The Safety Driving in UAE Roads - Term Paper Example

Safety Driving Report

Section one: Research Questions

Main Research Questions

• Is there any effective way or strategies that transport sector can put in place to improve the safety driving in UAE roads?

Secondary Research Questions

• Are road accidents caused by careless driving of motor vehicles?
• Is the amount of speeding fine too small to discourage speeding conduct of drivers in UAE?
• Does the amount of traffic on the road determine the frequency of accidents in UAE?

Primary Research Questions

• Is speeding a major concern in the roads?
• Does the speeding of drivers play a major role in road accidents?
• Is the safety of drivers not a major concern to road users?

Section Two: Background Report Summary

Road traffic carnages are the primary cause of death and disability globally. Over 1.1 million road users die every year of road carnages and another 20 to 50 million individuals sustaining non-fatal injuries according to reports by World Health Organization (WHO). An injury is the principal cause of death and morbidity in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE).

The EAU as a federal state has several federal and local structures responsible for providing the safety policy, regulation, and prosecution program. For the government to offer priorities for the safety promotion and injury prevention, it is mandatory for them to have the necessary data on the recurrent external roots of injuries (Bendak & Al-Saleh, 2013). In addition, the leading individual, tools and environmental threats that leads to injury on the roads. Nonetheless, safe, precise and quality data for injury and road accident prevention are a limiting factor in reducing the menace. The purpose of this report is to designate the level of injuries as a public health concern in the United Arab Emirates and the development of security policies, campaign efforts and regulations on the roads (Raman et al., 2014).

Section Three: Questionnaire Results

The research applied the use of survey questionnaires to obtain the outcome and come up with the conclusion and recommendation of the study. The research used the mixed type of research surveys to get the required deliverables of the investigation. The mixed survey questionnaires involve the use of open-ended and closed-ended. The survey questionnaires had ten questions answered by respondents randomly selected to ensure that a representative sample was obtainable for the research.

The researcher contacted 102 respondents for the study. Out of the 102 questionnaires submitted to the subject 100 percent (n= 102) of the total respondents answered all the questions. Meaning the researcher managed to work and analyze the 102 questionnaires taken as 100 percent. Approximately 38 percent (n= 11) of the respondents contacted during this study were male while the remaining 63 percent (n= 14) were female with a standard deviation of 12.

The research also incorporated the age group of individual road users who have fallen victims of traffic accidents. From the survey the greatest population involved in road accidents, 43 percent (n= 44) are between the age of 25 to 35 years. While 32 percent (n= 33) are at the age between 18 to 25 years and 25 percent (n= 25) are above 35 years with a standard deviation of 7.79. Out of the 102 subjects contacted on the road during the research, only 101 responses were obtainable. 89 percent (n= 90) owned cars and had valid driver’s license while the remaining 11 percent (n= 11) did not have driver’s license with a standard deviation of 39.5.

46 percent of the subject (n= 46) contacted had had possessed the driver’s license for one to five years while 42 percent (n= 42) have possessed the driver’s license for more than five years. While the remaining 12 percent (n= 12) have possessed the driver’s license for less than a year with a standard deviation of 15.17.

Approximately 43 percent (n= 43) of the respondents feel that drivers’ use of phones during driving is the major cause of road accidents in the United Arab Emirates. While 39 percent (n= 39) of the subject contacted, think that most road accidents are a result of the speeding by the drivers. 13 percent (n= 13) feel that the main cause of road accident is using car equipment while 6 percent (n= 6) were not specified, with a standard deviation of 16.01. The primary cause of a traffic accident is a major factor in considering the safety of the drivers on highways.

According to 38 percent (n= 37) of the respondents have never used the public transport vehicles, 33 percent (n= 32) use the public transport vehicles every month. However, 18 percent (n= 18) use the public transport on a weekly basis while 11 percent (n= 11) use the public transport on a daily basis with a standard deviation of 10.45. 40 percent (n= 38) of the drivers contacted during have been arrested once over the last one year for over speeding cases (Mehmood, 2009). However, 45 percent have been arrested for over speeding between two to four times in the last two years while 15 percent (n=14) have been arrested more than five times in the last two years. The standard deviation of the case is 12.66.

