Road safety is a huge issue in the UAE. There was an alarming rise in traffic accidents in Dubai with 148 deaths last year. The police catch many offenses, especially speeding, using their system of closed circuit cameras, but they are not often seen on patrol. The penalties that currently exist, including fines, black points, license suspension and vehicle seizure, do not seem to be deterring unsafe drivers.
The main problems include excessive speeding, not wearing seat belts, not using child restraints, running red lights, using mobile phones, tailgating, drunk driving, not giving way to pedestrians and cyclists, and driver inattention to conditions. Usage of seat belts and child restraints are not mandatory, nor are there any restrictions on cell phone use. It seems obvious that those safety precautions should be enacted, but even if they were there would still be a big problem with enforcement.
While vehicles can be impounded for driving in excess of 200 kph (124 mph), speeding below that level results in fines that can be paid with no limit on the number of tickets. Getting speeding tickets does not appear to affect insurance rates. For many drivers, that's a good thing, because the cameras, which now seem to be everywhere, make it incredibly easy to get tickets, sometimes more than one, before the driver is even aware that the camera has been activated. The system of black points, which provides for a driver's license to be seized at 24 points, is only triggered at the highest speeds or for certain offenses, like running red lights. The National reports that more than a half million drivers received black points last year, but only 2,500 had their licenses suspended upon reaching the limit of 24 points.
Various campaigns have been instituted to address the problem. One such campaign, called "Kulluna Shurta" or "We Are All Police," encourages people to report traffic offenses immediately using a dedicated free number, 8004353. Private motorists are also encouraged to send photos and video of offenses. This week a new campaign started to bring attention to the danger of sudden swerving,
where drivers change lanes unexpectedly without proper signaling. News reports said that 41 deaths in Dubai last year have been attributed to that cause alone.
What makes enforcement more difficult is that speeding seems engrained in the regional culture. Other cultural differences compound the problem. Safe driving practices that are well-accepted in western cultures, such as signaling and checking the rear view before changing lanes and yielding way to a merging driver, are foreign to many drivers here. Such drivers may be used to smaller roads and slower traffic jams, but the high speed highways of the UAE leave little room for error.
Some seem to believe that the solution is more driver education, rather than more penalties. More education is always a good idea, but it seems obvious that there also need to be more penalties and license suspensions. In the U.S. it only takes a few speeding tickets before the license is suspended and insurance rates go up dramatically. Even well-educated people will not learn their lesson and drive more carefully until it affects them in the form of an accident or cost. Increased police patrols in high problem areas would also have a deterrent effect. Putting cameras in cars is another idea. Beefing up the penalties seems the best place to start.
Sadly, another sudden swerve death happened just this week, as a driver changed lanes suddenly causing another car to overturn and its driver to be killed. On the same day three pedestrians were mowed down on a side street near Emirates Towers. Reading such reports makes me fearful to take the road in our car. Biking along the Jumeirah Beach Road bike path seems more dangerous to me now as well. How many have to suffer death or injury before more effective measures are taken?
The main problems include excessive speeding, not wearing seat belts, not using child restraints, running red lights, using mobile phones, tailgating, drunk driving, not giving way to pedestrians and cyclists, and driver inattention to conditions. Usage of seat belts and child restraints are not mandatory, nor are there any restrictions on cell phone use. It seems obvious that those safety precautions should be enacted, but even if they were there would still be a big problem with enforcement.
While vehicles can be impounded for driving in excess of 200 kph (124 mph), speeding below that level results in fines that can be paid with no limit on the number of tickets. Getting speeding tickets does not appear to affect insurance rates. For many drivers, that's a good thing, because the cameras, which now seem to be everywhere, make it incredibly easy to get tickets, sometimes more than one, before the driver is even aware that the camera has been activated. The system of black points, which provides for a driver's license to be seized at 24 points, is only triggered at the highest speeds or for certain offenses, like running red lights. The National reports that more than a half million drivers received black points last year, but only 2,500 had their licenses suspended upon reaching the limit of 24 points.
Various campaigns have been instituted to address the problem. One such campaign, called "Kulluna Shurta" or "We Are All Police," encourages people to report traffic offenses immediately using a dedicated free number, 8004353. Private motorists are also encouraged to send photos and video of offenses. This week a new campaign started to bring attention to the danger of sudden swerving,
where drivers change lanes unexpectedly without proper signaling. News reports said that 41 deaths in Dubai last year have been attributed to that cause alone.
What makes enforcement more difficult is that speeding seems engrained in the regional culture. Other cultural differences compound the problem. Safe driving practices that are well-accepted in western cultures, such as signaling and checking the rear view before changing lanes and yielding way to a merging driver, are foreign to many drivers here. Such drivers may be used to smaller roads and slower traffic jams, but the high speed highways of the UAE leave little room for error.
Some seem to believe that the solution is more driver education, rather than more penalties. More education is always a good idea, but it seems obvious that there also need to be more penalties and license suspensions. In the U.S. it only takes a few speeding tickets before the license is suspended and insurance rates go up dramatically. Even well-educated people will not learn their lesson and drive more carefully until it affects them in the form of an accident or cost. Increased police patrols in high problem areas would also have a deterrent effect. Putting cameras in cars is another idea. Beefing up the penalties seems the best place to start.
Sadly, another sudden swerve death happened just this week, as a driver changed lanes suddenly causing another car to overturn and its driver to be killed. On the same day three pedestrians were mowed down on a side street near Emirates Towers. Reading such reports makes me fearful to take the road in our car. Biking along the Jumeirah Beach Road bike path seems more dangerous to me now as well. How many have to suffer death or injury before more effective measures are taken?
No comments:
Post a Comment