Given the influx of folks from all parts of the globe, there exist the best & worst driving cultures in the UAE. It's amazing the varied driving cultures you shall see on a strip of highway. Accidents happen, but they are preventable - especially, when you know it could be fatal to an innocent party. Hence, I don't understand why some loonies are unable to extend that extra bit of caution.
The government is doing the best they can, so are Dubai cops (wish I could say the same for SHJ, Anjad) - and drivers must take an effort to co-operate. Loonies have got to understand, driving is a responsibility, as much as a pleasure/privilege. Lives are involved - somebody's dad, mom or kids. Way too many loonies on the roads these days - I see several every Christmas. I could go on, but have nothing new to add - there has been much debate on this topic, however little change. When in the UAE - nothing makes me more mad, than a selfish, ignorant lunatic of a driver. Folks need to mature, take responsibility and get on with sane, sensible & safe driving.
Quite sorry to hear some loonie caused you discomfort i*.. - wishing you a speedy recovery. Happy shopping for new set of wheels (me recommend the Hummer)- pleasant thoughts are with you.
26 comments:
I know what you mean about crazy drivers ( loonies) I see it every time I go out for something in Jeddah KSA I have never seen as worse as in Jeddah.. you know with all the buzz on women driving in KSA I still think I would be scared to drive in Jeddah.. its the worse.. sometimes when the driver is-driving I actually have to close my eyes if there is a two way street they make it a 4 way street somehow, cars come from everywhere I tell you.. its not just that people are ignorant they actually, it doesn't even cross there mind to think about other people in other cars I have stories and stories.. every day I see an accident and I am not exaggerating.. believe me its much better in the UAE.. sorry I went way off the topic discussing driving in dubai.. I ve seen people driving in dubai.. I think and seen ehm ehm ( a certain someone was taken a pic of) but in general it wasn't that bad.. I still felt safer in Dubai in a car than in Jeddah.. I also saw on TV that they are placing more cameras in the highway in Dubai that I think will help.. even when I was driving in Montreal people were bad and short tempered when they were driving.. thats why I had the accident in the winter some people arent patient and start beeping when you are trying to drive slow on black ice and in snow storms..( BTW I think eastern society are kind of hot blooded and impatient thats my personal observation but its not the rule though)
see rosh you had hit in me a sensitive cord.. look at how long my comment is... loooooooool
I recently got 2 tickets in 3 days (400 dirhams!) for speeding in the Airport tunnel!! Bloody heck! I was pretty fast though so I have learned my lesson.
Yeah, I think cameras and police patrolling will really help curb this menace.
hey, speaking of Hummers.. have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ziXINPUH0
I honestly think the accidents in UAE are due to the following:
1-stupid number of new people on the roads from all over the world with no uniform driving culture as a consequence. In the UK if you flash ur lights at someone it means go ahead, in the UAE it generally means you're dead.
Many languages = not a lot of understanding.
2- Big distances to cover and wide roads lead to speeding.. AD's approach is put traffic lights, SHJ is roundabouts.. but Dubai has suffered a population explosion unlike other emirates and focuses on speed and traffic smoothness, which means people abuse the system and speed. fuckos.
3- Less than perfect enforcement. Not in terms of quality but in terms of transparency and equality.
Buj is right, especially with 1)
I mean, I have driven a lot in a lot of different places, even in India and had no problems like here. Motorists know what the others will do at most times because certain behaviour and gestures etc. are understood.
Here, I can't be sure a left indicator blinking doesn't actually mean turn right at the spur of a moment, in Urdu.
wow... drivers in the gulf are ridiculous; being the product of young communities (age, less than 70 years for most) the whole concept of roads and driving and so on has never been strictly enforced. the culture has never had that; sure, dubai are trying to enforce it which is great, but overall, many of the drivers need to learn to adjust, otherwise they'll still drive like idiots whenever the cops arent around. its going to take a while, but hopefully it will reach that stage sooner or later.
I would like to think (it's more like a dream!) that if the imposers of the law actually cracked down, and I mean REALLY cracked down on the offending motorists, then a different attitude would prevail. People behind the wheel of a potential killing machine get away with their jumping of lights/speeding/overtaking dangerously etc because they CAN. No one has pulled them over, said listen pal, you're driving like a totally dick & for your effort we'll confiscate your car, fine you 2 small children & make you walk to wherever. The drivers do it simply because they can & because no one has taught them they can't. It's time they learned a lesson.
Been away for a while. Nice post rosh nothing more to add. All the above is true.
Buj
I laughed at your comment. Thanks for reminding with point#1. I remember running as fast as I could (as if my life depended on it) when crossing the road in the UK with some driver flashing their lights at me. Obviously I interpreted the move or die car mentality from the UAE.
3ala fikra.. tobasco.. it's good that you ran fast, because you never know.. this driver in the UK might be an indian dude from the UAE.. and he might have planned to run you over.. just be careful.. don't let your guard down.
worse still, he could be a badawi from al awir but with family in khawaneej.. and you know how these guys are. just don't mess!
Now that you mentioned it, rosh,
thanks a million for your genuine suppport.
I will be back when I can.
All is well, update is on the rocks with the juicy details.
God bless you, as always.
lol lilly, damn, didn't think you'd get pissed off at anything :) Yes true, KSA driving culture is another universe all together.....experienced it a few times. It's far more dangerous - UAE is much better. Am not sure if cameras help, because folks slam the brakes as they approach a traffic camera - and speed up as they pass.
Sorry to hear about your accident - hope it wasn't serious. Driving in snow/ice is tricky, it feels similar to those first few ice skating lessons.
