Black box could be a vital step towards safer roads

Every driver could benefit from greater monitoring of their manoeuvres on the road

January 30 2010/ Abu Dhabi / Traffic is backed up leading to Abu Dhabi on the Maqta Bridge January 30, 2010. (Sammy Dallal / The National)





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How would we all behave if we knew our behaviour behind the wheel was being monitored? It's a question that raises its head because the Federal Traffic Council is considering making it compulsory for drivers aged between 18 and 21 to install a black box in their vehicles that monitors the standard of their driving. The recorders would keep tabs on speed, the use of indicators and whether brakes are used judiciously.

As anyone familiar with the UAE’s roads will know, young, inexperienced drivers are not solely to blame for thoughtless behaviour behind the wheel. Many older, seasoned drivers pick up bad habits from their years on the road or come from places where different highway rules apply. Those habits are hard to unlearn and might make for worse drivers than the newly qualified, conscientious young driver.

With high insurance premiums, it is all too easy for the under-25 driver to feel demonised. Conversely, the black box initiative could be an opportunity to award good behaviour. If drivers are remembering to indicate, leaving safe braking distances and not speeding, those results should be duly rewarded with lower insurance rates and the drivers being heralded as good examples for all to follow. As Thomas Edelmann from RoadSafetyUAE says, all drivers could benefit from such devices. In the meantime, until it becomes a legal requirement, it is worth everyone on the road driving as if there was a black box recording their every move. There would undoubtedly be fewer accidents as a result.