Blackberry outage mirrors lower accident rates

Last week's Blackberry service outage caused headaches for many, but it wasn't all bad.

In the Middle East, it looks like the blackout may have forced drivers to put away the non-working mobile gadget and concentrate on the road.

In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, car accidents fell 20 to 40 percent during the three-day outage, reports The National, a local newspaper from the region.

The decline most significantly impacted traffic accidents involving young men—the demographic most likely to be using the device while driving.

There's a traffic accident on an average of every three minutes in Abu Dhabi, so we're not talking a small sample size, here.