Half of Middle East parents break rules of the road if not monitored, survey reveals

Almost half of respondents admitted to making phone calls or checking social media while driving with children

Dubai has been making huge efforts to cut down on road accidents. Pawan Singh / The National

Nearly half of all parents in the Middle East admit to breaking road safety rules if they feel that they are not being monitored, a survey has revealed.

The study also showed that about 44 per cent of parents surveyed across the Middle East admitted to illegal behaviours, with 18 per cent saying they were most likely to flout traffic rules if there were no cameras in place. About 16 per cent admitted to dangerous driving when there was no way of being monitored and 10 per cent when there was no police in sight.

The survey is part of a major new road safety awareness campaign launched by carmaker Infiniti Middle East which has been called "eyes on you". Nearly half of all respondents said they were most likely to break traffic rules when they are in a hurry, and 40 per cent admitted to making phone calls or checking social media while driving with children.

“Road safety has always been at the forefront of Infiniti,” said Markus Leithe, managing director of Infiniti Middle East

“The road safety campaign aims for families to prioritise safe driving habits, especially with their children, as soon as they sit behind the wheel. These survey results are a reminder to parents that their bad on-road behaviour does not go unnoticed and is, in fact, being witnessed and eventually mimicked by the most important audience imaginable  - their children.”

The campaign is aligned with Dubai's traffic safety strategy to reduce road fatalities to 1.5 for every 100,000 population by 2021.

The survey was conducted by YouGov and involved 1,869 parents across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon.