No silver bullet solution exists to make the UAE's roads safer. Progress will more likely come via a range of initiatives covering everything from road engineering to driver behaviour. As The National reported yesterday, one road safety expert is proposing that all drivers sit a competency test every five years, both to improve their skills and reduce complacency.
Most experienced drivers will admit that they have adopted bad habits over the years and that the way they drive in real life does not reflect their performance at their driving test. But is constant retesting the answer? It would test ability rather than attitude. It will be good to catch those who are simply bad drivers and don’t know the rules of the road, but it bears noting that many dangerous drivers are able to moderate their behaviour while being assessed. Afterwards, they go back to driving recklessly.
Certainly, part of the safer-roads strategy has to be stricter testing of new drivers. Here, as in most parts of the world, young drivers are over-represented in road accidents. It is not hard to understand the thrill of speed and a powerful car, especially if you’re a new driver. In many countries, new drivers may be restricted to less-powerful vehicles but this would be a challenge here, where nearly all cars are far more powerful than a generation ago. It will help though if new drivers know that there will be consequences – losing their licence – if they have an accident within, say their first year on the road. They should be subject to a probationary period.
There also needs to be more active policing of the roads. At present, this is mostly done by means of speed and red light cameras and offenders incur fines but don’t usually get black points. Having more police on the roads, stopping and awarding black points to those who break the rules, will force repeat transgressors to rethink their behaviour. And it will have a deterrent effect as well because motorists who see the police pull over reckless drivers are likely to be more careful. In the absence of a silver bullet solution, it is these sorts of initiatives that will make the roads safer for everyone.
