Safety is no accident

Abu Dhabi man’s 21 accident-free years on the roads shows the merits of defensive driving

Tonsy Ali, 58, from Egypt, was honoured for having a clean driving record for the past 21 years. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Tonsy Ali is quite circumspect when he explains his accident-free 21 years on the roads. He attributes part of it to providence but he also sticks to the speed limit instead of exploiting the 20 kph buffer and tries to predict the actions of tailgaters and other aggressive drivers and give way to them.

Anyone who has attended a defensive driving course would recognise the principles that Mr Ali, a football coach originally from Egypt, worked out for himself. His actions earned him the Abu Dhabi Police’s Outstanding Male Driver award but we should remind ourselves that his achievement ought to be the expectation on the roads rather than an exception.

As Mr Ali points out, speed cameras are primarily a road-safety device rather than a revenue-gathering one. An option might be for serial speeders to be compelled to attend a defensive driving course and learn the principles that have stood Mr Ali in good stead.