ABU DHABI // Police and road safety experts have warned motorists of the dangers of switching lanes without warning and urged them to approach traffic junctions with caution.
Last week, the Ministry of Interior’s security media department released a picture of car suddenly pulling out at a junction at Marina Mall, cutting up a water tanker.
“A sudden lane change when approaching traffic lights is an objectionable behaviour, which compromises the safety of the driver and puts his life and the lives of other drivers at risk,” a ministry spokesman said.
Last year, sudden swerving of vehicles resulted in 143 deaths. Speeding led to 82 deaths and failing to leave a safe distance between vehicles caused 76 deaths on the country’s roads, said Brig Gaith Al Zaabi, director general of traffic co-ordination at the Ministry of Interior.
“Drivers making sudden lane changes by cutting in front of another vehicle are prone to sideswipe accidents, due to not paying attention or not being able to see the driver who is being cut off,” said Glenn Havinoviski, a US-based traffic expert. “They also risk rear-end accidents, where the driver being cut off is not able to stop in time.”
Unless there are witnesses to the incident “the driver who rear-ends the car who cut him off is generally considered at fault – implying that he was going too fast anyway and should not have hit him in the rear”, Mr Havinoviski said.
Tariq Awad, 52, an Abu Dhabi resident for 16 years, said he often saw erratic lane changes at traffic junctions.
“In my 13 years of driving here, I often come across reckless, inconsiderate and selfish driving,” he said. “The driver would turn abruptly, unmindful of the vehicle behind him or her.”
Sudden lane changing is caused primarily the driver not properly planning ahead while driving, said Robert Hodges, chief operating officer at Emirates Driving Institute in Dubai.
“The driver gets into a situation – often at too great a speed – where there is an impending impact he needs to avoid, or he needs to quickly change position. So he reacts instinctively, often in a reckless manner.”
“This causes a dangerous swerve,” Mr Hodges said.
Roshanara Sait, director of Ciel Marketing and Events, which organises road safety awareness campaigns, agreed.
“Such behaviour is totally irresponsible, rash and dangerous, putting their lives and the lives of others at high risk,” she said.
“One needs to plan the journey in advance and if for whatever reason a change is required, one still needs to stick with the road rules and change the route accordingly.”
Abu Dhabi has a grid network and for the most part if drivers miss one main road, they can turn at the next one.
“If one makes a mistake, he or she needs to follow the lane, at the next signal either turn around if permitted, or take the next parallel route,” said Mr Havinoviski, associate vice president of the US traffic management company Iteris.
“The Marina Mall junction is different because it is the only access from the Corniche to the mall.
“One thing that is helpful is if drivers get used to actually reading the directional signs ahead of the junction with street names and destinations.”
When a driver swerves, he or she normally has not gone through the necessary safety and observational routines, said Mr Hodges, a qualified driver education and road safety expert.
“The driver has no idea about what he or she is doing and whose space he or she is about to impact upon,” he said.
“Drivers need to scan proactively, use mirrors, check left and right over their shoulders to look at the blind spots on either side of their vehicle.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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