contrary to popular opinion, im not sure if ramadan brings out the best in people. at least, you cannot say that by the looks of traffic on dubai roads. in the last 24 hours, i have seen 4 pile ups, with my friend being involved in the fifth. and seeing shiny brand new cars lying in heaps by the side of the roads is really disturbing.
on thrusday, i accepted an iftar invitation to umm ul quwain, and the 67 km journey took me two and a half hours. to be honest, that didnt bother me much. there was plenty of time to iftar (two and a half hours to be precise) and we got there just in time. that said, what really bothered me were people who decided they were above the law, and used the hard shoulder as the seventh lane.
that, when on the very same journey, there were three seperate accidents on the left hard shoulder, and one major pile-up (involving 4-5 smashed up vehicles) on the right shoulder.
in a short span of 25 seconds, you will see 10 cars whizz by in these videos. the videos themselves were prompted after another 15 cars had passed by and it had stopped being amusing.
when cars are going bumper to bumper, i often break to the shoulder to allow my car room to stop without rear-ending the vehicle in front. the assumption is, no one would be flying by on the breakdown lane.
am i missing something here? are you allowed to use the hard shoulder as a road when it's close to iftar time? with the opening of salik II, things are only going to get worse. does that give people the license to mock traffic laws, and thousands of people who ARE decent enough to not create chaos on the roads? i want to know what the people in this community think.
would you drive on the hard shoulder... to shave 15 minutes off of your commute? do you hold up traffic while you drive in the fast lane talking on your mobile phone? is this behaviour acceptable? if not, how do you deal with these people?
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8 comments:
Driving across the UAE seems a little bit mad unless it is something urgent...but for Iftar? Hmmm....and hard shoulders? this is one of the few things that has not changed about the Emirates....
Bravo. Driving is never worse than in the "Month of Brotherly Love".
Brotherly love, egalatarian society, religion of peace? No way.
I'm completley fed up with the hard shoulder overtaking, the cutting in, and the totally selfish B.S. that passes for acceptable driving during the Holy month of Ramadhan.
gotta love the kamikaze iftarists.
I've been thinking of making a website for people to post photos & videos from the UAE of unsafe drivers. (faces and license plates blurred)
My only hesitation is that it would be banned and the time spent would be wasted.
*cutting* in takes the cake, i swear!! it's selfish, ZERO shame for self or consideration for all those who patiently in queue. often traffic gets clogged because of this misdeed. you know what? cops should shove hefty tickets, points and perhaps their boots up the backside to those cutting in. ....alright perhaps not the boots. i hate the fact people think they can do this - how can they cut-in and not *feel* what drivers must be thinking about them...grrrr??
ah..feels better... :)
suburban: is your issue with the drivers or their spiritual beliefs? ;) or the fact that they cannot reconcile their words and their actions =P
DJ: not so much when they are kicking dirt in your face. i swear, if i had had a 82 Lexus i wouldve caused a pileup in the hard shoulder and then called the police on them :'(
smith: i dont think it will be banned, but it will create more chaos on the road, as people will be too busy taking pictures / making videos to see where they are going. and i dont think it would make a difference... i think emirates today did print pictures of offenders with their speeds and number plates... only resulted in people competing for the top speed of the month :D
rosh: there were NO cops! ZERO. actually, when another trail of cars passed by, a shurta was passing on the other side of the road... he just kept on going :'(
makes me so mad...........
i generally dont let people who cut lanes or come over the white line in front of me... and then i end up feeling guilty and mead :'( when it's not even my fault to begin with!!!
Hope you used a hands-free camcorder, Hemlock!
GG: heheh (i was hoping no one would notice ;)...) nopes. used my cellphone actually. randomly stuck my arm out of the window and pressed record. :D was chking for cars in the rear view mirror.
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