Seven years after this country was shocked by the deaths of three young Emirati sisters and their nanny who were hit by a speeding car as they tried to cross one of the capital's busy roads, there has been significant improvement in road safety. But there remains a compelling need to do more to prevent other families going through similar heartbreak.
The incident on Airport Road in Abu Dhabi prompted The National to launch its Road to Safety campaign, using this tragedy to prompt drivers and pedestrians to take a fresh look at how they behave. But, as the road safety campaigners who were already active in the UAE in 2009 knew, there is no silver-bullet solution to lowering the number of injuries and deaths on our roads. As much as we would all like to see a revolutionary advance in making driving safer for everyone, the reality is that success is an evolutionary process that includes changing mindsets and driving behaviours.
Awareness is an important factor and the shock caused by the deaths of Shaikha Al Mansouri, 4, her sisters Damayer, 6, and Mariam, 7, and their Indonesian nanny Nurshaida Parjan, 24, helped in that process. However, that is just one of many strands helping make the roads safer and it will fail to make serious inroads unless it is accompanied by factors such as enforcement, education and other approaches right through to seemingly minor initiatives such as having clearer signs on our roads so drivers know where they need to be heading.
The statistics show that our roads are steadily becoming safer but the reality is, despite having a fleet of relatively modern cars and world-class infrastructure, we lag well behind many other developed countries. But the dynamics have not changed and there remains no simple solution. Continued progress will involve doing more of the same, finding new areas to improve and increasing the penalties – including banning from driving those who fail to understand that better road safety includes all of us improving our standards.
