How to combat the many deadly roadside accidents in the ME?

[PurpleButcher]

I am a witness to saudi driving and accidents (today it was raining in khobar and i encountered nearly 6 accidents on my way)...

While driving once to Makkah, an SUV overtook me at nearly 170+speed and after 2 kilometers the family of four was lying dead in a pool of blood.... I cant take that image out of my head ...

My observations for rash driving

a) No to car insurance... drivers drive recklessly with no financial penalty... i pay 400 SAR an year and can hit my car anywhere and the damages to the other car will be paid by my company..there is also complete insurance which would cover my damages also... when u can drive recklessly and not care about financial aspects .... daily 20 deaths is what you get in KSA
Saudi Arabia has the highest road accident death toll in the world
Saudi Gazette - Carnage on Saudi Arabia’s roads

b) Driving license.... only thing one needs to get a license here is you have to do parallel parking... just cross the border to UAE and whoa.... driving license seems the most difficult thing in the world

I have other things to say but i have a report to submit....

PS. @al-Hasani free from exams ?

 

[Levina]

UAE:
On new year's eve I've crossed so many accident scenes that my trip to Dubai which usually takes 1.5hours took 5hours due to road blocks after accidents.Most of them were mild accidents except one which had 3 cars involved,one being a racing car(I am not revealing the brand name).
Yeah recklessness is one main reason.Every time I get on the fast track,I get high beam flashes by cars travelling at 160kmph(on a road where max allowed is 140kmph).
Getting chased out of fast track is a very common sight on UAE roads.
I have never understood this ludicrous behaviour of drivers.
There're many police cars patrolling and traffic cameras are vigilant,but recklessnes would not reduce unless theres more awareness amongst the drivers.

OMAN:
I had a bad experience in Oman (during eid holidays trip)when the lexus I was driving banged a Hyundai tucson on a roundabout.The reason was, the driver of
Tucson choose not to exit the roundabout despite giving indicators.I was also at fault because I think I too should have applied harder breaks.But the mild accident taught me few things like not trusting the indications given by the car infront and to maintain a safe distance.
But Oman definitely needs a better infrastructure.There are so many jeywalkers on the road at nite that it gives me goosebumps to drive in Oman at nite.
The permanently fixed traffic cameras dont work and police doesnt use the mobile traffic cameras much.A change is need of the hour there.

 

[al-Hasani]

It is a very nice road and mountain dude. I am so tempted to do the same thing as this guy is doing now.

I would not do it, LOL. Not with skates since I do not know how to skate. On bike yes. I would love to do that.

 

[New]

Some years ago I was in Italy for a few days. before getting there I was told that Italians are the most lawless people in Europe, and I was some how preoccupied with the thought that I am going to see a jungle like village there but you know what?
I was shockingly surprised while I saw their obsession in respecting the law.
What I mean is if this Italians are the most lawless in Europe then Middle Easterns definitely have a long long way to go if they are willing to be compared by that standards.

 

[al-Hasani]

I am a witness to saudi driving and accidents (today it was raining in khobar and i encountered nearly 6 accidents on my way)...

While driving once to Makkah, an SUV overtook me at nearly 170+speed and after 2 kilometers the family of four was lying dead in a pool of blood.... I cant take that image out of my head ...

My observations for rash driving

a) No to car insurance... drivers drive recklessly with no financial penalty... i pay 400 SAR an year and can hit my car anywhere and the damages to the other car will be paid by my company..there is also complete insurance which would cover my damages also... when u can drive recklessly and not care about financial aspects .... daily 20 deaths is what you get in KSA
Saudi Arabia has the highest road accident death toll in the world
Saudi Gazette - Carnage on Saudi Arabia’s roads

b) Driving license.... only thing one needs to get a license here is you have to do parallel parking... just cross the border to UAE and whoa.... driving license seems the most difficult thing in the world

I have other things to say but i have a report to submit....

PS. @al-Hasani free from exams ?

Yes, heavy floods in large parts of the country are expected in January once again. It has become a normal occurrence.

That sounds horrible brother. I mean the scene you saw. I have obviously witnessed accidents like you but not deadly ones. At least not live. I have seen car wreckages where I could not imagine that a human could survive the impact.

Yes, those are some of the big problems. They really need to do something drastic otherwise this will be another laughing stock. Maybe it is a good thing that women are not yet allowed to drive.

LOL. Are those statistics for real? So we have the most deaths per day of ANY country? This cannot be right. Look at the link I posted. Probably Arab News and Saudi Gazette are writing nonsense on this occasion.

List of countries by traffic-related death rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daily many more people in countries like India and China must die on the roads when using simple logic.

Yes, but have 3 important exams in the end of February again. A living hell.

Do take care of your report instead of being here.

 

[Levina]

Maybe it is a good thing that women are not yet allowed to drive.

I cant believe it...you just said that??

Some years ago I was in Italy for a few days. before getting there I was told that Italians are the most lawless people in Europe, and I was some how preoccupied with the thought that I am going to see a jungle like village there but you know what?

I cant say about other cities in Italy,but I have heard of Naples lawlessness.

 

[al-Hasani]

I cant believe it...you just said that??

I was joking. You know that I oppose this nonsense "law" which is not a law to begin with. I would just rather prefer men to get hurt than women, LOL. This is maybe the protecting gene in me as a man. We have bigger mercy for women than men in trouble in general.

Saudi woman on her role in protest - YouTube

No Woman, No Drive - YouTube

 

[New]

I cant say about other cities in Italy,but I have heard of Naples lawlessness.

Ya you are right, Naples's downtown is the most famous there, but fortunately I was in Rome.

