Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, November 16th 2016 [ME NewsWire]Only 26% ‘never’ use their mobile phones while driving
74% use their phone for incoming calls, 43% for outgoing calls
19% use their phone for incoming messages, 14% for outgoing messages
Mobile calling & texting is so dangerous, because it combines the 4 elements of distracted driving.
RoadSafetyUAE and QIC Insured release the findings of their most recent YouGov research wave, shedding light on one of the most dangerous behaviours behind the wheel: the use of the mobile phone while driving.
Thomas Edelmann, Founder & Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE states: “It is alarming to see, that only 26% of motorists ‘never’ use their mobile while driving. Distracted driving is among the top causes of accidents, injuries and death on UAE’s roads and the use of mobile phones behind the wheel is one of the major sources of distraction.” Most vulnerable are the 25-29 year olds and Sharjah residents. Westerners have the best habits in resting their mobile phone while driving.
74% of drivers use mobile phones for incoming calls, and 43% for outgoing calls,
19% for incoming messages like SMS, WhatsApp and similar, and 14% for outgoing messages.
Interestingly, older drivers respond most to incoming calls, while younger drivers lead in outgoing calls and messages.
Mobile calling and texting is so dangerous, because it combines the 4 forms of distraction:
Manual distraction (taking the hands off the wheel)
Visual distraction (taking the eyes off the road)
Distraction of the mind (taking your attention off the road)
Auditory distraction (taking your ears away from traffic sounds)
Frederik Bisbjerg, Executive Vice President MENA Retail, QIC Insured, states: “We are proud to be associated with this behaviour study, as it demonstrates the efforts of QIC Insured to actively support the creation of safer roads. For UAE’s motorists we have a very clear message: When driving, put your mobile phone in silent and put it away. No call or message can be so important to handicap your own safety, the safety of your passengers and the safety of other traffic participants around you!”
60% of respondents use their hands-free in 50% of their drives or more.
35% use the car’s built-in hands-free, 31% cable hands-free and 23% portable Bluetooth devices.
Of those drivers, whose cars have built-in hands-free, 75% actually use it, and the ones who don’t use it, claim better functionality and easier use of their hand held mobile phones.
The use of hands-free is more popular with older drivers.
“To improve the situation, the UAE needs ongoing education efforts, the creation and promotion of safe driving mobile phone applications (including an auto mute function) and a strict enforcement of the current rules and regulations with regards to the ban of mobile phones while driving. We appeal to all UAE traffic participants to obey to the above statement of Frederik Bisbjerg of QIC Insured: ‘When behind the wheel, put your mobile on silent & put it away!’”, Edelmann concludes.
The fieldwork for this study was done in August 2016 by YouGov, with a representative sample of 1,033 residents living in all seven emirates of the UAE. Details of the research project can be found in the ‘featured’ section on: http://www.roadsafetyuae.com/statistics/.
-ENDS-
About RoadSafetyUAE:
RoadSafetyUAE’s vision is to contribute to reducing the number of road traffic fatalities, injuries and accidents in the UAE. RoadSafetyUAE’s mission is to raise the all stake holders’ awareness for proper conduct on our roads, in an engaging manner and on a broadly communicated and permanent basis. RoadSafetyUAE’s award winning platform engages with the stake holders traffic participants, governmental entities, the media, and more than 30 corporate social responsibility (CSR) aware partners. The content backbone are ‘tips&tricks’, provided for more than 50 topics of road safety, specifically relevant to the UAE. More information can be found on www.RoadSafetyUAE.com.
In addition to QIC Insured, RoadSafetyUAE partners with RTA, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai Health Authority, BMW, Michelin, Audi, Nissan, Infiniti, Al-Futtaim Honda, Volvo, Al-Futtaim Volvo, Galadari Brothers - Mazda, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles - Dodge, MAN Trucks, Gargash Insurance Brokers, PepsiCo, Johnson&Johnson, MMI, Pernod Ricard, Serco, MiXTelematics, JustKidding, AMEC Foster Wheeler, OMD, NSG and VOX Cinemas.
About QIC Insured (Qatar Insurance Company)
Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) is a publicly listed composite insurer with a consistent performance history of over 50 years and a global underwriting footprint. Founded in 1964, QIC was the first domestic insurance company in the State of Qatar. Today, QIC is the market leader in Qatar and a dominant insurer in the GCC and MENA region. QIC is one of the highest rated insurers in the Gulf region with a rating of A/Stable from Standard & Poor’s and A(Excellent) from A.M. Best. In terms of profitability and market capitalization, QIC is also the largest insurance company in the MENA region. It is listed on the Qatar Exchange and has a market capitalization of over USD 4 billion.
QIC Insured is the retail brand of QIC’s personal insurances and can be experienced at qic-insured.com
Contacts
Thomas Edelmann
Founder and Managing Director
RoadSafetyUAE
Thomas@RoadSafetyUAE.com
+971 50 55 19 216
Frederik Bisbjerg
Executive Vice President, MENA Retail
www.qic-insured.com
frederik.bisbjerg@qicmena.com.qa
+971 50 62 95 187
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