ABU DHABI // Almost four in five motorists in a survey say reckless driving on the country’s roads has increased over the past five years.
Seventy-seven per cent of the 1,007 drivers polled said there were more reckless drivers on the roads than in 2009, and about a third admitted that they had been in a collision.
“It is alarming to see a perception among UAE residents that there are more reckless drivers today,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder of Road Safety UAE.
“A safer driving environment for all road users will be created if motorists change their mindset to become more considerate, patient and aware. Across the UAE there needs to be a cultural shift in attitudes to ensure motorists take responsibility for their own behaviour and look out for one another on the roads.”
More than two-thirds of respondents, or 68 per cent, said the leading cause of accidents was speeding.
That was followed by tailgating (56 per cent), being distracted from driving (47 per cent), frequent lane changes (32 per cent) and driving in the wrong lane (18 per cent).
But in a worrying trend, only half of the drivers aged between 18 and 24 believed speeding was a significant cause of accidents. For those over 40, that figure was 74 per cent.
“Many initiatives have been introduced to police reckless driving but not enough has been done to change the behaviour of drivers, especially the young ones,” said Dr Salaheddine Bendak, associate professor at University of Sharjah.
“To illustrate a point, when Germany removed speed limits on some motorways most drivers kept driving at reasonable speeds.
“Results showed that speeds recorded above 140kph on these motorways were rare, and drivers were still choosing to drive at reasonable speeds although there was no speed limit.
“This was because of the behavioural changes that Germany achieved before speed limits on their freeways were removed.”
Dr Bendak has published studies on seat belt use and tyre safety.
Thirty-six per cent of those in the youngest age group said they had already been in an accident, with 43 per cent saying they were distracted while behind the wheel.
In the first eight months of this year, there were 3,170 traffic accidents, resulting in 463 deaths and 4,4602 injuries, Ministry of Interior statistics show.
Brian Reilly, chief executive of Zurich Insurance Middle East, said he was worried about the high proportion of young UAE drivers who had already been in an accident.
“Both speed and tailgating are verified causes of road accidents and we encourage all road users to drive at a suitable speed and maintain a safe distance from other cars,” Mr Reilly said.
Effective driver training and licensing standards are critical to road safety, said Dino Kalivas, chairman of the driver education and training committee at the International Road Federation.
“In a country such as the UAE, the challenge is greater due to the constant change of the demographic and, with many people from countries with either limited driver experience or driver training and licensing standards that are lower than the UAE,” Mr Kalivas said.
“Human beings are always the weakest point in any system as drivers make mistakes.”
More vigorous road-safety initiatives in schools, parental education and an emphasis on their role in the behaviour of their children as drivers are also needed, Dr Bendak said.
“We could also have hard-hitting and emotional TV and radio campaigns, put billboards on major roads showing accident statistics, and get the private sector involved in raising road safety awareness in the workplace.”
YouGov conducted the survey for Zurich Insurance Group in June.
rruiz@thenational.ae
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
NO OTHER LAND
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Listen to Extra Time
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
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Transmission: 6-speed manual
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