A nationwide study undertaken by more than 3,000 male and female 18 to 23-year-old university students to understand their attitudes towards road safety has revealed alarming findings that show young drivers are in desperate need of further education.
The survey reflects an alarming practice in the UAE where many drivers or passengers do not use seatbelts. Just one third of the respondents surveyed said they always wore a seatbelt and despite 44 percent of students having been in a car accident, a staggering 72 percent of them still say they ‘only sometimes’ – or even never – buckle up.
With such worrying attitudes towards their own safety, BMW Group is focusing its 2013 ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’ road safety campaign on young student drivers, taking a digital approach to illustrate the harsh reality of unsafe driving, in particular not wearing seatbelts.
Working with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) – the largest higher educational institution in the UAE – an online course has been developed to highlight the benefits of safe motoring and the consequences of reckless driving to more than 18,000 Emirati students across the country.
Three quarters of the UAE students surveyed who said they did not always wear seatbelts said it was because they simply forgot or felt uncomfortable. Worryingly, more than half (54 percent) of those surveyed believed it was not necessary to wear a seatbelt unless they were the driver. Equally as alarming, three out of four student drivers surveyed said they do not ensure their passengers are buckled up before setting off on their journeys.
