1st Road Safety Conference & Workshop 6th – 8th December 2004
Dubai -UAE
Participants of the conference and workshops unanimously  adopted that its guiding
objective was that:

  • The  primary  aim  of  this  conference  is  to  develop  a  series  of  practical
    recommendations  that can be implemented as short, medium and long term
    initiatives designed to reduce the number and severity of crashes in the UAE.

  • Ultimately such initiatives should be benchmarked against World's Best Practice
and able to be implemented uniformly throughout the UAE and to include all of
the community.

  • The focus of these initiatives should be on achieving behavioural change.  
These initiatives should be supported by solid research and a comprehensive
communication/education policy.

  • Concern was also expressed that such high levels of road trauma no doubt have
a significant  economic  impact.  This  impact  is  not  merely  in  terms  of
the tangible  cost  to the community of medical and mechanical expenses, but
also in  relation to the  Nation’s  international  trade  and  rapidly  growing
tourism industries, as  well as  its  position  as  the “Gateway”  to  the  Middle
East and  Africa, for much of Asia and the “Western World”.

  • It was  clearly  viewed that the UAE and GCC countries, in general,  have great  
    potential in many fields and that the people of the region deserve a safe travel
    environment irrespective of their mode of travel, whether in a car on the way
    to work or home, on a school bus, walking or riding.

  • The  participants,  conveners  and  speakers  of  the  “Safer  Drivers  in  Safer
    Vehicles  on Safer  Roads  Conference and  Workshops”, offer  their strongest
    support  to  road  safety   initiatives  in  the  UAE   and   sincerely  hope  that
    significant action can be taken to reduce road trauma and improve safety
    within the next 5 years.
KEY ISSUES IDENTIFIED (not in order of priority)

  •    Driving at an Inappropriate Speed;
  •    Lack Concentration When Driving;
  •    Use of Mobile Phones for Both Talking and SMS While Driving;
  •    Changing Lanes Without Due Care and Without Signalling;
  •    Drivers Not Stopping for Pedestrians;
  •    “Running” Red Lights;
  •    Many Vehicles are Significantly Overloaded;
  •    Vehicles Queuing Across Intersections (increasing driver  frustration);
  •    Lack of Detailed Information/Research Data;
  •    Not Using Seat belts and Child Restraints (including the lack of  regulations
requiring  seat belts to be worn in the back seat);
  •    Lack of Lane Discipline (esp. driving in more than one lane);
  •    Unsafe Driving and Parking Near Schools;
  •    Not Maintaining the Correct Distance from the Vehicle in Front;
  •    Dangerous Overtaking;
  •    Reckless Driving;
  •    Driving on the Hard Shoulder;and
  •    Currently, Education  and  Communication is  Inefficient,  partially  due  to
the  multi-cultural  aspects  of our  society  and  partially  due  to the style
currently being used.
© Copyright 2007 Smart Vision. All rights reserved

"Safer Drivers in Safer Vehicles on Safer Roads"