FEATURE
LEADING LIGHTS Anas Mosleh of lighting giant Osram on why its ‘lights is safety’ concept can save lives on the road
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erman company Osram produces lights for all types of the applications from those you may find in your home to those you may find on your vehicle. Indeed, Osram bulbs and beams are the leading lights of the automotive industry in every way possible. While sitting down with T&FME at the company’s base in Dubai’s Silicon Oasis, Anas Mosleh, sales director, Middle East and Africa region, tells the magazine that the company is learning that the biggest challenge for drivers in the city around us, isn’t seeing on the roads but being seen. Gesturing as if he is sitting at the wheel, he begins: “All the roads in Dubai are well illuminated. I don’t even need to switch on my lights. Thanks to the government, we have
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very good infrastructure. Even the small roads have good lighting and illumination…” He pauses and charmingly jokes: “You would think we couldn’t do good business here. But as a car or truck driver you need to switch on the lights not to see, but also to be seen.” According to Mosleh, 224 people have been killed on the road in the UAE over the past 15 years. Like the authorities in the Gulf state, Mosleh and Osram believe more lives can and should be saved: “That’s an average of 14 deaths per year. Our job as a component supplier for the trucks as well as the OEMS is to decrease this rate.” Mosleh clearly sees that lights should be regarded as important priorities for fleets to maintain as tyres and brakes. In more ways than one, their role in protecting drivers’ lives is hiding in plain sight
Our job as a component supplier for the trucks as well as the OEMS is to decrease this rate”
as fleets push themselves to the limit. While vehicle lighting rarely has the spotlight when it comes to safety, what role can the technology play to help prevents accidents on our roads? What is the optimum set up for your rig? “We often talk about how the more the driver is able to see (and the vehicle can be seen,) the more we can decrease the chance of collisions and accident,” says Mosleh. “As a component manufacturer, we need to ensure that all the trucks produced are also equipped with the safest technologies and components, and that includes the lights. Our motto for trucks is also light is safety. Good illumination directly ahead of the vehicle is a very important factor for safety.” According to Mosleh, the optimum distant for lights to reach ahead of the driver is 50m-70m, depending on the conditions meconstructionnews.com
