to accompany the implementation of this new law.”
According to the study, 91 per cent of respondents understood that seat belts protect drivers and front-seat passengers. This knowledge peaks with females, older respondents (over 35 years), Westerners and Sharjah residents. The lowest knowledge levels was reported with young respondents between the ages of 18 and 24, and Emiratis.
However, when it comes to protecting back-seat passengers, 81 per cent of respondents said they were aware on the importance of wearing seat belts.
Frederik Bisbjerg, QIC Insured Executive Vice President, MENA Retail, said: “Seat belts safe lives and spare us from injuries in case of car accidents. Our mission is to protect our customers and our eco-system, hence it is just logical to have worked on this holistic research project.”
The survey also discovered that 78 per cent of drivers say they always buckle up. The highest users of seat belts were in women, older drivers, Westerners, Asians and Arab expats, as well as Dubai and Sharjah residents.
In contrast, only 51 per cent of Emiratis said they always wear a seat belt and 63 per cent of respondents between 18-24 years old wore a seat belt.
When it comes to front-seat passengers, 71 per cent always use their seat belt. When the number of respondents are divided by nationality, once again women outscored med (78 per cent), the old and experienced beat the young (80 per cent), and Asian expats (80 per cent) and Westerners (88 per cent) stand out positively, as well as Sharjah residents (80 per cent).
The most alarming number was for Emiratis at 38 per cent, and the young segment of 18-24 years at 52 per cent, with below-par values for Arab expats (60 per cent) and Abu Dhabi residents (65 per cent).
