Representing the road transport sector at the Abu Dhabi Road & Traffic Expo, IRU has discussed how innovation and data-driven solutions can enhance road safety in the United Arab Emirates and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region.
The high-level event on innovative solutions brought together industry actors with a view to tackling road safety and driving professionalism in road transport logistics and mobility. IRU reminded the audience of the objectives of the second UN Decade of Action on Road Safety, and called for more effort to reach them.
The objectives of the decade cannot be met without addressing the main cause: the human factor. Indeed, over 85-90% of road transport accidents involving commercial freight vehicles are due to human actions. It is therefore crucial to leverage the potential of automation and develop innovative technology-based solutions to reduce the number of road fatalities.
In addition, to achieve “Vision Zero”, Abu Dhabi’s ambitious objective to reduce road deaths to zero, the legal framework needs to be adapted. In particular, the conditions for obtaining a driving license need to be updated and, driver skills profiling needs to be promoted.
Participants recognised that the current standards on fitness to drive generally rely on legacy. They agreed that this approach is costly and does not deliver the expected results for the industry, nor for society. It is therefore necessary that all road users comply with recognised high-level fitness to drive records.
IRU has developed skills profiling solutions to help the industry ensure that drivers are fit for the job. These also provide companies with tools to mitigate risks and properly manage the knowledge and skills gaps of their drivers.
IRU RoadMasters provides digital dashboards which consolidate driver skills profile against key performance areas for mobility and freight drivers.