Dang Al! 400bucks - bro...... that's a whole month's shwarmah/falooda budget (double dang! :) Well look at the positive - it's your contribution towards keeping DXB roads, well maintained, safe and for better use :) Someday, I must tell you of fines mounted yearly by my dad.
BuJ/Nick - my sentiments precisely...it's quite amusing, as passenger to study 'em. We've got cultures/thought processes from the West,GCC, Egyptian, Pakistani, Indian, Syrian, Africa and all over Asia - beef stew gone wry!
Jin: exactly. People speed because they can get away with it. Here in the city - cops "hunt" drivers down for minor offences. Pricey traffic tickets and worse, points on your driver's licence - can cause heartburn given rise in insurance rates. Such enforcement align folks for the better......am not sure how UAE cops can deal with this cucko driving culture, it's quite challenging. There's just way too many "set mentalities" on the roads these days.
Top 5 that gets my goat -
1. "Soccer celebratory honking" - seconds before a traffic light changes from Red to Amber/Green.
2. Honking/flashing pedestrians to oblivion - whilst they cross a PEDESTRIAN CROSSING!
3. SZR, SHJ-DXB, DXB-AUH highway tailgating drama - doesn't matter you are at 140km/hr
4. Sneaking into a queue - especially whilst heading to DXB from SHJ at Al Garhoud tunnel - this one just kills me!
5. Sunny glued on the fast lane at 80 kms/hr.
Me thinks SHJ's "pretty" roundabouts, cause more traffic chaos, than solutions. I hear they've done away with those huge ass roundabouts and placed AJ kinda traffic lights, that'd be so cool!
hola Tobasco - how goes? lol, I picture it quite well hahaha :) Sigh - when shall it all change for the better.
What is the root cause for this mentality though? Doesn't all folks need to take a driver's test these days?
Pleasure i*.. glad to hear you are better. You having work done or shopping for new set of wheels?
Stay safe & pleasant thoughts.
oh oh Rosh... you grouped all GCC together? maybe you've been away for too long to destinguish between driving attitudes of AD to SHJ.. or even KSA v Kuwait etc.. and Omanis are completely docile in Oman but complete speed freaks on UAE roads.
hehe
also how many comments do you need before you stick to the last one? my gmail gets flooded by semi-identical jews of wisdom from rosh :)
ok and this one is a serious one ya Rosh:
4. Sneaking into a queue - especially whilst heading to DXB from SHJ at Al Garhoud tunnel - this one just kills me!
Excuse me, but where in Garhoud is there a Garhoud tunnel? The only famous Garhoud landmark is the bridge, no?
Hmmm I hope UAE Immigration don't catch wind of this hehehe
Hahahahaaha! Apologies BuJ, didn't mean to group all of GCC - you are correct, good 'ol Omanis are far subtle folks - nothing like Kuwait or KSA :)
Sorry again on the multiple deletes: most often,am half asleep whilst typing 'em - shall improve/do better :)
"Famous Garhoud landmark is the bridge, no?"
It is the bridge. Beneath the bridge there is a tiny two lane underpass - most often SHJ folks refer to as "Garhoud Tunnel", true, it's not correct :)
Oh no Buj is on a roll here, better go check my posts for accuracies :P
looooooool tobasco.. don't worry.. i'm focussing on ustath Rosh at the moment :-)
ya habibi ya Rosh.. there is no lil underpass under the Garhoud bridge.. i have the sneaking suspicion that ur referring to al maktoum bridge!!!! tut tut
Am referring to Galadari under pass, wherein you've got the DXB bound bottleneck, apologies, been away for a while, so pardon, am confusing "G" bridges & under passes. Aha! didn't correct me this time :)
Galadari as in Al Ittihad Road/highway........
http://archive.gulfnews.com/images/06/12/24/25_ae_ittihad_road_5.jpg
...sorry can't get to paste the link correctly...
http://archive.gulfnews.com/images/06/12/24/25_ae_ittihad_road_5.jpg
rosh, what a bunch of loonies and morons indeed. At the moment I'm really p*sed off at the animals on our roads these days, especially the moron I was involved with in my recent accident. Am in a bit of a messy situation at the moment but things should hopefully work out for the better.
Some ppl are such lunatics...on the way home now, I needed to get to the supermarket before closing time so when the nearest traffic lights went green, I stepped on my accelerator and this bluddy beaten up BMW thought I was racing it and overtook me to the nearest exit, raising his middle finger out of the window as he went out of sight! He prob didn't even see I'm female! The prob is, these kinds of situations are starting to happen all too regularly now - mostly because they can get away with it.
Woman, you should have chased down the loonie, left an imprint of Manolo Blahniks on his face and crotch - I swear #@$#$%^$@#!!
Sigh! Classic case of another loonie roosting the fab highways of UAE.
i*maginate:
Your case sounds like the usual suspect - old beaten up BMW! That can mean either Egyptian or Palestinian!
I have had my fair share of frictions with these types. In fact, not too long ago, this crazy Palestinian (or maybe he was syrian or jordanian) was acting completely impossible!
I got out of the car to talk to him and he almost got physical and slapped my car! I was like the WTF?? I really want to punch him across his face and break his nose, but I noticed he was with his wife and kids! It seemed like he had had an argument with the lady.
But, seriously, I dont want to sound racist, but white Arabs are a complete wreck on the roads! I have seen a lot of desi and local road demons too, but they aren't rude. This is a real problem with people from Jordan, Palestine and Syria.
Why can't people be polite to one another??
al-r -
Why do these ppl exist on our roads?
Rhetorical Q...-?
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