BMW Group Middle East Launches its ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive.’ Road Safety Initiative

BMW Group Middle East Launches its ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive.’ Road Safety Initiative

• 98% of children in the UAE are not restrained when they travel
• Traffic accidents accounted for 63% of all child deaths in the UAE in 2009
  • Road traffic accidents account for 67% of all injury-related deaths in the capital
  • Commitment to give away 10,000 child safety booster cushions

Dubai – BMW Group Middle East, supported by the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD), the Road and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA), Abu Dhabi Municipality and Dubai Municipality, has launched its ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive.’ road safety initiative in a bid to raise awareness of the importance of various road safety issues.

Following an independent survey of BMW and MINI customers to help identify what prompts drivers in the GCC region to take risks in their vehicles, BMW Group Middle East has identified the use of seat-belts, and in particular, appropriate child restraints, as the theme of its first campaign under the initiative that is aimed at increasing road safety awareness across the board.  

BMW Group Middle East is initially launching the ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive.’ campaign in  the UAE with the aim to then implement the campaign across the GCC.  Working closely with BMW Group importers, the campaign will be multi-faceted and will focus on many attitudinal road safety issues including seat belts and child restraints, speeding, fatigue, driver distraction (such as mobile phones) and reckless driving. The integrated campaign will use PR, advertising (print and radio) and marketing tactics.  Awareness Days in local parks and at BMW importer showrooms will be used to give away 10,000 child booster seats across the region and to demonstrate the correct use of  child safety seats in vehicles.

Speaking at a press conference to launch the campaign, Phil Horton, Managing Director of BMW Group Middle East, says: “As part of our commitment to help improve road safety in the region, we are launching an initiative to help drivers understand about safe driving habits and particularly, occupant safety and restraint systems.

“BMW Group Middle East believes that everyone should be fully aware of how best to protect themselves and their children against the dangers posed by driving. We all have a role to play – the government, automotive companies, and the general public. Without a doubt, the simplest way for drivers and passengers to protect themselves is to buckle-up every time.”

Over 70% of GCC drivers surveyed by BMW Group Middle East said that they travel with their children or families, with many of these admitting that they and their passengers did not use seat belts all the time, especially those sat in the rear. When it came to protecting children, 94% of respondents said that it was important for children to use restraints but 37% confessed that their children didn’t use them. In fact, most admitted to holding their children in their arms as a passenger, an extremely dangerous practice.

According to a study conducted by the UAE University in 2008, 98% of children travelling in a car were not restrained and 23% of children travelled in the front seat, which is actually illegal in the UAE for children below the age of ten. In the same study on average only 29% of drivers wore seat belts.

According to HAAD, 454 people, including 44 children, died of road traffic injuries in Abu Dhabi in 2009. This accounts for 67% of all deaths from injuries and therefore makes road traffic injuries the leading cause of injury death. Abu Dhabi still has one of the world’s highest rates of road death – an incidence of 20.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 2009.

Until the age of seven, children’s bones are still forming and their skull and ribcage are still extremely flexible. This means that any impact can result in significant deformation of the head and brain, or damage to the heart, lungs and other internal organs. At this age, the pelvis is unstable and cannot withstand the forces from the use of regular seat-belts and therefore appropriate child restraints are essential to reduce the risk of injury.

Dr. Jens Thomsen, Section Head for Occupational and Environmental Health and Head of the HAAD Road Safety Program, Public Health and Research Department at HAAD, says: “It is essential for parents to ensure they use the right restraint for their child’s age and size. There are different seats available and the selection of the appropriate one is crucial to ensuring that children are effectively protected. Children cannot be expected to decide on how best to protect themselves: that responsibility is solely in the hands of their parents. By buying and correctly installing the right car restraints for their children, parents can significantly enhance their protection.”

Child restraints have been shown to reduce infant deaths by approximately 70%, and fatalities by between 54% and 80% in an accident. It is also known that 83% of belted and restrained children remain uninjured in accidents. Booster seats for children aged between four and 11 years old have been shown to reduce the risk of injury by 59% compared to seat belts alone.

In the UAE, and according to 2007 figures from the UAE Ministry of Interior, 29% of all road deaths involve car passengers. This statistic could easily be reversed if drivers insisted on all passengers wearing seat belts.

