UAE auto firms give pat on the back for safety

RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business

There is a dire need of educating and motivating people to make sure they keep their safety as prime concern while driving, UAE experts emphasise.
On the same lines, various technology and automobile companies in UAE are trying out innovative ideas like discounts on their rides for encouraging people to abide by the traffic rules like putting on seat-belts and driving within accurate lane.
Careem, one of the fast growing technology companies in UAE, is one such company. Careem has decided to tackle the concern that has taken the backseat for too long: safety by rewarding their customers.
The tech company has partnered with RoadSafetyUAE to help put together a strong safety programme that both raises awareness and rewards customers who pledge to changing bad habits and take buckling up more seriously.
Christian Eid, General Manager of Careem UAE, told Emirates Business, “While others in the industry have been focusing more and more on providing glitz and glamour experiences such as yacht and helicopter rides, Careem is taking a more serious angle and declared May as the month of passenger safety.”
“Careem has empowered its Captains to refuse passengers who choose not to buckle-up. In short, if you don’t buckle-up, we will choose not to provide an unsafe trip. Though this might sound drastic, we hope our passengers will value their safety as much as we do and hope that our community will welcome this bold move”, added Eid.
“We are asking all of our customers to formally pledge to buckling-up and become advocates for road safety. In return, we have committed to rewarding all pledgers with 25 percent discount on their next 5 Careem rides,” said Eid. Thomas Edelmann, Founder and Managing Director at RoadSafetyUAE said, “Based on a survey we have conducted internally last month amongst chauffer driven cabs, only 57 percent always wore their seat belts while sitting in the back seat. A very alarming number.”
“For Careem to choose to be an advocate for educating its passengers on the importance of buckling-up is something we aspire all companies to do. We hope this campaign will not only raise awareness but will save lives as well.” Edelmann said.