Careful drivers in Abu Dhabi get surprise reward

Abu Dhabi: Khalid Ali Aloum has been driving for the past 45 years and has no major traffic violations to report, so the 69-year-old grandfather was utterly surprised to find a cavalcade of cars pulling up behind him.

"I have only once received a ticket for speeding in 1982 because I was two kilometres per hour above the legal limit. I have otherwise always been very careful about my driving," Aloum told the policeman who approached him.

He was therefore delighted to discover that he had been selected as a winner of Caltex Roadstar, a half-yearly campaign that encourages people to be safe drivers and is currently running in the capital.

The campaign, which is organised by Ciel Marketing and Events in association with Emirates Motor Sports Foundation and the traffic police, on Sunday rewarded six drivers who were following basic traffic safety regulations like driving within the speed limit, wearing seatbelts, using child safety seats and using indicator lights.

Winners received a cash prize of Dh1,000 each along with complimentary child safety seats. The prizes are sponsored by Caltex and AXA Insurance.

The week-long initiative will target drivers in Sharjah and Dubai for the rest of the week. Lieutenant Hamed Al Beloushi, an officer at the Abu Dhabi Police Traffic and Patrol Directorate, told Gulf News that such positive campaigns provided encouragement for safe driving.

Positive initiatives

"As a department, we have to issue fines and warnings for unsafe drivers but we see visible improvements in road safety arising from positive initiatives such as this," Lieutenant Al Beloushi said.

Other winners were also shocked when stopped by a row of vehicles that included a police car.

Lexandra Dahlin, 62, who was on her way home and had to pass by a traffic light under maintenance, thought she had failed to follow the directions of the traffic police stationed at the junction when the row of official vehicles pulled up in her driveway.

"I just returned from my tennis lessons and thought I had done something wrong when the cars pulled up," the homemaker from Sweden said.

She added that traffic and road safety seemed to have improved considerably since she arrived in the emirate three years ago.

"I think speeding and failing to maintain a suitable distance from the vehicle in front are two of the riskiest violations, and they seem to be reducing with the efforts of the traffic police," Dahlin said.

Winners

1. Lexandra Dahlin

2. Eliana Wadeea jean

3. Iman Habib

4. Moez Bin Saleh

5. Khalid Ali Aloum

6. Medhat Ahmad