Safety campaigns work but drivers must make effort

Dubai/Fujairah: Most people would agree that the standards of driving in the UAE leave a lot of room for improvement.

One way of trying to make our roads safer is to launch an awareness campaign, and just such an initiative has been started by the Emirates Driving Institute.

The organisation's campaign, called Mama I'm Home, is aimed at children.

As reported in Gulf News, about 70,000 child traffic safety packs are being distributed to more than 50 schools in Dubai and Sharjah as part of the campaign.

The scheme aims to tell young people how to look after themselves on the roads and deal with emergencies and accidents.

City Talk took to the streets of Dubai and Fujairah for views of residents on whether awareness campaigns work.

Hasan Mohammad Al Magribi, 38, an accountant from Egypt, said road safety campaigns were a good idea, but the main problem was "the attitude of the drivers themselves".

"At driving school, everyone sticks to the basic safety regulations such as wearing belts and signalling, but as soon as people get their driving licenses, all that is ignored," he said.

"More could be done, like increasing the police presence on the roads and motorways and handing out immediate fines to offenders."

Executive manager Hamdan Mohammad Al Mulla, 22, an Emirati, said that while traffic safety campaigns were important, there was "a group of irresponsible drivers" who they would never reach.

"That's when the family can play an important role, because before drivers even get to driving schools. The attitude of their family members towards safety and road regulations will determine what sort of drivers they will be in the future," he said.

Accountancy manager Osama Esmail Al Saeed, 47, from Egypt, said road safety campaigns can have "a good impact at the time" but added that these need to be "more regular and should take different forms to keep the interest of drivers".

He also said that there should be greater distinctions between traffic offences depending upon how serious they are.

Indian finance assistant manager Rajan Pillai, 50, said awareness campaigns were a good initial measure to improve road safety.

"Most people are not aware of the road rules - they just drive as they wish. They should try publicity campaigns first and if people are not showing awareness, then they can impose fines on them," he said.

Bob Morgan, 49, an architect, said a penalty points system, similar to the one that operates in his native United Kingdom, should be introduced.

"Also, more police in unmarked cars [to catch speeding or unsafe drivers] is a good idea," he said.

Coffee shop owner Shahid Munir, 40, from the United States, said the driving in the UAE was "haphazard".

"[Traffic safety campaigns] are effective, but they have to be one after the other. Maybe each quarter there should be a new one," he said.

Munir suggested that people who break traffic rules should be sent on courses to help them improve their driving.