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Safe drivers in three emirates to win Dh1,000

RoadStar contest promotes safe driving in Dubai today and tomorrow after Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

The bi-annual Caltex RoadStar Contest, aimed at rewarding safe drivers in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, will be on till October 31.

The campaign, which took off on October 27 in Abu Dhabi, with a police officer and event organisers patrolling the streets in a Nissan in search of good drivers on October 27 and 28 during peak hours, moved on to Sharjah on October 29. It will hit the Dubai roads today and tomorrow. Drivers who observe the basic principles of good driving such as wearing seatbelts, using child safety seats, indicators and hands-free mobiles, observe lane discipline and display courtesy, in addition to adhering to speed limits, come under the organisers’ scanner. Motorists who observe these basic safe driving rules will be instantly rewarded with a cash prize of Dh1,000, with Dh10,000 given out daily.

Over the five-day campaign period, a total of Dh50,000 will be given out as incentives for drivers to continue with their safe driving habits and also encourage other road users to follow suit. The campaign aimed at promoting safe driving and rewarding those who adhere to traffic rules in the strictest sense saw thousands of drivers winning the Dh1,000 award from the Dh10,000 daily cash pool.

Winner of the Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST) in 2009, the campaign is now in its 16th year, a testimony to the service rendered to road users in the UAE for more than a decade-and-a-half. Caltex has been at the forefront of support for the initiative since the very beginning.

The campaign made its debut in 1998 with the Emirates Motor Sports Federation (EMSF) and the full support of the police departments of the Emirates. EMSF General Secretary, Atiq Hassan Mubarak, said: “The federation has been at the helm of this initiative since its inception and it is true that while it may not necessarily have altered driving habits of a majority of road users, RoadStar has certainly been able to create an awareness of the need to drive safely.”

Ciel Events Director and founder of the RoadStar campaign, Roshanara Sait, said: “No amount of campaigns can make one a safe driver; driving safe must become a habit and initiatives like this on a regular basis certainly create awareness. It is a long process, but well worth it because I believe the younger generation, the new drivers are the ones we should target before they make bad driving a habit.”