UAE Driving Behavior Improves Despite Growing Concern about Tailgating

The most recent update of the UAE Road Safety Monitor survey gives grounds for hope. Overall, there has been marked improvement in the perception of the behaviour of motorists on the roads, despite growing concern about tailgating. Commute time, driving enjoyment and infrastructure improvement are other factors regarding which those who participated in the survey have expressed satisfaction.

The third phase of the study was commissioned jointly by RoadSafety UAE and QIC Insured (Qatar Insurance Company). The study was conducted by YouGov in August 2016 and polled more than 1,000 UAE residents.

Speaking about the survey, Thomas Edelmann, RoadSafetyUAE’s founder & managing director said that over the three cycles of the  of the UAE Road Safety Monitor (1HY 2015, 1HY 2016, 2HY 2016) which have been conducted so far, the organization is now able to start identifying trends in the perceived behavior of UAE motorists. Tracking these trends will help all involved stakeholders in the public and private segments to customize their various education, enforcement and infrastructure initiatives accordingly.

Frederik Bisbjerg, Executive Vice President MENA Retail, QIC Insured, said that it was highly encouraging to see that most of the key dimensions have developed in the right direction, thanks to the many road safety initiatives that have already been implemented. He said his company was proud to be associated with this unique long term perception study, as it highlighted QIC Insured’s  drive to support the creation of safer roads, in line with the ‘UAE Vision 2021.

The highlights of this 3^rd cycle:

A vast majority of those surveyed (78%) said that there has been significant improvement in the road traffic infrastructure when compared to the situation six months before. This has shortened commute times (63%) and led to higher driving enjoyment (53%). According to the respondents, the perception of danger on the roads is the same with 55% agreeing to this. Speeding (65%), distracted driving (75%), and sudden lane changes (66%) seem to have declined. The only area of concern seems to be tailgating with 69% of respondents feeling there has been a rise in this phenomenon within the last 6 months.

Though in general the trends are positive, the absolute % numbers are high, and more efforts are needed to educate motorists, improve infrastructure and to enforce traffic rules to make the roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians.