Dubai pizza delivery firm launches its own safety campaign

Waqas Yaqoub, Vicky Seth and Prabhu Shrestha ride safe by wearing personalised helmets with safety messages. -Photo by Shihab

Pakistani delivery driver Waqas Yaqoub is doing it for his 48-year-old father, Yaqoub. Indian manager-cum-delivery driver Vicky Seth is doing it for his 60-year-old father, Bhirgu. And Nepalese delivery driver Prabhu Shrestha is doing it for his father, Bal.

Doing what, you ask? Driving safe, is the answer. Dubai's popular pizza chain, Freedom Pizza, launched its own road safety campaign last week - and they're doing it for their 125 drivers.

In a bid to highlight the vulnerability of motorbike riders on the UAE's roads, company Founder, Ian Ohan, who is a keen biker himself, said this is "his duty to his employees." "I appreciate the inherent danger of the activity and I think it is necessary we do things to mitigate the risk of our drivers," he told Khaleej Times.

A victim of a road accident himself some years ago, Ohan says no delivery is worth "risking a life."

Family and safety first
This thought-provoking video campaign encompasses a very personal touch, with one clear message: 'I ride for my family'.

Wearing personalised helmets with messages such as, 'I am a father', 'I am a husband' or 'I am a son', some drivers even have the faces of their family members printed on their helmets.

"It's a very sobering thing when you see your family on a piece of equipment like that. It reminds our drivers to be careful," Ohan said.

And for other drivers on the road, this personal approach helps "humanise" the oft-forgotten delivery drivers. As part of the campaign, Ohan's team also upgraded the fleet's protective equipment and uniform - with each biker's gear costing about Dh1,000 a piece.

"It used to cost about Dh400-500 to kit out our bikers but you can't afford to skimp on safety," he said. With each driver required to sign a 'safety pledge', Ohan said the philosophy of safe-driving becomes part of their obligatory duty as an employee.

"If they break any rules on the road, they will be asked to contribute towards their uniform. It's an incentive for them to drive safe."

Make safety a habit
With four children between them as well as mothers, brothers and sisters to support back home, Yaqoub, Seth and Shrestha - along with their fellow colleagues - habitually call out one phrase before embarking on each delivery.

"I will drive safe." Something which started out as a one-off roll call, each driver now makes it a habit of repeating this phrase to drum home the importance of being safe on the roads.

"Driving here is different. Roads are faster and it is more dangerous," Seth said. With his parents always "worrying" when he is on the road, this campaign has restored a little faith in them, he said. "To know that our company puts so much emphasis on our safety is something they really appreciate."

Statistics talk
According to the statistics of the Dubai Police - Traffic Department, a total of 1,516 accidents were recorded on Dubai's roads in 2015 where the driver was at fault.

Of this number, motorbikes appeared high on the list at number two, with 126 motorcyclists reported at fault.

As a result of these accidents, 142 people were injured and 10 killed - each of which were someone else's mother, father, son or daughter. Though there is no set number on the amount of delivery drivers in the UAE, Ohan estimates between "4, 000 to 5,000" - which he said is a fairly adequate number. And since launching the campaign, he said his aim is to now encourage other companies to get on board and do the same.

kelly@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Dubai

Kelly Clarke

kelly@khaleejtimes.com