RECKLESS YOUNGSTERS RULE UAE ROADS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A young male culture that views speeding, tailgaiting, cutting off cars and other reckless behaviour behind the wheel as "manly" is behind high accident rates in the United Arab Emirates, a new report said.
The driving habits of young male Emiratis sparked an outcry in 2010 when several were caught on camera spinning and skidding on two wheels in pick-ups across a commuter highway n Dubai, one of the seven emirates.
A survey by faculty members of the UAE University found that aggressive tailgating, headlight flashing and cutting off other cars were all considered "manly" by young Emirati men, who took a disparaging view of traffic laws.
HIGH DEATH TOLL
"Observing the speed limit, maintaining a clear distance behind cars ahead, wearing a seat belt and stopping to make a cellphone call were often considered unmanly or cowardly - or practices followed only by 'unskilled drivers'," the university's report said.
The per-capita death toll on UAE roads is among the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, although Dubai police say fatal road accident numbers dropped by 23 percent in the UAE in the first half of 2010 from the same period in 2009.
"Young Emiratis' attitudes, values and response to peer pressure are behind the alarming number of UAE car accidents, injuries and fatalities," the report said.
Gulf Arab governments have been trying to discourage reckless driving with a shock campaign of TV advertising showing Arab drivers, all men, dying or killing others in bloody simulated car wrecks but they face an uphill battle.
Big 4x4's, including Hummers, share UAE roads with Ferraris and Maseratis as well as less luxurious Chinese-made imports.
"Some of the Emiratis surveyed are strongly tempted to overtake if the car they are driving is fancier than the one in front," the report said. It was "an expression of superiority".
EXHIBITIONIST STYLE
Around 16 percent of the survey's male respondents said they would "mostly overtake the car in front if the driver is an expatriate or from another emirate".
The exhibitionist driving style of many motorists can be intimidating for reasonable drivers, with some road users also spotted sending text messages crom a cellphone, eating or even applying nail polish while behind the wheel.
As many as half of the young Emirati men talked on a cellphone while driving, parked on freeways to chat with other drivers, don't bother wearing a seatbelt and drive in the wrong direction down one-way streets.
"The female Emiratis and Arab expatriates observe speed limits than the male Emiratis, who appear to thrive on risk and do not abide by traffic and safety rules," the report concluded.
