Forward Planning: Minimising road accidents

Looking at the rising rate of road accidents and the severity of these accidents makes one wonder if there is a way out of this crazy situation.

The question of the number of vehicles driven on the roads of Dubai was raised recently: it has reached an alarming level and besides the constant increase in accidents, the traffic is becoming more difficult as the city gets extremely congested.

The construction of major roads and highways like Sheikh Zayed and Emirates roads has helped smoothen the traffic and eased the circulation between the emirates and in some parts of the city - but still accidents, especially the severe and fatal ones, are on the rise.

Fixing this problem needs the attention and involvement of the traffic police, insurance companies and the judicial authority.

Linking all UAE traffic departments together would allow systematic gathering and storing of information about drivers, vehicles and accidents so that each driver would have a file in the system showing his/her driving history (traffic tickets, accidents), proper address, type of vehicle owned, marital status and age.

The traffic law, of course, must be strict in its application of finding and punishing reckless and dangerous drivers and getting them out of the streets. Driving recklessly at 180 kph and killing someone should not be treated by making the irresponsible driver pay Dh150,000 of Diyah money and letting him/her get back behind the wheel the next day.

The careless attitude of dangerous drivers is also encouraged by the fact that insurance companies will pay anyway in case of an accident no matter what kind of driving behaviour caused it.

Dangerous and safe drivers are treated alike when it comes to insurance premiums which means, on one hand to reward the bad drivers by letting them keep their bad habits, and on the other to punish good and safe drivers who indirectly finance the first.

Car insurance premium must be based on the insured age, marital status, driving experience and type of car. A 20-year-old bachelor driving a sports car should have a higher premium than a 35-year-old married individual in a family estate vehicle.

If traffic violations or accidents appear in the driver's record, the premium should increase accordingly. In case of repeated violations, the insured could even become at some point uninsurable, having to be included in a separate high risk insurance pool.

Conversely, good drivers with clean driving records would get a discounted premium as a reward for their safe driving behaviour. These measures should be applied to both third party liability insurance and the comprehensive one.

Third party liability (TBL) cover must reflect the driver's good or bad driving habits, type and number of accidents. TBL cover is so cheap that reckless drivers won't mind causing an accident, inflicting property damage and financial loss because they know "the insurance will pay".

The newly formed insurance and traffic joint committee between the ministries of Economy and Commerce, Interior (traffic police) and the Emirates Insurance Association (EIA), will tackle the subject of minimising road accidents by promoting better driving behaviour, making roads much safer and finding ways to insure in the proper manner by rewarding good drivers and keeping the reckless ones out of the streets.