Dubai roads: driving behaviour must change

Unnus Theodore Hendrichs, Managing Director of Safe Driving, Switzerland, said 95 per cent of road accidents are attributable to human error. 'Accidents don't just happen, they are always caused. Safety is based on safe behaviour,' said Hendrichs, who was a speaker in the special Road Safety session of the three-day exhibition and conference at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

Hendrichs, who counts General Electric, Shell, ExxonMobil, Dupont and Lloyd's of London among his clients and who doubled for Michael Caine in driving scenes for the 1978 film Silver Bears, established his Swiss driver training school in 1970. Initially he specialised in driving techniques against kidnapping and terrorist attacks, but following Princess Diana's death in 1997 he has seen a surge in requests for general safety training and accident prevention. Among his instructors is FIA GT World Championship driver Gabriel Gardel.

According to Hendrichs, safe driving depends on a driver's ability 'To observe, evaluate and decide'. The essential requirements for good drivers are that they are in good shape, both physical and psychological, and that they are skilled observers with sufficient experience who are able to concentrate fully on driving. The major causes of accidents are distractions such as radios, CD players, GPS systems and mobile phones, he said.

'At 50kph, the normal driver reaction is 14 metres or one second, then they break. If a driver has had two beers, that increases to 18 metres. With a hands-free phone it increases to 23 metres. And if you're holding a phone to your ear, the driver reaction is 28 metres before breaking. So using a mobile phone is a major distraction that leads to loss of concentration, increased reaction time and increased accident risk,' said Hendrichs.

Commenting on the standard of driving in Dubai, Hendrichs said: 'Dubai is like Rome 10 or 15 years ago. At the moment people are handling by instinct. Generally, they're not looking ahead enough and they're missing the defensive driving mentality. Defensive driving is when you drive in such a way that you're calculating all kinds of dangers that could occur - you're thinking ahead to avoid any potentially dangerous situation. Generally, in Dubai there is a lack of distance between vehicles, people drive very aggressively and there's absolutely no tolerance or taking into consideration other road users.'

According to Hendrichs, driving with respect for others and tolerating other people's mistakes are among the 'golden rules for safe driving'. Others include creating distance between vehicles, keeping that distance, thinking before initiating a manoeuvre and indicating intentions clearly.

But while driving behaviour must change, Hendrichs acknowledges it will not happen overnight. 'You can't prescribe an Aspirin and expect it to be better in the morning. It takes one or two generations to come to a point where you see collaboration between the two million or so people on a city's roads. I have seen the same scenario in Rome as Dubai, but attitudes in Rome are changing now and the situation could be better here in 10 or 15 years.'

The keys to improving driving behaviour, said Hendrichs, are education and training, starting with school children. 'The police can issue fines, but if there's not enough education and training, fines aren't going to help. It's a long process. Everybody concerned has to work together - driving schools, insurance companies, municipalities and the people who do the road signs and marking, police and schools. Children are the car drivers of tomorrow, we need to start with them.'

Matthew Tucker, Managing Director of UK-based traffic, transport and road safety consultants Morgan Tucker, an exhibitor at Gulf Traffic 2005, agrees.

'It can take at least two generations to change driving behaviour. A good example in the UK is drink driving: 40 years ago it was OK, but now it's taboo. You've got to start with children. It begins very simply, teaching them to cross the road safely. Hopefully they will then grow up to become safe drivers,' said Tucker.

Davyd Farrell, Transport Project Director, IIR Middle East, organisers of Gulf Traffic,

'Road safety is a current concern not only in Dubai, the UAE and the wider Middle East, but throughout the world. The Gulf Traffic 2005 exhibition and conference has ensured it remains high on the agenda for governments, NGOs and private sector companies, has helped keep the issue alive in the media and has offered a forum for constructive dialogue between the various organisations involved about how the current high level of road fatalities and injuries can be reduced.'