Source:Â www.rta.ae
The Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) at the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has recently honoured 15 distinguished cabdrivers as part of DTC Traffic Safety Awards 2011 under the “Exemplary Driver” category; which is sponsored this year by Al Buhaira National Insurance Company, to educate drivers on safe driving and step up the operational efficiency of the DTC.
Marking the occasion, engineer Yousef Al Ali, Acting CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation, delivered a speech in this special event which was held at Al Badia Golf Hotel at Dubai Festival City in which he said: “We are thrilled to honour 15 exemplary cabbies out of 8000 cabbies through the Traffic Safety Awards launched by the DTC in 2010 under the “Exemplary Driver” category under the theme “No to Traffic Offences, No to Accidents, No to Quality Offences” as an initiative rolled out by Your Safety team of the DTC.”
The Award comprises three categories: The Gold Driver (rewarded by AED5,000 and a Certificate of Appreciation), Silver Driver (rewarded by AED4,000 and a Certificate of Appreciation), and Bronze Driver (rewarded by AED3,000 and a Certificate of Appreciation).
“Through this Award, we intend to honour distinguished cabbies in accordance with a set criteria to be adopted in drivers assessment process with the aim of educating them on safe driving, stepping up the operational efficiency of the DTC and directing them to abide by the traffic systems, and remain attentive & vigilant on roads.
“The Award, as well as other initiatives kicked off by Your Safety team, contributed to achieving impressive results in reducing traffic accidents sustained by taxicabs. The total number of accidents per 100 thousand km in 2011 clocked 1.98 accidents showing a drop as much as 35%. The red accidents “causer” dropped from 0.61 in 2008 to 0.32 in 2011 recording in the process a 48% drop. Among the key achievements celebrated by the DTC is the achievement of zero accidents involving injury/fatality in 2011. The DTC will continue to take part in the local & regional events to showcase its practices and take part in various regional & global awards to promote the civilized image of the Dubai Emirate.
“The DTC is keen on launching a host of driver-oriented initiatives & projects with a view to enhancing their satisfaction and fully training them before deploying them on vehicles as they act as ambassadors of the RTA to the public, and a mirror clearly reflecting DTC’s policy & strategy towards living up to its new vision of “Pioneers in Passenger Transport Services”.
“These initiatives include honouring honest drivers on monthly basis, honouring distinguished drivers based on drivers’ assessment system on quarterly basis for which a two million dirham budget has been allocated as rewards, and honouring long-serving drivers who achieve a rating of 100% in the results of the mystery shopper survey among others. The motivation is the first and foremost factor in uplifting the level of service and drivers efficiency through offering them cash and in-kind prizes in order to attain higher levels of service,” added Al Ali.
He thanked Al Buhaira National Insurance Company for its continued cooperation and sponsoring this Award besides taking part in various awareness campaigns held by the DTC to raise the awareness of drivers about road safety, and curb crashes. He also thanked the Dubai Police General HQ represented in the General Traffic Department as well as the General Community Service Department, for their support that contributed to heightening the awareness and the security sense of DTC’s drivers. He also commended Your Safety team of the DTC urging them to maintain their excellence drive in order to assume a leading role in traffic safety. He also lauded the Exemplary Drivers, urging them to diffuse the culture of safe driving among their colleagues and act as ambassadors of the Award during this year.
For his part Mohammed Khalaf, Director of Vehicles Dep’t at Al Buhaira National Insurance Company said: “We are excited to cooperate with the RTA and DTC. We opted to sponsor this Award considering its vitality and constructive results accruing as a result of minimizing the rate of accidents & traffic offences, and maintaining the safety of the community & road users through complying with the traffic rules and safe driving practices. He called upon other drivers to acquaint their mates with this Award and the potentials results involved so that they may follow suit and achieve results that qualify them to grab this prize or other similar prizes launched by the DTC.
The honourees expressed their deep thanks and appreciation for this Award, and renewed their keenness to commit more diligent efforts in performing their duties. They considered this step a great motivator for them to better serve the public in order to measure up to RTA’s achievements, regional profile of Dubai as well as the advancement made by the Emirate in various economic, commercial, real estate, tourist, and service sectors among others.
