ABU DHABI // The Department of Transport is using 40 portable road signs to warn drivers about hazards on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai and Abu Dhabi-Al Ain roads. The signs will flash various messages at drivers in both Arabic and English. 'Accident Slow Down,' 'Dense Fog Ahead,' and 'Road Closed' are among the messages designed to improve road safety, the department said in a statement yesterday. Such signs, which can be seen at a distance of 300 metres, have been proven effective at reducing speeds and crashes, it said.
Messages on the signs provide timely advice to drivers as road conditions change. Simon Labbett, the regional director of the Transport Research Laboratory, a road-safety consultancy, said it was important that the messages were up-to-date. "To maximise the effect, the information needs to be a timely message. It must be relevant to the driver," Mr Labbett said. "If the message is 'slow, accident ahead,' and there is no accident, there is no need to slow, the information is less credible."
The DoT said it was working with Abu Dhabi Police to inform the public about the signs. The signs were used at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to direct motorists and would be used again at this year's event and during the Fifa Club World Cup. mchung@thenational.ae
