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Brake Failure is Prevalent and Deadly in the Middle East 

Because of high humidity & temperature, brake fluids have a safe working life span as short as just two years.

14 September, 2004

BP Middle East & Dubai traffic police have launched a joint safety initiative called ''Drive Safely Arabia''. The aim is to reduce the amount of accidents due to brake failure, which are believed to be a major cause of road accidents & fatalities in the UAE.

Central to this campaign is a product made by Fife-based Alba Diagnostics Ltd. Their award-winning Brake Fluid Tester is a unique device for testing the moisture contamination in brake fluid.

Karim Ibrahim, BP Regional Technical Services Manager, Middle East & Iran, explained that brake fluids have a limited life span. In the Gulf, because of high humidity & temperature, this can be as little as two years.

Brigadier Dr Jassim Mohemmed Balrumaithah of the Dubai Police confirmed: "We have used the tester in our compound to check the brake fluid of cars that have been involved in high speed accidents. We found that a frighteningly high number failed the test & that brake failure was the most likely cause of the accident.''

Last year there were 7,397 serious traffic accidents in the UAE, 873 deaths & over 10,000 injuries. Relative to the number of vehicles on the road, UAE has six times more deaths from road traffic accidents per year than the USA & Europe.

Stewart Whitton, MD of Alba Diagnostics commented ''This is a great initiative by BP & the Dubai Police. Most people have no idea that brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air. This is a safety-critical item in every car, yet it is the one most drivers ignore. Everyone knows to change their oil & top up their windscreen washer fluid, but regardless of how careful you are, if your brake fluid is past its safe working life (20,000 miles or 2 years), then you have a potential accident waiting to happen. Worst affected usually is the family car, which tends to be older & serviced less frequently. This just also happens to be the car you use to transport your children. Not a risk I'd want to run''

Source: Automechanika