A new study has revealed that roughly 39 million offences were committed on the UAE\u2019s roads in the six years between 2007 and 2012.<\/p>\n
Major Rashid Al Fardan, head of traffic survey at Sharjah Police, declared that the study showed aggressive behavior \u2013 such as tailgating, speeding and reckless driving \u2013 was a leading cause of accidents.<\/p>\n
There were 38.6 million offences in the six-year period, during which the rate of accidents increased, with the exception of 2007 to 2008.<\/p>\n
The study, compiled by the Sharjah Police traffic directorate, attributed the increase in recorded offences to the growing number of vehicles on the road each year, failure to abide by the traffic rules and greater traffic monitoring.<\/p>\n
In Sharjah alone, aggressive driving led to 68.8 per cent of the 5,583 traffic accidents between 2007 and 2012.<\/p>\n
The causes included failure to stick to lanes, lack of respect for other road users, tailgating, jumping red lights, entering a road without ensuring it was safe, speeding and recklessness.<\/p>\n
The worst daily eight-hour period for accidents in the emirate was between 10pm and 6am, followed 2pm to 10pm.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoad safety is a very relevant topic here in the UAE and we hear about it every day,\u201d said Thomas Edelmann, founder of the website Road Safety UAE. \u201cEveryone has their own stories from the roads here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is one topic that is at the forefront of improving the situation and that is road etiquette and politeness. We believe that the one basic rule is that you must treat others the way you want to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although there is no clear definition of \u201caggressive driving\u201d, the study found it can be caused by environmental factors as well as the personal and psychological traits of a driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must think about driving with each other and not against each other, then a lot of these types of incidents on our roads will disappear,\u201d Mr Edelmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a firm believer in education. We have to start in schools and instil road etiquette and understanding from a young age, so when they become the next generation of drivers they know what should be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
A study released last year showed there were 2.3 million offences on Dubai roads in 2012.<\/p>\n
That compared with 9.6 million fines handed out for that year in The Netherlands, which has a population more than eight times that of Dubai.<\/p>\n
In the UAE, aggressive driving was more common on motorways and roads with no radars, roads with traffic jams and those with fewer speed humps, the study found.<\/p>\n
Vicent Mutebi, a resident of Sharjah, said more needed to be done to improve driving standards in the emirate and across the UAE.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore awareness campaigns are needed to tackle bad driving habits, especially among the youths, and stricter rules like that of permanently confiscating noisy vehicles and many other bad road practices,\u201d Mr Mutebi said.<\/p>\n
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