Road safety campaign aimed at lane discipline

ABU DHABI // It may seem like common sense to most of us, but motorists are again being urged stick to their lane when driving through traffic junctions to reduce delays and collisions.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Interior tweeted a 36-second video clip with the hashtag #come_on to illustrate how to safely drive through a junction without impeding the flow of traffic. It also serves as a warning against the dangers of stopping and being on the wrong lane when intending to turn left.

A vehicle is seen in the clip stopping on a through-traffic lane and signalling with the intention of turning left while two cars were behind it waiting to pass on a green light.

Experts welcomed the use of social media to spread road-safety messages to the public.

Dr Daniel Albuquerque, assistant professor of Transportation Engineering at the UAE University, said the use of social media should be explored by the UAE authorities.

“Most of the causes of severe traffic crashes in the UAE are due to imprudent driving behaviour, and this is where a lot of the road safety problems lie,” he said.

“The UAE enjoys modern road infrastructure and a vehicle fleet which is continually getting safer over time. These are not where a lot of the road safety problems are. More than habit-changing, cultural-changing campaigns is what will do the trick towards safer driving.”

The lack of lane discipline is among the top 10 killers on UAE’s roads, according to the ministry.

“It is vital that this issue gets addressed and the recent MoI video is a great example,” said Road Safety UAE founder Thomas Edelmann.

“As 45 per cent of accidents are caused by young drivers, it is important to use social media to reach out to those young audiences.”

Drivers should always use the proper lanes and follow the arrows marked on the road. Do not make a left turn from the lane dedicated for through movement Abu Dhabi’s road user code states.

“Very often we witness motorists who even want to jump lanes if there is a queue to take a right or a left turn at an intersection,” Mr Edelmann said. “Or we see motorists who are confused or distracted and figure out very late that they want to turn at an intersection when they are nearing a turning point but are still in the wrong lane.”

Motorists should be reminded that the transport system is a collective, public system and not their own, said Dr Daniel Albuquerque, who is also the co-ordinator of the roadway, transportation, and traffic safety research centre at the UAE University.

“This system runs based on a set of regulations by which drivers must abide,” he said. “And if they do not, they can potentially suffer consequences such as financial losses and injuries.”

Accidents are often caused by drivers who fail to make turns properly at traffic junctions.

“If they are stopping in the through-traffic lane with the purpose of cutting time at the expense of other peoples’ time, that is not a good citizen’s attitude,” Dr Albuquerque said.

“And it would be great if people who break the rules stopped to ponder on just that.”