The big Blackberry outage is having an unexpected positive side-benefit. During the days the Blackberry service was out, there’s been far fewer traffic accidents.

In Dubai, while Blackberries were offline, traffic accidents fell 20% from their average rates. In Abu Dhabi, accidents fell by 40% and there were no fatal accidents.

The director of the Abu Dhabi police department told The National that “accidents were reduced by 40 per cent and the fact that BlackBerry services were down definitely contributed to that.”

It seems that with drivers unable to check their messages, they’re focusing more on the road and driving safer.

BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Crashes [Streetsblog]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.