 

[al-Hasani]

UAE:
On new year's eve I've crossed so many accident scenes that my trip to Dubai which usually takes 1.5hours took 5hours due to road blocks after accidents.Most of them were mild accidents except one which had 3 cars involved,one being a racing car(I am not revealing the brand name).
Yeah recklessness is one main reason.Every time I get on the fast track,I get high beam flashes by cars travelling at 160kmph(on a road where max allowed is 140kmph).
Getting chased out of fast track is a very common sight on UAE roads.
I have never understood this ludicrous behaviour of drivers.
There're many police cars patrolling and traffic cameras are vigilant,but recklessnes would not reduce unless theres more awareness amongst the drivers.

OMAN:
I had a bad experience in Oman (during eid holidays trip)when the lexus I was driving banged a Hyundai tucson on a roundabout.The reason was, the driver of
Tucson choose not to exist the roundabout despite giving indicators.I was also at fault because I think I too should have applied harder breaks.But the mild accident taught me few things like not trusting the indications given by the car infront and to maintain a safe distance.
But Oman definitely needs a better infrastructure.There are so many jeywalkers on the road at nite that it gives me goosebumps to drive in Oman at nite.
The permanently fixed traffic cameras dont work and police doesnt use the mobile traffic cameras much.A change is need of the hour there.

LOL. Welcome to the ME. This is seriously a urgent problem. I believe that the governments should really get to work and give heavy fines to those braking the traffic law just like here in Europe and possibly short jail terms. This insane behavior cannot go on. I can drive here in Denmark without ever fearing for my life. I cannot say the same about any country in the ME.

I am happy that nothing happened to you in Oman.

 

[Levina]

@al-Hasani
The video was a refreshing change with men encouraging the woman behind the wheels.
I hope KSA lets women drive soon,driving does make women a lot more independent.

I am happy that nothing happened to you in Oman

The guy in Tucson was definitely thanking his stars that day,ostensible that guy was a new driver with a new car.Any complaint would've got his license confesticated.Lol.

 

[al-Hasani]

Ya you are right, Naples's downtown is the most famous there, but fortunately I was in Rome.

Off-topic but Naples is a beautiful city. I visited it back in 2010. I have never been more south in Italy than Capri. But it is heavily hit by unemployment, organized crime (Camorra - mafia) and other problems. It is known as the "garbage city" in Italy in recent years.

If organized crime do interest you and the mafia then I can recommend this award-winning book by the Italian author Roberto Saviano who infiltrated the Comorra from within.

Roberto Saviano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia






His book Gomorrah

Gomorrah (book) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They made a movie out of it. Not watched it though. But I read the book in English and I can recommend it.

@al-Hasani
The video was a refreshing change with men encouraging the woman behind the wheels.
I hope KSA lets women drive soon,driving does make women a lot more independent.



The guy in Tucson was definitely thanking his stars that day,ostensible that guy was a new driver with a new car.Any complaint would've got his license confesticated.Lol.

Over half of the people support women driving but women driving could lead to other things that people do not support or at least many and they also fear for the safety of women. But if it was up to me they should drive now instead of paying big sums of money to private drivers etc. who in fact are strangers.

I hate that "law" and makes little sense to me. All other Arab women in the region, neighbors and non-neighbors and their women are allowed to drive and the whole world but not Saudi Arabian women which are really hard-working, clever and good people in general. They simply do not understand that this is a burden for the economy, society and most importantly is very bad publicity. People get a very bad idea of KSA that does not fully correspondent with the reality. Especially since most people not from ME or even many from the ME know very little about the country, its people, history, customs etc.
The "law" has no religious bounding either…..No need to tell why.

 

[Levina]

I hate that "law".

@al-Hasani
May men like you increase in numbers.

 

[New]

Off-topic but Naples is a beautiful city. I visited it back in 2010. I have never been more south in Italy than Capri. But it is heavily hit by unemployment, organized crime (Camorra - mafia) and other problems. It is known as the "garbage city" in Italy in recent years.

Thanks bro, I will put the book in my must read list. lol
Ya the rumors about Naples is so much that I am kinda afraid going there. By the way I have not been in Spain but I have heard about their disrepute too.

 

[al-Hasani]

Thanks bro, I will put the book in my must read list. lol
Ya the rumors about Naples is so much that I am kinda afraid going there. By the way I have not been in Spain but I have heard about their disrepute too.

You should definitely if this has your interest. It is a unique insight to the underworld of the Neapolitan mafia. Based on real events obviously. Since then the author, Saviano, has been under protection because he is a wanted man dead or alive by the Comorra.

No, its not bad at all, man. There are areas way WORSE in the ME. Try going to Yemen for instance. I was in Hadhramaut a few summers ago for a family visit and we travelled by car to a ancient city called Tarim. That was something.

Tarim, Yemen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am not going to mention all the many more dangerous areas in the ME. You can safely visit although there are areas more dangerous than others like anywhere else.

Spain is not bad at all. I have been many times to Spain and visited many regions. Very safe in general. The worst thing that can happen are thieves. Not much organized crime there.

Anyway let us not go too off-topic.

 

[ResurgentIran]

Seems a little bit like KSA then.

Do you also have those few hundreds of morons that are doing drifting on public roads?

The mountainous regions/provinces in KSA and the roads there are well…..not always the best to put it mildly although there have been big improvements in recent years.

Yemen on the other hand, which is nearly covered in mountains entirely, well is the law of all jungle laws!

Imagine some idiots drifting on roads like these below. Can you believe it?

Havent seen many of them personally. But Im sure there are a lot of those people as well in Iran. lol