Tips to improve road safety

Recent research shows that speed enforcement from point to point had a positive effect on improving traffic safety compared with fixed cameras.

Traffic Engineering and Road Safety Recommendations

* Integrate all elements of data (crash information, road, weather, land use, uniform medical data reporting, etc) for real-time application, mitigation and assessment

* Make road-safety education modules mandatory at all education levels, with additional public health-initiated education through the use of the media and events

* Improve drivers’ education at driving schools in the UAE to ensure drivers are familiar with new in-vehicle technologies such as adaptive cruise control, for example.

* Integration of safety in the road-planning stage to improve the prediction of safety problems

* Recent research showed that speed enforcement from point to point had a positive effect on improving traffic safety compared with fixed cameras. This supports the plans of Abu Dhabi’s traffic police.

* It is important to learn from the experience of other countries, but keep in mind that specific countries’ safety plans might not work well or be applicable here.

* Establish a parents against speeders programme and target a high-ranking official to champion such programme.

* Use the United States highway safety manual as a model for developing a similar manual to better predict and evaluate the road network, and to appraise the economic effectiveness of the new manual.

* All conference attendees confirmed that the criteria of motorway design elements of the emirate’s roads meet international standards. However, roadside features have several safety issues. So it is recommended to re-evaluate the design standards of roadside features.

* Revisit the roadway safety audit practices in UAE.

* It is recommended to develop the Abu Dhabi Police’s smart traffic control centre as the main centre for the whole country.

* Hold this conference every one to two years because it brought together the traffic and medical perspectives regarding road safety for the first time. It is also recommended to form an international scientific committee to better plan future events.

Medical Recommendations

* Promoting research into traffic safety, trauma and building trauma systems

* Ambulance and response teams should be placed at distances adequate for arrival at the accident scene to provide treatment.

* All healthcare staff, both ambulance workers and hospital emergency-room staffers, should have up-to-date, advanced trauma life support certifications.

* To reduce deaths and long-term illness, immediate, curative and long-term care should be provided. Rehabilitation is an important part of this process.

* No newborns should leave hospital without a safety seat in vehicles.

* To provide an annual eye test to drivers of heavy vehicles and to provide psychological evaluations at least once every two years.

General Recommendations

* Support and encourage participation in the 2nd Abu Dhabi Global Road Safety Forum that will be held on May 11 to 13 under the patronage of the Abu Dhabi traffic safety and solutions committee.