RoadSafetyUAE has conducted a new survey in collaboration with Retail i-Insured to know how satisfied motorists feel about the road safety situation in the UAE. The findings of the survey reveal that road safety situation has continued to improve over the last few months, however, the collective feedback of safe driving motorists suggests that distracted driving is still a big road safety concern in the UAE.
Details of the Survey
In a survey that had a sample size of 1,004 respondents, motorists were asked to give their opinion on the current road safety situation in the UAE. The results of the survey have highlighted that most of the UAE motorists feel the road safety situation has improved in 2017 as compared to 2016.
Survey Results
RoadSafetyUAE in collaboration with the Retail i-Insured conducted the new survey on road safety situation in the UAE. As stated earlier, 1,004 respondents took part in the survey and gave their feedback on the current road safety situation in the UAE by agreeing or disagreeing with the questions asked in the survey.
The survey findings were compared with the results of the previous RoadSafetyUAE survey. The final results are listed below:
- 3% decrease in dangerous driving
- 11% decrease in lane swerving violations
- 9% decrease in distracted driving
- 8% decrease in speeding violations
- 5% decrease in tailgating incidents
The results of the survey clearly highlight that motorists now feel safer while driving around the UAE roads. The improvement perceived by motorists is not big by any means, but it comes as a welcome acclamation of the efforts put by traffic authorities in improving the road safety situation across the country. The traffic authorities in all the seven states of the UAE have been working tirelessly to manage the flow of traffic better and have introduced toughest traffic rules in the recently amended traffic law to discourage motorists from committing dangerous traffic violations.
Also read: Traffic Violations with Maximum Fines in the UAE
Mutual Concern of Respondents in the Survey
The survey findings highlighted that motorists in general, are now satisfied with the improvements made by traffic authorities to the traffic regulating system that includes bringing amendments to the traffic law, enhancing the traffic monitoring system and penalizing traffic offenders more efficiently than ever before. According to the respondents, the overall driving behavior of motorists has improved considerably, particularly after the implementation of the amended traffic on July 1, 2017.
Despite the improvement in general driving behavior, respondents expressed a mutual concern with regards to the distracted driving behavior of motorists. Distracted driving is one of the major reasons behind fatal road accidents in the UAE and while authorities have harshened the traffic penalties for distracted driving in the new traffic law, motorists are still committing driving mistakes that they can easily avoid by being more attentive.
The use of mobile phone while driving is one of the most dangerous types of distracted driving that can prove to have fatal consequences on a busy road. Distracted driving is extremely dangerous because motorists can commit other traffic violations such as over-speeding, tailgating, lane swerving and jumping the red signal because of using mobile phone while driving. According to the survey findings, 56% respondents selected agree or strongly agree while answering whether they had seen distracted motorists on the road.
Also read: New Survey Reveals Why Motorists in the UAE don’t Use Child Safety Seats
Traffic Penalties for Major Traffic Violations in the UAE
Over-speeding, lane swerving, tailgating, jumping the red signal and distracted driving are amongst the major traffic violations committed by motorists across the UAE. Respondents in the recent survey were asked questions about all these violations and while the survey results can be considered as encouraging, they are still far from being satisfactory. Traffic authorities in the UAE aim to achieve zero deaths per 100,000 people by 2020 and that can only be made possible if motorists adopt defensive driving behavior and stop committing dangerous driving mistakes that can have fatal consequences.
Listed below are the penalties for some of the most dangerous traffic violations in the UAE:
- AED 400 traffic fine for lane swerving
- AED 400 traffic fine and 4 back points for tailgating
- AED 1,000 traffic fine, 12 black points and 30 days confiscation of the vehicle for jumping the red signal
- AED 800 traffic fine and 4 black points for using mobile phone while driving
- The traffic penalties for speeding violations are now categorized on the basis of speeding committed above the speeding limit of a road.
The table below describes the speeding penalties in the UAE according to the new traffic law:
Also read: Traffic Violations with a Penalty of more than 10 Black Points against a Driving License
Official Statement on the New Survey
Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of the RoadSafetyUAE showed his gratitude towards the respondents of the survey and considered conducting this survey to be an important effort in understanding how satisfied motorists were with the current road safety situation in the UAE. He suggested that despite a noticeable improvement observed in the road safety situation, the traffic authorities should continue to educate motorists about the importance of safe driving habits.
Frederik Bisbjerg, executive vice-president of Retail i-Insured, said that all stakeholders must continue to contribute towards making the UAE safer for commuting as the safe driving motorists still don’t feel completely comfortable while driving on the UAE roads.
Also read: 6 Effective Safe Driving Tips for the UAE Motorists
Bottom-line
The results of the recent survey conducted by RoadSafetyUAE and Retail i-Insured confirm that road safety situation is getting better by the day in the UAE. However, it is important for motorists to comply with traffic rules and stop committing dangerous traffic violations for which they have been booked repeatedly by the traffic authorities. Motorists must develop a defensive driving approach and help authorities in their efforts to find a sustainable solution for road safety situation. This is how dangerous accidents and road deaths can be avoided in the UAE.
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