A UAE road safety survey has found fewer than one in four people always use a seat belt when sitting in the back of a car.
Research conducted in January by Road Safety UAE in partnership with Al Wathba Insurance asked 1,010 road users about attitudes towards using seat belts as drivers and passengers.
Although the results showed improving awareness of the safety measure compared with a similar 2017 survey, the results showed attitudes still lagged behind those elsewhere in the world.
A UAE law introduced in 2017 made seat belts mandatory. Despite that, the most recent survey data said 86 per cent of drivers buckled up for every journey, but that figure plummeted to only 24 per cent for those travelling in the back seat.
There is, however, a greater awareness of the precaution since seat belts became mandatory by law, results showed.
“Seat belts save lives and spare us from injuries in case of car accidents,” said Muralikrishnan Raman, chief financial officer at Al Wathba Insurance.
“Our mission is to protect our customers and to demonstrate in a credible and tangible manner how we can contribute to safer roads and to better our society.”
Improving attitudes
In 2017, only 78 per cent of drivers said they always wore a seat belt, eight per cent fewer than in 2026.
However, 86 per cent of front-seat passengers in 2026 said they always wore a seat belt, compared with 71 per cent nine years earlier.
In the back, only 11 per cent of passengers said they wore a belt in 2017, which rose to 24 per cent in 2026.
Failing to wear a seat belt is one of the biggest reasons for road deaths in the UAE.
Although federal data is not available, the latest figures from Abu Dhabi Police showed 60 per cent of fatalities in the emirate were a result of failing to wear a seat belt.
That number is considerably higher than in the US (49 per cent), the EU – which ranges from 25-50 per cent, and in the UK where a quarter of road deaths are due to failing to wear a seat belt.
“Accidents do happen, but the consequences don’t need to be fatal or result in severe injuries,” said Thomas Edelmann, managing director of Road Safety UAE.
“Increasing seat belt wearing rates is the single biggest opportunity we have to reduce the number of fatalities on the UAE’s roads.
“Despite the fact [that] public understanding of the protective powers of the seat belt is reasonably high, the usage figures are not where the law mandates them to be.
“The focus must be on generating and publishing up-to-date figures about fatalities and injuries, while strong awareness initiatives are needed.”
The force of the impact in a road collision can cause devastating crush injuries.
At speeds of 120kph, the impact on an adult without a seat belt is similar to falling from a 15-floor building, making survival almost impossible.
In 2017, a road safety survey found only half of drivers insisted their passengers wore a seat belt, but that number had climbed to 70 per cent in the latest research.
Fines and black points
Drivers in the UAE can be fined Dh400 with four black points added to their driving licence if they or a passenger do not wear a seat belt. Drivers are responsible for ensuring all occupants are buckled up.
Children under four years old must be in a safety seat, and only those aged 10 or above and taller than 145cm are allowed to sit in the front of a car.
International firm Vitrionic has developed an automated seat belt detection system to enhance safety while significantly reducing the manpower required to enforce the rules.
“Our system captures images or video footage, including automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), and the AI analyses the content to determine seat belt usage as well as other factors, such as mobile phone use,” said Youssef El Hansali, chief executive of Vitronic Middle East. The system can detect violations across up to two lanes.
“The enforcement of seat belt laws plays a crucial role in promoting road safety awareness,” said Dr El Hansali.
