DUBAI // Students vowed to wear seatbelts in the back seat of vehicles and said they would convince family and friends to drive safely, after they watched several videos and tried out a car crash simulator – all part of a road safety campaign.
It was an eye-opener for the Gems Wellington Academy students, who strapped into a test car on Monday as part of the workshop. Many were shaken upon experiencing a mock collision after the simulator turned upside down, allowing them to safely experience a crash.
“I hated it. Blood started rushing to my head. It was as if my head was being pulled off,” said Vinny Nicole, 17.
“When the car is totally upside down, it hurts and you realise what an accident could be like. I will convince my friends to wear seatbelts.”
Ms Nicole was among several students whose parents had brought them up knowing the importance of always buckling up.
For some of her peers, however, wearing a seatbelt was not seen as a priority, with some admitting they would now wear a seatbelt for a short period of time.
Ms Nicole recalled a recent car accident when a friend, who was not wearing a seatbelt, fractured his hip after a car rammed into the vehicle he was travelling in.
The safety initiative will reach 500 high-school students in three Dubai schools, many of whom are taking driving lessons and will soon be behind a wheel.
This is the second year of the campaign organised by local company Tristar, a liquid logistics solutions provider, alongside the UK-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Several of the 60 students taking part yesterday visibly flinched while watching a video about a group of teenagers who drove through red light before colliding with another vehicle. In the clip, the teenagers are shown in great distress after finding a wailing baby in the back seat of the car they just hit; the child’s mother dead in the front seat.
“The videos hit home because of how realistic it was,” said Yusuf Mirza, 17.
“You hear on the news about people dying in an accident. When you watch these videos, you realise how easily it can be you. It shows what can happen if you’re not paying attention. Once I’m licensed to drive, one of the most important things I’ve learnt today is not to show off in front of friends and stick with regulations learnt.”
Sticking to basic rules – such as focusing on the road, refraining from using phones, listening to loud music and always wearing a seatbelt – was the message that Alan Timms, of the RoSPA, wanted to deliver.
“What we try to do is get them to be safe in the car with parents or friends,” said Mr Timms, who last year spoke to heavy duty drivers and students as part of a similar programme.
“We try to get them to buy into the idea that they are not immune from accidents.”
Several students who waited in line to test the simulator for what they thought would be fun changed their minds after the experience. “It was really scary. I only felt safe because now I know the strength of the seatbelt,” said Basil Mohammed, 16.
“I don’t wear a seatbelt when sitting behind but now I realise if I was not wearing a seatbelt, something dangerous would have happened.”
Sujon Ishaq, 17, said: It will take a lot of work to convince friends, but I will definitely convince them. People may say, ‘it’s not cool’ or ‘nothing will happen’, but you don’t realise until you are in that situation. You feel the pain when you think of little kids going through this.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
