Gucci seatbelts idea for UAE 'ridiculous' - AB online poll

Thursday, 27 August 2009 2:51 PM

A total of 72.4 percent of people who took part in an online poll criticised the idea of distributing Gucci seatbelts to young UAE motorists in a bid to get them to buckle up.

The poll by Arabian Business found the vast majority of people thought the idea was ridiculous and would not work.

They said proper road safety education was the only way to encouraging more drivers to use their seatbelts.

A high percentage of UAE motorists do not wear a seatbelt when driving. Recent figures by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) showed that only 11 percent of Emiratis and 44 percent of expatriates wore them.

The problem is more prevalent among young drivers, who say they are too embarrassed to wear them in front of friends, according to the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy (EFP).

In a bid to get young people to buckle up the Salama Road Safety Public Awareness Initiative will launch seatbelts adorned with images of the UAE national flag, top football team logos and fashion houses, like Gucci.

However, according to the online poll, only 9.5 percent of respondents thought it was a good idea. Some 12.2 percent of people said officials should give it a try but they did not hold out much hope.

While 5.9 percent said like all trends the designer seatbelts would fall out of fashion and people would stop wearing them.

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Posted by: MD Tuesday, 1 September 2009 7:55 AM[UAE]

Please go back to school to learn about percentages and improve your math. It is very easy to take a sentence out of context and then use it to provoke others. If understanding percentages is so difficult for you, then can I safely assume that driving is a much bigger challenge for you and possibly you could be one of those crazy drivers that we see on the roads daily. Jere, don't take offence please, I was just trying to make you realize how offended Pakistanis and Indians feel by your stupid statement.

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Posted by: DesiDude Monday, 31 August 2009 1:38 PM[UAE] - UAE

Jere- Obviously being ignorant is one thing. Showing your ignorance is another! One does not "give away licenses" - there are driving tests etc. and to be fair- the asian expat population definitely HAVE to undergo the test, unlike some other expat population who can drive on UAE roads based on their original country licenses. Again simple mathematics also show that if any particular community is large, the number of caused accidents by that populate would also be large - but on a relative basis it would be comparable to any other community. Coming more to the point - this discussion is about Seatbelts and vasta, and the UAE community. If it were a matter of getting any particular community "off the road", you might consider looking in the mirror - how safe are you if you seem to have difficulty even keep up with simple discussion boards?..hmmm.

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Posted by: Daniel Monday, 31 August 2009 1:34 PM[UAE]

Clearly Jere, you are NO rocket scientist yourself. "Pakistanis and Indians being the highest offenders of road accidents" ? Let's assume this gem *is* true, isn't this clearly because these 2 nationalities form the largest percentage of the population, by a huge margin ?? Are there are studies that correlate accidents per nationality, to the proportion of those nationals to the overall population ? A very different picture is likely to emerge. Jere ("just get the off the roads") clearly isn't bothered with these considerations - or more likely, doesn't even understand the basic math involved. Stop wearing a seatbelt Jere. You'll be doing the gene pool a huge favor.

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Posted by: Jere Monday, 31 August 2009 11:41 AM[UAE] - Qatar

If the percentages are correct with Pakistanis and Indians being the highest offenders of road accidents...why are we giving them licenses in the first place!!! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. And, it's not just in the UAE, it's the entire GCC. Give us all a break and get them off the road.

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Posted by: Ali Sunday, 30 August 2009 12:47 PM[UAE] - UAE

One of the core problems, no matter how much we try to hoodwink, is the fact that some people can get away with not wearing seatbelts, or speeding or tinting 80% because of who they know. A recent study published by The National mentioned one reason for people not wearing seatbelts being "ridicule by peers for not having right connections". i cant imagine many expats having the "right connections" to get away with traffic offences....

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Gucci seatbelts idea for UAE 'ridiculous' - AB online poll

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