‘Running Late’, the Main Culprit for Road Accidents – Study by Volkswagen & RoadSafetyUAE

From earlier studies about the main causes of reckless driving the hypothesis crystallized, that ‘running late’ is the root cause for much of UAE motorists’ misbehavior.  Hence, this new and vital study looking into all the dimensions of ‘running late’ is of truly critical importance to understand the consequences and the ‘quick-fix’ solution for poor time management or ’running late’.

Thomas Edelmann, Founder & Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE states: “The simple fact of ‘running late’ has such a detrimental effect on our safety, that we had the urge to understand more about it. We are delighted to teaming up with our CSR-Partner Volkswagen for this very important research project. It is of great significance that we bring these insights in front of our motorists, for them to reflect on their time management, for them to understand the dire consequences of ‘running late’ and for them to apply the easy and free-of-cost fix of ‘starting early.”

Victor Dalmau, Managing Director at Volkswagen Middle East adds: “For Volkswagen, safety is, and will always be, our top priority. Therefore, we feel that, beyond producing cars with the latest technology on active and passive safety features, our responsibility is also to make drivers really aware of the importance of safe driving and helping them to achieve it. We have held already safety campaigns over the past years and we are now taking this further through our partnership with RoadSafetyUAE.”

The main findings of the study are:

80% of drivers admit to start their trips late (only 20% 'never')

80% of those running late are more likely to speed

59% of those running late are more likely to tailgate

50% of those running late show less consideration to other road users

50% of those running late are more likely to drive distracted

While males and females both admit to start their trips equally late, males have a significantly higher tendency to consequently display forms of reckless driving (speeding: 83% vs. 71%; tailgating 62% vs. 52%; distracted driving 53% vs. 43%).

The segment of young drivers in the age group of 18-34 years shows the highest values of resulting misbehavior ‘almost every time’ and ‘often’ in the categories of running late, speeding, tailgating, less consideration to others and distracted driving! Exactly the same applies for the segment of Emirati motorists.

The emirate of Abu Dhabi stands out in terms of resulting speeding, tailgating and distracted driving.

What's the easy fix?

82% think leaving 10 minutes early would mean you would drive more safely

57% think arriving early benefits them by 'being calmer / less stressed'

56% think arriving early means to be 'more prepared before their meeting'

29% would use the time to check for updates on their mobile phone

25% would go for a quick coffee

21% would call someone

“It is absolutely not rocket science, and motorists themselves do understand the power of the ‘easy fix’! A staggering 82% think that ‘starting early’ would mean more safety! Motorists also clearly understand the benefits of ‘arriving early’.

What is holding us back? We must reflect on this single root cause of ‘running late’ which causes so much pain on our roads. It is so easy and it does not cost anything! We would like to see all involved stakeholders like governmental entities, the media, corporations and the education sector to focus on awareness-creating initiatives around ‘Start your road trip early!’” Edelmann concludes.

The dedicated topic on RoadSafetyUAE’s portal with tips & tricks can be found here: https://www.roadsafetyuae.com/watch-the-time/

The survey was commissioned by Volkswagen and RoadSafetyUAE with a UAE representative sample of 1,006 respondents. It was conducted by a global online market research agency.

About RoadSafetyUAE:

RoadSafetyUAE’s vision is to contribute to reducing the number of road traffic fatalities, injuries and accidents in the UAE. RoadSafetyUAE’s mission is to raise the awareness for proper conduct on our roads, in an engaging manner and on a broadly communicated and permanent basis. RoadSafetyUAE’s award-winning platform engages with the stakeholders traffic participants, governmental entities, the media, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) minded partners. ‘Tips & Tricks’ are the content backbone, provided for more than 60 topics of road safety, all specifically relevant to the UAE. More information can be found on www.RoadSafetyUAE.com

About Volkswagen Middle East:

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand is present in more than 150 markets throughout the world and produces vehicles at over 50 locations in 14 countries. In 2020, Volkswagen delivered 5.3 million vehicles including bestselling models such as the Golf, Tiguan, Jetta or Passat. Currently, 195,878 people work for Volkswagen across the globe. The brand also has over 10,000 dealerships with 86,000 employees. Volkswagen is forging ahead consistently with the further development of automobile production. E-mobility, smart mobility and the digital transformation of the brand are the key strategic topics for the future.