Sure, the BlackBerry outage inconvenienced tons of people, but could it have saved lives? That’s what the police in the United Arab Emirates are claim. They’re reporting that traffic accidents dropped by a staggering 40% in Abu Dhabi, and 20% in Dubai this past week. Their reasoning: driver’s BlackBerry’s weren’t working so drivers couldn’t text or check email forcing them to concentrate on driving.

Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the chief of Dubai Police, and Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, the director of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic department, both told The National newspaper:

“Absolutely nothing has happened in the past week in terms of killings on the road and we’re really glad about that … People are slowly starting to realise the dangers of using their phone while driving. The roads became much safer when BlackBerry stopped working.”

It’s likely that the BlackBerry outage did cause some drivers to concentrate solely on driving, but their might be another explanation to those stats, as Naked Security points out.

In late September a talented UAE soccer player by the name of Theyab Awana, died in a car accident when he crashed into a stationary lorry on the Eastern Road near Sheikh Zayed Bridge. Awana’s own father, Awana Ahmad Al Mosabi, said that his son was sending messages on his BlackBerry the time of the accident. Mosabi issued a statement asking drivers to be careful and not use electronic devices while driving:

“There were no skid marks on the road, and Theyab’s friend who was driving behind him said he didn’t see Theyab brake before crashing into the lorry,” Mr Al Mosabi said. “We are not certain that he was using his BlackBerry, but that’s what everything indicates. Too many people are texting while driving, so I ask all drivers not to use their mobile phones or other electronics while driving.”

It goes without saying that texting, emailing, or doing anything with your phone while driving is incredibly dangerous… so don’t do it. What happened to common sense?

What are your thoughts? Do you think the BlackBerry outage played a part in the reduction of traffic accidents? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The site – along with its first deal – went live this morning, just one day after a Chinese version was introduced.  Its layout is identical to that of the original U.S. site, as you can see below.

Don’t expect crazy adoption rates; Groupon’s starting small, serving only Abu Dhabi and Dubai at first.  But expansions are planned, and all in all, the company’s quite optimistic about what the new property will achieve.

Faisal Haq, the managing director of Groupon UAE, said in a statement, "The United Arab Emirates represents another incredible opportunity for Groupon and a huge win for both consumers and local UAE businesses.  We are thrilled to be able to deliver the benefits of Groupon to such a diverse and vibrant region of the world."

Rob Solomon, president and COO of Groupon, also said, "Groupon’s expansion to United Arab Emirates is another step in our development as a global Internet brand.  Groupon UAE will change the face of the local collective buying market, leveraging the best practices Groupon has pioneered in more than 40 countries around the globe."

It should be interesting to see where Groupon pops up next.

A lot of moral corruption can be accomplished in 140 characters or less, it would seem. Or maybe it’s just too easy to talk to freedom-loving infidels that might pass on a mind-expanding link.

Whatever the reasoning, as captured at Joi.Ito.com, Twitter is persona-non-grata…er, networka-non-grata. An attempt to access the social network is met with this notice:

"We apologize, the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates."

But that’s no reason for the folks at Twitter to despair. As Mashable’s Mark Hopkins points out, being banned in an intolerant country just means you’ve officially arrived:

"You know you’ve really made it as an online entity when an entire country bans your site. In terms of a rite of passage, it’s just after the wide-spread adoption and critical mass stages (which of course is followed by random companies banning you, and mainstream newspapers writing about studies on how inefficient the economy has become since your company’s existence)." 

And let’s not forget proposed legislation and school board fights. Congratulations, Twitter!