Students of Dubai schools will now have a smart, safe and fun way to learn the basics of traffic safety.
A special bus fitted with smart devices and apps will travel to schools across Dubai from March to teach them the rules of traffic safety.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has launched the 'Smart Safety Bus'.
Al Tayer inspected the smart devices fitted to the bus along with the programmes and apps on board, which alert students on the rules of traffic safety and features of the bus. The interior and exterior design of the bus is tailored to deliver traffic awareness messages to students and encourage them to comply with. The objective of the bus is to maintain the zero traffic-related fatalities within schools' localities. Over the last seven years, the RTA has succeeded in maintaining a zero-fatality rate within school zones.
The interior and exterior of the bus is designed on the concept of a recent study that blends education with entertainment (edutainment) in a bid to instil a sound traffic awareness culture among the upcoming generations. The new technique is considered much better than traditional means for training the children.
The bus is fitted with interactive e-screens displaying entertaining and educational materials, edited by traffic safety specialists at the RTA. The awareness devices extend outside the vehicle to include dangerous and most hazardous spots on the ground in the surroundings of the bus; which are highlighted in different colours. The hazardous spots make sound alerts when students attempt to cross them while solar panels on board power the screens and programmes.
Maitha bin Adai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency; and Steve Burnell, managing director of School Transport Services LLC, attended the launch.
"The RTA has carried out a series of projects, plans and initiatives to revamp the concept of traffic safety and curb pedestrian fatalities among road users. It is also coordinating with the Dubai Police on the implementation of the five-year Traffic Safety Strategy built on four key pillars: Traffic monitoring and enforcement, vehicles and roads engineering, traffic awareness, systems and management as well as key performance indicators with Dubai traffic safety targets 2017-2021. Road fatalities dropped from 21.9 cases per 100,000 of the population in 2005 to only 2.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2018," explained Al Tayer.
Traffic Awareness
Maitha bin Adai said the 'Smart Safety Bus' focuses on raising the traffic awareness of students aged 6-14 years. "Most awareness programmes run on board the bus are tilted towards educating students about the traffic safety procedures whether on board, around the bus or while crossing the road," she noted.
Students are offered a practical experience of buckling up the seatbelt for safety during traffic accidents. Various educational videos on traffic safety principles are shown in a fun way linked with questions to assess students' understanding of the information provided," added Maitha.
A programme in two phases
The Smart Safety Bus programme comprises of two phases. In the first phase during the second semester of the current academic year, 30 private schools will be covered. The second phase during the next academic year, will cover 45 public and private schools.
Steve Burnell, managing director of School Transport Services LLC, said the awareness tour of the bus will be kicked off this March. "A safe place in parking lots of schools will be designated for the bus. All security and safety precautions will be addressed when training and familiarising students with the contents of the bus."
Copyright © 2019 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
