New cars and roads keep the UAE fuel efficient
It is easy to assume that cheap fuel (petrol or gasoline, depending where you come from) in UAE equals a blind eye to efficiency. But there are four principal reasons why fuel is wasted while driving: 1. Traffic jams 2. Badly serviced cars 3. Old cars on the road 4. Bad driving habits Traffic jams are notorious for wasting fuel. If a journey that would normally take half an hour, takes an hour, it means that twice as much fuel is burnt. Modern cars are at their most efficient cruising between 100 km/h and 120 km/h. Stop, go, stop go on a jammed highway is a no-no.
How does UAE rate on the traffic jam scale? Not bad at all. Sure there are jams during peak hours, but let’s take Dubai as an example. There is hardly anyone who regularly sits an hour in their car, commuting from their home to their office. Most home to office journeys in the city take an average of between 10 and 20 minutes and traffic flows reasonably well. Traffic jams during peak hours are usually caused by breakdowns and accidents.
In New York and Los Angeles, the average commute time is 30 minutes or more — with drivers spending most of that time sitting in huge traffic jams, which by all accounts are caused by the volume of cars on the road. This is a global trend. All major cities face growing traffic problems because of too many cars and not enough infrastructure.
What about the Dubai-Sharjah commute, or the Dubai-Abu Dhabi journey that people do daily? Again on these journeys cars move, if anything (especially the Abu Dhabi journey) too quickly. There are hard- ly masses of cars bumper every day.
These days there are many good highways and alternative routes in the UAE, which go a long way to prevent congestion. So, does the UAE waste fuel — compared to other countries — because of traffic jams, congestion and too many vehicles on the roads. Answer: No.
One of the many great things about living in the UAE is that cars are genuinely affordable, as is their running and maintenance. Call it a perk of living in a country where public transport, which granted is growing fast, does not yet have the reach to service everyone’s needs.
Also, the rules of the road (enforced during annual licensing) demand that cars are roadworthy. This country probably
bumper
to has the ‘healthiest’ cars on the road. Seldom do you see smoking trucks or dilapidated vehicles on the roads — like, for example, in Africa and Asia.
Burning too much fuel
This is a result of economics particularly in third world countries. But these old cars are fuel guzzlers of note. In contrast, most cars on UAE roads are new, well maintained and feature all the latest fuel conservation gizmos
So, are there many old and badly-serviced cars, that waste fuel on UAE roads? No.
Probably the only area where UAE motorists can be accused of burning too much fuel is their driving habits. Driving within the speed limit, smoothly and obeying the basic rules of the road go a long way in conserving fuel. On UAE roads it is common to see drivers speeding as if in a grand prix. Others do quite the opposite, driving too slowly in the wrong gear, and pullingoff laboriously.
But, are these majority of drivers? I would go out on a limb here and say: no. However, I will concede that driving standards can be improved. But in the context of fuel wasting do the collective bad drivers on UAE roads account for major guzzling? Don’t think so…
What about non-stop conditioners?
The latest studies reveal that modern cars are more fuel efficient with the air-conditioner operating. Driving with the windows rolled down plays havoc with the aerodynamics of the
air- vehicle and actually fuel efficiency.
Most of the points above are debatable. Exact statistics on the subject don’t really exist and how do you honestly measure fuel waste relative to a country’s location, socio-economic structure and wealth?
Are we in the UAE collectively oblivious to fuel efficiency because we have access to cheap fuel? I would say: No.
Can we as individuals in the UAE do more to save fuel: Yes
It is the responsibility of everyone on this planet to make a huge effort to conserve natural resources and a good way to start is to drive our cars in an efficient manner.
decreases