DUBAI // Too many young motorists are getting behind the wheel soon after being in an accident despite suffering panic attacks and nightmares at the mere thought of driving.
Just months after his car flipped over on New Year’s Eve, Karim Ahmed, an Egyptian civil engineering student, admitted to letting the speedometer reach almost 200 kilometres an hour.
Karim and three friends, who were not wearing seat belts, escaped with minor injuries when the car skidded and overturned on Umm Suqeim road. His car was impounded for a month, he was fined Dh2,000 and got 12 black points on his licence.
“This taught me a lot because before, we used to speed to 160-170kph between the radars on Mohammed bin Zayed road when it was empty, but now, I don’t speed for fun and insist that anyone in my car wears a seat belt,” said Karim, 18, who admitted that he still drove at up to 170kph, but only when he was late or if the streets were empty.
“I don’t feel scared for myself, but for other people in my car.
“I don’t want to be responsible or be the only one who survives. I couldn’t live with that.”
Motorists between the ages of 22 and 30 were to blame for 21 deaths on UAE roads since January, according to traffic department figures. Drivers between 31 and 39 were responsible for 12 deaths and motorists aged 40 to 49 caused seven fatalities.
Psychologists called for the implementation of safety programmes for pupils at school.
“Safety programmes should be aimed at children so it is inculcated in their blood,” said Dr Reena Thomas, clinical psychologist at Aster Jubilee Medical Complex.
The potentially severe consquences of reckless driving should be communicated to teenagers, according to Dr Thomas. These include job loss due to prolonged injury, memory loss and depression.
Several young drivers said they had paid speeding fines of up to Dh40,000 already this year.
Individual penalties last year ranged between Dh100,000 and Dh140,000.
“It is exciting to challenge your limit, to feel the adrenalin,” said Sultan Al Amoudi, 22, a finance student from Saudi Arabia.
He stopped driving for almost a year after smashing into two cars in Jeddah two years ago.
“I had to pay big fines to the other car passengers and I almost killed my family,” said Sultan, who hurt his chest and whose two cousins suffered broken legs and facial abrasions.
“Every time I slept, I saw the accident. If someone went to 80kph, I would tell them to slow down. After I saw my family covered in blood, I cried a lot. But now, I’m driving fast again.”
Architecture student Nour Kurbaj’s car overturned near a roundabout in Sharjah last year as he was on the way to a college examination with his brother.
“We were a little shocked but managed to reach the exam in time. Why should they make such fast cars if they don’t want us to drive fast?”
“Awareness campaigns need to be varied and repeated often with clear messages,” said Keith Bell, quality manager with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Fleet Safety.
rtalwar@thenational.ae
