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KT edit: Get enough rest and develop the right driving attitude

The UAE has strict traffic rules in place with heavy penalties, but what is more important is to develop a safe driving attitude.

About 1.3 million people die in traffic accidents worldwide every year with young adults accounting for more than half of these deaths. The statistics are more alarming when we consider that car accidents have become the leading cause of death among the young. Zoom in on the home front, and the numbers aren't comfortable, either. Two people are killed on average daily on UAE roads. Here too, young adults are the victims as well as the perpetrators. What could be the reason for so many accidents despite an increase in awareness programmes, improvement in infrastructure and vehicle safety with mandatory annual inspections, increase in law enforcement, and quick emergency response? Could it be lack of attention? Is it the mobile phone, since the younger generation seems to be constantly hooked on to it? Or is it the thrill of speed, for we know that speed thrills?
Sudden swerving, tailgating and misjudgment could be the other reasons. Above all, it's imperative that the driver gets proper rest, because even a split-second distraction can prove fatal, just like the accident involving an Omani bus on the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road in Dubai on Thursday. Seventeen people were killed in the tragedy. The accident occurred in broad daylight and in clear weather when all road signs were visible even from a few hundred metres. We don't know if the driver had dozed off. We don't know what distracted him to have missed the road signs that warn of no entry for large vehicles. The UAE has strict traffic rules in place with heavy penalties, but what is more important is to develop a safe driving attitude. Control over emotions, fitness to drive, defensive driving, being responsible and caring for others' lives form part of this attitude. And, remember, we don't own the roads; we only share them.