Don’t turn a simple trip into a tragedy

I recently read an article about “Graham”, a sculpture created by sculptor Patricia Piccinini as part of an Australian road safety campaign. While the science behind the making of Graham is pretty cool, the point to note is: Since our body cannot withstand road crashes, it’s much smarter to slow down when behind the wheel.

However, a disciplined driver isn’t enough. It’s also important to keep our little passengers in the back seat under control. Many a times, I have noticed children not wearing their seatbelt, moving around from the back seat to the front and creating disturbances for the person driving the car. Children peeping out of the window is also another common sight that has been highlighted so many times by road safety campaigns, but still there is a long way to go to achieve total road safety.

For starters, children must be taught to wear their seatbelt and not to move from their seat till the destination is reached. We children need to understand that seatbelts are meant for our safety and perhaps parents should be a little more stern on this matter. Car windows and doors must be kept locked at all times.

It’s sad that road safety is not recognised as a serious matter by many. We all regret when we come to know of road accidents, which unfortunately, happens all to often around the UAE. The clock is ticking and there’s plenty of room for improvement. Let’s all take road safety seriously and ensure that a simple trip to the beach or park doesn’t turn into a tragedy.

- The reader is a student based in Abu Dhabi.