Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, today launched the "I Can Drive Safely" campaign from Zayed University.
The initiative is being carried out by the Khalifa Student Empowerment Program "Aqdar", in partnership with Nissan Middle East, as an educational campaign seeking to reduce traffic accidents and deaths, as part of the government accelerators team initiatives to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities.
A ceremony was held to begin the campaign, and was attended by Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, and President of Zayed University, Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrouie, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Major General Dr. Nasser Lakhrerbani Al Nuaimi, Secretary-General of the Office of . Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Head of the High Commission for the Khalifa Student Empowerment Program "Aqdar", Major-General Expert Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, Chairman of the Federal Traffic Council, along with several police officers, representatives of participating universities and many students.
The ceremony, which began with the national anthem, included an explanation of the initiative, and a presentation featuring an introductory video displayed on social media outlets. His Highness also signed the online petition, which is also expected to be signed by 200,000 students and the public pledging to keep their cell phones silent, and not to use them while driving.
Sheikh Saif opened the co-located exhibition and toured its various corners. He placed the campaign's tag on one of the cars, and was briefed on the driving simulator which was designed to train students to drive without using cell phones.
Colonel Dr. Ibrahim Al Dabal, General Coordinator of Khalifa Student Empowerment Program "Aqdar", stressed the importance the UAE leadership placed on assuring that the safety of the nation’s youth remains a priority.
Also, Samir Cherfan, Managing Director of Nissan Middle East, highlighted the company’s priority to find solutions for auto emissions problems, as well as focusing on road safety.
He added that using cellphones while driving represents a serious issue, and urged students to create a campaign, a smart application and road signs addressing roads safety issues.
Top three winners in each category will get a total of AED 180.000as cash prizes. Nissan Middle East will also offer winners a chance to work on implementing their ideas and also give them financial aid, he further added.
Thomas Edelmann, RoadSafetyUAE founder and managing-director, said using mobile phones during driving is the main cause of accidents amongst youth. Young drivers were responsible for more than half of all road accidents in the UAE in the last nine months of 2015, Ministry of Interior statistics show. This age group accounted for 34% of the fatalities.