Police begin back-to-school road safety programme for pupils

As students across the country settle back into their post-summer routine, Abu Dhabi Police are busy working on a campaign on school traffic safety.

ABU DHABI // As pupils across the country settle into their post-summer routine, Abu Dhabi Police are working on a school traffic safety campaign.

This month the traffic police directorate launched "UAE Together", a social media initiative called "On the Classroom Seat", which spreads school safety awareness.

The Twitter and Facebook accounts of UAE Together have been inundated with road safety messages using the hashtag #BTS14 – Back to School 2014 – to mark the start of the new school year, which began on August 31. The initiative urged parents to prepare their children and remind them of basic road safety practices.

“Students are at particularly high risk of accidents, hence the message will be spread across schools to make students aware of how they can avoid accidents and live to pursue a bright future,” read a Facebook post on September 1.

UAE Together is a campaign by Abu Dhabi Police to increase awareness about traffic rules and regulations and to reduce accidents.

A tweet on September 2 read: “Life is not a game! Never play games on the road. A car could come and make it ‘game’ over for you #BTS14.”

Residents were also asked to share their thoughts. “Does your bus driver drive safely? Share with us your bus experience #BTS14.”

One parent shared the unsafe driving habits of thousands of school bus drivers in Dubai: cutting through amber lights at traffic junctions, taking “impossible” shortcuts, jumping the line and honking. Other Facebook users praised their children’s bus drivers for driving with caution and adhering to the speed limit.

Dino Kalivas, the chairman of the driver education and training committee at the International Road Federation, praised the campaign.

“Social media campaigns do raise overall awareness of certain issues,” he said. “However, the social message delivered should be based on well-researched road safety information.

“In the context of road safety, we want to change driver behaviour and to maximise social media. Campaign messages should be simple, relevant, meaningful and linked to wider road safety strategies and road safety laws that are enforceable.”

Bus drivers face many challenges daily on the road, Mr Kalivas said. “They have numerous pick-up and drop-off points and are distracted by students who misbehave inside the bus.

“The bus danger zone is a major problem. This is the area immediately surrounding the bus, where the driver has a very limited view of passengers who are leaving or entering the bus when it is stationary.”

School bus drivers should be well trained and place high emphasis on safer driving, he said.

“Schools should seek appropriate accreditation standards from bus companies who provide transportation services for their schools,” Mr Kalivas added.

“We must at all times be mindful that the young people on the bus and on pedestrian crossings are the future of the UAE,” Mr Kalivas said. “Parents, transport regulators, government, traffic authorities, and driving schools should place a high standard for all road users.”