Despite repeated warnings not to text and drive, it is still not uncommon to see drivers around the UAE swerving wildly as they attempt to choose just the right emoticon for the moment.
Now a Japanese app has tried an innovative solution. By using the sensors built into every smartphone, it can track how far you are travelling and whether or not the phone has been turned over. Drive 100km without looking at your phone and the app rewards you with a coupon for a free iced coffee.
Such an idea could work here, with some tweaks. Rather than offering free coffee (caffeine not being renowned for inducing a relaxed state), the two mobile phone companies could offer extra data packages if you manage to traverse the Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway without checking your phone. Then, at the end, you’ll have an extra gigabyte of data to use to send that rarest of messages: “Sorry I missed your message. I was driving.”