47 percent (n= 48) of the drivers never wear seat belts, 27 percent (n= 26) always wear seat belts while the remaining 25 percent (n= 24) sometimes wear seat belts with standard deviation of 10.4. Out of the 91 response collected for analysis 44 percent (n= 40) have caused accidents between two to four years. 25 percent (n= 23) of the drivers have caused accidents more than five times while the remaining 31 percent (n= 28) have caused accidents less than once. 49 percent (n= 48) of the drivers have fallen asleep on the road once, 31 percent (n= 30) have fallen asleep while on the road driving two to four times on the road. However, 20 percent (n= 19) of the drivers have fallen asleep while driving with a standard deviation of 11.95.

Out of the 97 drivers contacted during the study 75 percent (n= 73) who fell asleep got involved in an accident. However, 25 percent (n= 24) of the drivers who fell asleep while driving got involved in an accident with standard deviation of 24.5. Out of the 98 responses collected 63 percent (n= 62) of the drivers often use mobile phone while driving, 27 percent always use mobile phones when driving. While 9 percent (n= 9) never use mobile phones while on the road having a standard deviation of 22.01. Out of the 100 responses collected, 63 percent (n= 63) of the drivers sometimes use the social media when on the roads, 20 percent (n= 20) use the social media all the time while driving. However, 17 percent (n= 17) of the drivers never use the social media while driving with standard deviation of 21.01. Out of 99 responses collected 75 percent (n= 76) of the respondents know at least two cases of drivers who got involved in a road accident while using their mobile phones. 13 percent (n= 13) of the respondent do not know anyone who got involved in a road accident while using their mobile phones. 11 percent (n= 11) of the respondent know only one person who got involved in a road accident while using their mobile phones.

Interview

Asmaa a 22 year old from the alquwain studying at Dubai Women’s college, who used to study at Sharja Women’s college but later moved to Dubai to study corporate communication. She is a driver since 2013 with a three-year experience. She drives her vehicle on daily basis to work and back home, spending most times driving to and from umm al Quwain to Dubai. However, she admits that her knowledge of mechanics is limited. According to her thought safe driving involves being careful while on the road and wearing seatbelt while driving and should have the knowledge about other vehicles around them while driving. According to Asmaa keeping small space between vehicles, ignoring signs on the roads, using mobile phones that cause destruction as well as playing with car devices are the main cause of road accidents. She also feel that time management skills results in road accidents. Besides Asmaa feels that drivers should have the RTA skills and the police rules so that they can know what to do when they experience problems on the road. However, she has never been involved in any accident, she uses mobile phones headsets to receive phone calls.

Section 4: Discussion

The resulting analysis reveals something impressive on the road users, both pedestrian, and drivers. The reduced safety of drivers on the roads is a consequence of the drivers’ lack of concentration while on the roads. For instance, most drivers contacted a larger population use mobile phones while driving (Grivna et al., 2012).

Driver safety should be the responsibility of the government including the private sector. Lack of knowledge by the drivers on the roads about some important road signs and signals is the leading cause of highway insecurity. Some drivers do not have the knowledge about road signs position in a particular section of the drive thus reducing their safety level. The result obtained in the study replicates what happens on the roads reducing the security standards of the roads for both drivers and pedestrians.

The cause of poor driver safety on UAE roads is the low number of CCTVs along the roads to control activities of kidnappers and reckless drivers. The state can beef up the security by installing these gadgets along the roads to lower the chances of many drivers encountering misery and despair on the streets. Besides, the result obtained reveals that the drivers are the primary cause of road problems. Ignorance of the road rules and prohibition can be devastating to the drivers and state. With the efforts put by the government on the roads such as the installation of CCTVs is a clear indication that the safety of drivers on the road is a primary concern to them.

I would recommend the state to put more security devices such as CCTVs and other remote monitoring devices to help curb the menace that faces the drivers in most of the UAE roads. Besides, the government can also provide devices that track reckless drivers especially those who have bad records with the transport authority, this is the group of drivers who undermined the safety of other drivers. Since the security of the drivers on the roads does not fundamentally mean the drivers are the key players. Their safety should involve informing the third party (pedestrian) to use the road effectively by observing road signs and signals to prevent more accidents. I would also recommend future researchers to put more efforts to include parameters not included in the current study such as frequency of road safety cases. In addition, the period when the roads are safer for both road users was not put into account.