Continental brings safety into focus this Ramadan with driving tips

Traffic on Dubai roads follow a pattern that changes during Ramadan. With schools and offices working reduced hours and people driving with less concentration due to the physical toll fasting takes, accidents soar during the month of Ramadan. While Ramadan is supposed to be all about developing the virtues of patience and self-control, this is rarely seen on the roads as drivers speed through signals, swerve dangerously and drive exceedingly fast in order to reach their destinations in time for iftar. In order to help motorists adopt a more careful approach, Continental, the leading German tire manufacturer and longstanding advocate of safer driving has releases a set of guidelines to draw attention to the need for greater caution while driving on the roads during Ramadan.

These tips have been tailored to the Middle East region and are meant to bring down the rate of traffic accidents ultimately helping to achieve Continental’s goal of Vision Zero: an ambitious global campaign to achieve zero fatalities, zero injuries and zero accidents.

On the global scale, traffic accidents take as many as 1.2 million lives every year and are the leading cause of preventable death, based on World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics. The Middle East accounts for more than its fair share of these fatalities with estimated rates of 12.8, 10.9, and 27.4 deaths resulting from road accidents per 100,000 population in Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia respectively. Compare this with the rate in countries that have higher standards for road safety like the Netherlands (3.4), the United Kingdom (2.9) and Sweden (2.8), and we understand that the behavior and attitude of drivers in the region have plenty of room for improvement.

These tips will be handy to make the roads safer for motorists, their passengers and for pedestrians:

1.