Students learn to 'Hop in and Buckle up'

Wearing a seatbelt doesn't cost you anything, but not wearing one can cost your life.

'Buckle up, buckle up!,' was the motto of the day for Dubai's Kings' School, Regent International School and Dubai British School last week when they took part in a road safety campaign titled 'Hop in and buckle-up.'
Initiated by an on-site car battery replacement service, Dial-A-Battery, the three-day educative programme was supported by Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The main aim behind the campaign was to educate the kids and ensure that safety habits are inculcated in them in their early years.
At the Regent International School, about 170 students in the age-group of five to 10 years took part in the buckle up campaign where they were given a presentation on the importance of wearing seatbelt. The students were involved in fun activities where they were told why it is important to wear seatbelt, how to buckle themselves up in the car and how to remind their family to wear a seatbelt as soon as they sit in a car. 
At present only those in the front seats of a vehicle are required to buckle up. However, under the new traffic law, drivers will be fined Dh400 and will receive four black points on their licence, if they fail to ensure everyone in the car is buckled up. 
This will keep UAE traffic laws in line with many other developed countries where all passengers in a vehicle are required to wear seat belts. A road safety consultant at the Transport Research Authority remarked that there is a 40 to 60 per cent chance of surviving a car crash if all passengers wore seat belts.
Asad Badami, managing director of Dial-A-Battery, said: "Wearing a seatbelt doesn't cost you anything, but not wearing one can cost your life."
"As an organisation operating in the automobile sector, we feel responsible towards creating awareness about road safety amongst children, drivers, parents, and people at large. As a part of the community we support the measures undertaken by the traffic department to make seatbelts compulsory for all passengers," Asad added. 
Hop in and Buckle up is a part of an ongoing initiative by Dial-A-Battery that coincides with the new laws in the UAE which makes wearing seat belts compulsory for both drivers and passengers both in the front and at the back. Moreover, RTA has been continuously keeping safety first in all their road transport activities and decisions, be it dedicated school bus laws, consistent creation of footbridges, better driver training and awareness campaigns.
saman@khaleejtimes.com