UAE roads seen as dangerous
SURVEY REVEALS LIMITED IMPACT OF BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE
60% of motorists see an increase in lane-swerving, one of the main causes of accidents — survey |
Roads in the UAE are not becoming safer even as the infrastructure improves and authorities continue to create awareness, a new survey has revealed.
According to the seventh cycle of Road Safety Monitor, 40 per cent of motorists polled felt that roads have become more dangerous, while around 60 per cent said that they see in an increase in lane-swerving, one of the major causes of accidents.
Commissioned by i-Insured in partnership with RoadSafetyUAE, the survey conducted by YouGov in September is based on a representative sample of 1,016 UAE residents.
Reflecting an alarming reversal in positive trends shown in the previous studies, the survey detected negative perceptions in most of the road experiences of drivers.
The negative trend in road safety perceptions comes despite concerted efforts by authorities to create greater awareness, which although resulting in lower fatalities has yet to have a positive impact on the feelings of motorists.
One of the very few positives of the survey is the thumbs up by motorists to the country’s world class road infrastructure, with 83 per cent feeling that the roads have improved, however, only 58 per cent said that driving has become more enjoyable.
“We applaud the authorities’ continued efforts to further improve the road infrastructure, but unfortunately, we see reversals in all dimensions of reckless driving, namely in distracted driving, lane swerving, speeding and tailgating. Probably, as a result of these observed increases, the commute times went up. In contrast, we observe positive trends for further improved infrastructure and overall driving enjoyment,” said Thomas Edelmann, managing director of RoadSafetyUAE.
Compared to the previous survey, which was conducted last March, 57 per cent of motorists said they saw more cases of speeding, up from 48 per cent in March, while 59 per cent agreed that cases of tailgating have increased, up from 51 per cent in the sixth cycle.
The survey also found 69 per cent of motorists saying that they come across increasing cases of distracted driving, such as use of mobile phones, while 55 per cent felt that their commute to and from work has become longer despite improvement in infrastructure.
“The UAE Road Safety Monitor links the perception of motorists to the main causes of road accidents. Perception counts and we have seen a strong correlation between the research findings and the recorded number of accidents and fatalities. Hence, this unique perception study provides valuable feedback about the impact of the involved stakeholders’ efforts aimed at increasing road safety,” said Frederik Bisbjerg, executive vice-president retail at i-Insured.
According to data from the Ministry of Interior, laneswerving is among the major causes of accidents leading to 21 per cent of deaths on the roads, while speeding causes 11 per cent of road fatalities.
Not buckling up is also among the major causes of deaths, as a recent report by Abu Dhabi Police said 60 per cent of road fatalities could have been avoided if the drivers and passengers wore seatbelts.