ABU DHABI // Traffic offenders should be penalised with community service instead of just fines, which have little effect on driver behaviour, a majlis has heard.
The Ministry of Interior hosted nine Ramadan majlises on road safety across the country last Thursday.
Ideas also included more police patrols, a national white points system and introducing safety into school curriculums.
Guests at the Dubai majlis suggested community service for offenders, and a psychiatric rehabilitation centre for accident victims and their families.
Road safety experts applauded the ideas.
“For certain people the fines are simply like road tolls,” said Glenn Havinoviski, who runs a traffic management company in Abu Dhabi. “Community service requires someone’s time commitment.
“I think doing both makes sense. For second violations or additional violations, fines and community service commitments should increase.”
Offenders should also face stiffer penalties because fines for traffic offences are not effective deterrents, said Khaled Al Mansoori, chief executive of Emirates Driving Company.
“Many drivers are aware of the fines but still do not follow the traffic rules,” Mr Al Mansoori said.
The white points system in Dubai allows drivers to recover points lost on their licences by driving without any infringement over a period of time.
“The white points system is more of an incentive and is more at the discretion of the emirate issuing a driving licence,” Mr Havinoviski said.
“But ideally something like this scheme should be promoted throughout the emirates.”
Mr Al Mansoori agreed, saying: “If drivers are getting fines because of their unsafe driving, those who follow the rules should also be rewarded.
“This will encourage other drivers to drive safely, and should be implemented UAE-wide.”
At the majlis in Al Ain, guests urged parents to supervise their children while driving and not to allow them to drive underage.
Children should be made to wait until they turn 18, Mr Al Mansoori said.
"Waiting until you're older is the smartest thing to do," he said. "Underage drivers can cause loss of lives and threaten road safety."
Given the high number of accidents involving young drivers, parental supervision should be required, Mr Havinoviski said.
“This of course assumes the parents do not have a record of violations themselves,” he said. “Often they are not good examples for the younger drivers.”
Mohammed Al Romaithi, 26, an Abu Dhabi government employee, said there were problems with identifying underage drivers.
“Young people under 18 look old enough to drive and can confuse the police,” Mr Al Romaithi said. “I started driving at the age of 14. Al hamdulillah, nothing bad happened.
“But since I become a father, I won’t encourage underage driving and will make sure to teach them to become safe and careful drivers and to follow the rules on the road.”
He would also like schools to teach traffic safety to children.
“We need to start them young,” Mr Al Romaithi said. “It’s just like learning maths. Now we’re computing larger numbers. Traffic safety education will teach them how to be safe and responsible pedestrians, drivers and road users.”
A programme of psychiatric and emotional assistance for road accident victims and their families would help them deal with accidents and recover from the trauma, Mr Al Mansoori said.
“The centre will help guide them to start all over again and also help increase their traffic safety awareness,” he said.
Having trained psychiatrists and therapists to assist victims and families can have benefits, Mr Havinoviski said.
“Whether it involves providing trained people at hospitals or providing a separate rehabilitation centre is something for these experts to decide.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
