"On average there is a traffic accident every three minutes in Dubai, while in Abu Dhabi there is a fatal accident every two days." the report states.
Brig Gen Al Harethi (Abu Dhabi Traffic Police Chief) said: "Accidents were reduced by 40 per cent and the fact that BlackBerry services were down definitely contributed to that."
"Absolutely nothing has happened in the past week in terms of killings on the road and we're really glad about that," Brig Gen Al Harethi said. "People are slowly starting to realise the dangers of using their phone while driving. The roads became much safer when BlackBerry stopped working."
It seems amazing that the BB effect could make such a huge difference, but honestly, I'm not surprised. I see tons of people on their phones while driving every day here in the UAE. I admit that I too have been known to send the odd BBM or email while driving, so I suppose I am part of the problem - although I do have 27 years of driving experience and judgement behind me to draw on, rather more than most of those typically involved in accidents here. It's over 10 years since I was involved in an accident of any kind, including zero here in the UAE - not a bad record I reckon!
One thing I do usually avoid is holding my phone while having a phone conversation. I have a Bluetooth kit in my car so I can talk handsfree. This is what really gets me - most of the people I see on the phone are in expensive, luxury cars that no doubt have built in Bluetooth controlled from the car's on-board computer system. So why the hell don't they use them! Well BB is working again now, so I guess the stats are back up to normal now!
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