ABU DHABI // Hands-free technologies and safety features on vehicles can make driving more dangerous if not used correctly, experts have said.
“It’s quite a challenge,” said Joop Goos, chairman of the International Organisation for Road Accident Prevention.
“We have a lot of development of new technologies to support driver’s behaviour — navigations systems, ABS and others — but on the other hand it is very necessary these devices are used properly by road users and that’s not always the case.”
He was speaking on the sidelines of the International Symposium on Communication Technologies and Road Safety organised by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
“There are two sides of a coin: of course we live in the era of information technology, which is fine but we have to watch the use of these devices because they pose a real challenge to road safety,” Mr Goos said.
“A lot of countries are facing a decrease in numbers and now we are stabilising and sometimes increasing because of new challenges and distractions: people driving fast, texting, talking, listening to music, instead of focusing on the road.”
Each year, more than 50 million people are seriously injured and about 1.24 million people die as a result of road crashes, the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013 of the World Health Organisation shows.
“That’s 3,500 deaths per day or 150 an hour,” said Mr Goos. “Nearly three people get killed on the roads every single minute.”
In the eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf region, a 2013 WHO report showed there were 21.3 road traffic deaths per 100,000, an 11 per cent decrease from 32.2 in 2008.
Mohammed Saleh Al Darmaki, the chairman of the board of directors of the Emirates Traffic Safety Society, said state-of-the-art technologies made life easier but had a negative effect on safety.
“The causes behind traffic accidents have been identified, and one of them is swerving as recorded by majority of traffic statistics over recent years,” he said. “We would like to shed light on the most prominent causes of road accidents, identify them and propose solutions to help reduce these accidents.”
Dr Yasser Hawas, director of Roadway, Transportation and Traffic Safety Research centre at the UAE University, suggested a series of measures to improve road safety,
These included honouring outstanding drivers, awareness campaigns, driver rehabilitation programmes, and the use of intelligent transport systems (ITS) technologies.
The lack of familiarity or improper use of features and dangerous driving habits all can negate the effectiveness of modern vehicle safety features, said Dr Ward Vanlaar, vice-president of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, which created a free online programme called “Brain on Board”.
“Drivers must employ safe driving habits and familiarise themselves with the specific advantages and limitations of the features in their vehicles. At the end of the day, the essence of safe driving really is to use your brain,” he said.
“We should focus on the road, not to be distracted and to be good drivers by making use of all our mental capacities.”
rruiz@thenational.ae