"They're watching you" in the Middle East

As many as 44 per cent of parents surveyed across the Middle East have admitted to illegal on-road behaviours, with 18 per cent saying they were most likely to break traffic rules if there were no cameras in place. Gulf News reports in its article Survey reveals almost 50 per cent of parents in the Middle East admit to breaking the law while driving that 16 per cent have admitted to dangerous driving when there was no way of being monitored, and 10 per cent when there was no police in sight. Nearly half of all respondents (43 per cent) said they were most likely to break traffic rules when they are in a hurry, and 40 per cent admitted to making phone calls or checking social media while driving with children.

The survey conducted by Infiniti Middle East is part of a major new road safety awareness campaign promoting the safety of children in vehicles. Called ‘Eyes on You’, the campaign sheds light on parent’s on-road behaviours and the impact these have on their children and is closely aligned with the Dubai traffic safety strategy to reduce road fatalities by 1.5 for 100,000 population by 2021.

The strategy is based on four agendas; improving motorist’s driving habits; inspecting vehicles for traffic safety regulations and for criminal safety procedures; inspecting motorists’ records; and traffic awareness campaigns. The RTA’s schools traffic awareness campaign targets educating children and adolescents as future road users and drivers.

“Over the years, RTA has created a number of projects, plans and initiatives to improve traffic safety, and raise awareness of a positive traffic safety culture in Dubai,” commented Deema Hussein, Traffic Awareness Senior Manager, Traffic Department of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

“We are very happy to endorse the Eyes on You campaign from Infiniti, which engages one of the most important groups on the road – families. We look forward to working with partners across the private sector to improve traffic safety on the roads to rank the UAE amongst the top countries in traffic safety worldwide.”

Markus Leithe, Managing Director, Middle East, Infiniti added, “Road Safety has always been at the forefront of Infiniti engineering, with a number of world first drive assist technologies such as Backup Collision Intervention and Lane Departure Warning & Prevention designed to provide the driver with a safer experience. The ‘Eyes on You’ road safety campaign aims for families to prioritise safe driving habits, especially with their children, as soon as they sit behind the wheel. These survey results are a reminder to parents that their bad on-road behaviour does not go unnoticed and is, in fact, being witnessed and eventually mimicked by the most important audience imaginable their children.”