The death of one of the stars of the popular Fast & Furious movie franchise in a fiery road crash serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of speeding on our roads here in the UAE.
The Porsche Carrera GT that Paul Walker was travelling in burst into flames after colliding with a lamp post in Santa Clarita, California, last Saturday, killing the 40-year-old and the driver, a friend who shared his passion for auto racing.
Work on Fast & Furious 7 began in Abu Dhabi last month – stunt work was shot and landmarks such as Etihad Towers and Emirates Palace were filmed by visual effects teams. The cast, including Walker and Vin Diesel, were scheduled to fly in early next month to shoot at locations around the capital.
The production, which was originally due to be released in July 2014, is the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be drawn here by Abu Dhabi’s film rebate initiative, which reimburses 30 per cent of the money spent on making TV shows and films in the emirate.
Walker’s death will delay further work on the seventh instalment in the action series, which centres around über-macho male activities such as illegal street racing and the motorsport drifting.
The series has become extremely popular with young men in Abu Dhabi, where nearly half the road accidents last year were caused by drivers between the ages of 18 and 30, according to police.
These accidents – involving pedestrians being hit, vehicles overturning and collisions – killed 132 people and seriously injured 168, bring into sharp focus the need to adopt innovative measures to raise awareness of the dangers of reckless driving.
“The top causes for these unfortunate traffic accidents are speeding, negligence, driving through red lights and tailgating, said Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, head of the Traffic and Patrols Directorate in Abu Dhabi, earlier this year.
The authorities have been stepping up their awareness promotion efforts via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as a crash-reduction scheme called “Together”.
These are no doubt logical approaches to influencing the behaviour of young people behind the wheel, but perhaps in this Hollywood tragedy lies a new safety promotion opportunity.
The adulation directed at the cast members of the Fast & Furious franchise, particularly Paul Walker – the protagonist of a cautionary tale if there ever was one – and others like it could be an effective tool for persuading testosterone-fuelled young drivers to take it a bit slower.
Perhaps the surviving cast members, should they resume filming in Abu Dhabi, would be willing to join forces with the local authorities in producing “Don’t try this at home” advertisements to deter young drivers from trying to replicate what they see on the big screen?
It would be both a public service to their many fans in the UAE and a fitting tribute to their dead colleague.
pmuir@thenational.ae
