Dubai: Nine people were awarded on Sunday for their safe driving on the first day of the 32nd edition of the Porsche RoadStar campaign that rewards safe drivers.
The biannual Porsche RoadStar campaign will continue until October 23. The RoadStar car will be touring Dubai looking for safe drivers and then moves to Sharjah from October 22-23.
The campaign promotes safe driving and rewards drivers who adhere to traffic rules in the strictest sense, by giving them Dh1,000 and an appreciation certificate endorsed by the police of the emirate.
The nine winners of the first day were Shantaram Jadhav from India, Al Sayed Mohammad from Egypt, Sunil Kumar from Bangladesh, Ruba Akram from Jordan, Noor Allah Jakaria from India, Kasper Simonsen from Denmark, Marie Heissert from Holland, Saeed Ahmad Saif Saeed from the UAE and Bashir Khan from Pakistan.
Bashir Khan and Jakaria both said they were initially shocked at being stopped, as they knew they had not done anything wrong.
“I was scared at first because I could not think of anything wrong I had done, but after the policeman asked for my licence and vehicle registration and told me that I had won, I relaxed,” Khan, 45, said.
Khan, who works as a bus driver for Dubai Autism Centre, has been driving for 20 years in Dubai, “I drive safe because the students are my responsibility and I should take care of them as best as I can.”
Jakaria said that he thinks this is a positive initiative that will encourage people to be safe drivers. “This made me very happy and also my company was very happy for me and proud of me.”
During the five-day campaign, a total of Dh50,000 will be given as incentives for drivers to continue with their safe driving habits and also encourage other road users to follow suit.
There are plans to introduce the campaign in Fujairah in the future.