Peyman Parham Younes, Director Of Marketing and Corporate Corporation of Dubai’s RTA, says: “While we have seen a significant improvement in overall road safety and specifically fatal crashes on Dubai roads, there remains a lot of work to be done on achieving the targets set by the RTA, to be in-line with global benchmarks.

"The matter of road safety is a critical responsibility of each and every member of this community, and only with this community voice can there be great change. I urge everyone to join in events such as this one being announced today by BMW and help to make this city safer for its sons and daughters.”

Horton concludes: “A basic criterion for assessing road safety is the accident rate.  Our survey found that one out of 10 respondents was involved in a traffic accident in the last 12 months. While the drivers we surveyed were all well aware of the basic factors that affect safe driving and occupant safety, their actual behaviour often puts themselves and their passengers at risk. ”

 The ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’ Awareness Days will be held on Friday 02 April 2010 at the Abu Dhabi Corniche, and Friday 09 April at the Dubai Creekside Park, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Municipality and Dubai Municipality, as well as BMW importers Abu Dhabi Motors and AGMC. BMW Group Middle East will be giving away 4,000 child safety booster cushions at these two events.

- Ends -

Notes to editors:

It is essential for parents to make sure that they use the right restraint for their child’s age and size. There are different seats available and the selection of the appropriate one is crucial to ensuring that children are effectively protected. Here are the different options available, which are based on the UN ECE-R44.04 standards:

A rear-facing car seat provides the best protection until the infant is both one year of age and weighs at least 13 kg.

The best type of child restraint for toddlers is the child safety seat, which secures the child and spreads the crash forces over a wide area. This seat should last until the child’s either weight exceeds 18 kg or it grows too tall for the seat.

A booster seat works by raising the child to the correct height for the car’s adult seat belt to work properly. It has a seat back that can provide additional protection in the event of a side impact. The booster seat should be used until the child is approximately 145 cm tall.

Booster cushions without backs are designed for weights from 22 to 36 kg, although some manufacturers are now producing backs that cover the full 15 to 36 kg range.

Further notes to editors:

The BMW survey was conducted by an independent research company through phone interviews that covered seven markets which include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. The total sample of over 1,000 respondents represented by the different BMW customers were asked about attitudinal issues that relate to general driving habits, speeding, occupant restraint, fatigue, mobile phone usage, and reckless behaviour.

About BMW Group:

The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 24 production facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

The BMW Group achieved a global sales volume of approximately 1.29 million automobiles and over 87,000 motorcycles for the 2009 financial year. The pre-tax profit for 2009 was euro 413 million, revenues totalled euro 50.68 billion. At 31 December 2009, the company employed a global workforce of approximately 96,000 associates.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last five years.

About Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD):

The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) is the regulatory body of the Healthcare Sector at the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ensures excellence in Healthcare for the community by monitoring the health status of the population. 

HAAD defines the strategy for the health system, monitors and analyses the health status of the population and performance of the system.

In addition HAAD shapes the regulatory framework for the health system, inspects against regulations, enforce standards, and encourages adoption of world – class best practices and performance targets by all healthcare service providers in the Emirate.

HAAD also drives programs to increase awareness and adoption of healthy living standards among the residents of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in addition to regulating scope of services, premiums and reimbursement rates of the health system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

About the Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai:

Since Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in today's world, making the provision of high quality infrastructure facilities absolutely imperative, and since providing an advanced transport network for the people of Dubai has been high on the government’s agenda, which is evident from its initiatives to enhance the public transport facilities and improve roads across the emirate to make travel safer and smoother, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was formed by the decree number 17 for the year 2005.
 
RTA is responsible for planning and providing the requirements of transport, roads & traffic in the Emirate of Dubai, and between Dubai and other Emirates of the UAE, neighboring countries in order to provide an effective & an integrated transport system capable of achieving Dubai's vision & serving the vital interests of the Emirate.

RTA responsibilities also include:

For the further information please contact:

Leanne Blanckenberg, Corporate Communications Manager, BMW Group Middle East

Email: leanne.blanckenberg@bmw.com

Telephone: +9714 313 2615 or +97150 659 7037

Rami Adwan

Media Specialist

Health Authority - Abu Dhabi

Tel: +971 2 4913 318

email: radwan@haad.ae

Laura Fanning or Bianca Limwatana, d’pr for BMW

Email: laura@d-pr.ae or bianca-d'pr.ae

Telephone:  +971 4 3444901