Problem & Solution

Car Accidents in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates is a well known and well reputed country around the globe. However, there will definitely be some problems and in this report I will highlight what I see as the main problem in the UAE. It's road traffic accidents, and how can we overcome this problem? Road accidents are increasingly being recognized as a growing public problem in the UAE. The increase in population density is one of the most important reasons for the high number of vehicles, leading to an increase in expansion of roads to accommodate the huge number of vehicles (Bener A, D Crundall, 2005).

The UAE has experienced recent huge rapid economic growth, and an associated increase in road construction and number of vehicles. These factors have combined with lack of road safety awareness to produce a high number of road accidents which presently constitutes the second highest cause of death in the UAE. It has also shown the casualty and death rates in the UAE and in other Gulf countries are much higher than in more developed countries. The major causes of road accidents during 2006 were careless driving and excessive speeding. Overall, the behavior of the road user clearly represents an important risk factor. However, age, education, training, experience, way of life, and emotional status, are contributing factors (Car Accidents in the UAE, 2007 &  Hassane Sofoh H, Abdullah Seif Abdullah, 2011)

The discovery of oil in the UAE in the last century has rapidly led to changes in many aspects of life in the UAE, including advances in wealth, technology and the availability of western products, including vehicles as a means of transportation. The problem of road accidents according to the research including 166 persons held in March, 2011 has shown the percentage of road accidents is 86% which is very bad. The government is doing a lot to make this percentage decrease, but every year this percentage is increasing instead of decreasing. Why? ( Hassane Sofoh H, Abdullah Seif Abdullah, 2011).

According to the news about 37% of all car accident deaths involve the group 18-27 years old (Car Accidents in the UAE, 2007). It’s a big problem facing young people today and they are the most unsafe group of drivers on the road. They endanger themselves and others, therefore parents need to take greater responsibility for instilling road safety awareness in their children. How should parents do this?

First of all, to show them how big a responsibility it is to drive, because their life and others depend on how well they drive.  Secondly, to learn to respect the driving rules. Some young people already have good driving skills and good knowledge of the rules, so there are no excuses. But other new learners take longer to be happy with the rules and will be more stressed. So the question is how to reduce their fear or nervousness? Improved theory training.

Last but not least respecting the driving laws is the most important point.  For example here in the UAE most young people are not aware of  the importance of wearing a seat belt.  Parents should explain that it is not only safer, but it also shows that they follow the regulations of the traffic laws. Besides that, using cell phones is prohibited. Furthermore, smoking and driving when they are tired is unsafe. If there are passengers in the car, they must still concentrate on driving.  Finally in order to be good drivers they must obey the legislation and regulations which have been issued in order to protect human lives.

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Bibliography:

·         Bener A, D Crundall. "Road Traffic Accidents in the United Arab Emirates Compared to Western Countries." Advances in Transportation Studies an International Journal. 15 Apr. 2005. Web. 07 May 2011. <http://www.salimandsalimah.org/documents/RTAsinUAEcompared.pdf>.

·         Hassane  Sofoh H,  Abdullah Seif Abdullah. "Exploring the most prevalent social problems in the United Arab Emirates. “ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL Of ACADEMIC RESEARCH”.  N.p., 2 Mar. 2011. Web. 5 June 2011. <www.ijar.lit.az/pdf/10/2011(10-93).pdf>.

·         http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/2007/03/car-accidents-in-uae_7558.html, Car Accidents in the UAE, 2007.