Dangerous Driving
By Rock The Casbah •
Now I know this has been mentioned a thousand times before and I should really know better but.....
I was cut up by a landcrusier yesterday on the way back from Landmark. I had my wife and kids in the car and there was thankfully no injuries or damage as I managed to avoid him. Because we were in traffic I managed to pull alongside him and look at him for some sort of recognition/apology.
He raised his middle finger and mouthed the words "F*** You" and then sped off cutting up everybody else in his way.
What would YOU do?
The topic should got the title of impolite driving techniques. Cross in front of people and showing the middle finger? I was talking to myself and sometimes shout while the windows were closed when i get angry, but never done that. That show you how civilized was that person, instead of apologizing for his bad deed he comes to show you the best and the only thing that he is good in doing in this life. Bear with him, he does not have anything in mind but to do that.
Ignore such people and let them do whatever.
breath in and breath out ...
...then concentrate on keeping your patience. I've never driven in a location rife with so many bad drivers. The adherence to the rules of the road are far too inconsistent...you have people driving very slow and people driving very fast. It's rarely speed that kills, but the difference in speed that kills.
Patience is one of the virtues that must, must, MUST be exercised here. Plus, never try to be an a hurry getting anywhere!
Sadly, one must drive to avoid accidents around here.
I would smile and say "Welcome to Qatar" :-)
But then again I'm a woman, so he wouldn't do that, instead he'd smile and wink or follow me or something. Ahhh...Qatar and its mysteries...
actually, it's far worse here, but anyways...
when i went to get my egyptian licence, i gave 6 different people 10 EGP (about 2 CAD) to make things go smoothly. one of those people was the guy giving the road test, which meant that i automatically passed the test. i've gone through drivers ed in canada, but i wonder how many egyptians with no driver training get by the same way.
everyone here is in a rush too, and people tend to always be late anyways. they park anywhere, drive anywhere in any direction, have no concept of safety, or driver flow, or right-of-way, or anything.
it does come off as uncivilized, and it is indicative of a greater problem in the developing world (although with all the $$$ in Qatar it is about time they took care of business).
i've pretty much gotten used to drivers in egypt, but when we have visitors, the look on their faces reminds me of how messed up i thought it was when i first got here.
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"Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day." Withnail & I
Good luck with that. As long as this nonsense is institutional, this place will never be a truly civilized country, no matter how much money they spend.
Am really really pissed off today
i had an incident today this morning neither the damn Qatari is listening to me or the damn traffic and i was blamed for free and fined being told that too that i will make a case f**k them i dont care. let him case i will directly go to the director. That ur managment is only fair to ur country man. To heeeeeeellllllll with that than. And that Qatari thought i will get scared of him na i got off my car and went to him what the hell is ur problem that u are shouting at me.guess what he told the police he came to fight me and blah blah made a story.i told the police i wont say anything the people who watched this all incident go ask him whose wrong the police said na u are. F************k it than.
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Correct.
At the scene, it's his fault
At the police station, it's 50/50
In court, it's your fault
Hating the traffic in Doha is something which will forever unify people in Doha. There's a saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
We only have to change that a little to make it relevant, "The enemy of the driver of that Land cruiser, filled with unsecured children, who cut me off so he could turn left from the far right lane so he could get to Hyatt Plaza and park in a handicapped spot, is my friend.".
They will never listen to you or me or any other non-Qatari.
They will only Listen to Qatari even if it is his mistake you will be the one blamed. So just Forget it and Stay Cool.
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Excess money and lack of patience ...Many people out here thnk no end about themselves.....
There's a serious problem in Qatar when it comes to driver attitudes.
These are all manifestations of road rage.
Unfortunately traffic police are only concerned with speed, drawing up accident scenes and creating even bigger traffic jams at roundabouts (traffic moves quicker without them).
There are young drivers who are too young to have a license but have one anyway because of wasta.
People park in handicapped spots, at road and street corners thereby impeding visibility, on sidewalks, you name it.
It's shameful for a country that is moving ahead on so many fronts to leave this situation unchecked.
I guess you are right. No class.
Everybody seems to be in a rush to get to knowwhere down here.
forget it.this seems to be the usual story here, we even had a expat lady show us the finger just becasue we didnt give her way in the fatest lane as we were appraoching the signal, and what happened to all the hurry she was in, she had to stop alongside us at the red signal........
somehow people feel that its cool nowadays to show the finger if pissed, well just shows their class.
Rock....dont go to confront when such idiots cross your way.i know we get charged and annoyed, but i feel the safety of your family in the car is paramount. my hubby gets pissed too and will drive uptil the car just to make a point,or pull alongside, but whats the use,they are just too arrogant.
until they are ready to make driving safe here, these kinds of incidents will take place.
i remember that a qatari guy had taken an western lady to court because she had shown him the finger and she was fined 2000qrs.he had filed a police complaint first.
so can an expat take another to court for the same reason.
happy heart
DRIVE SAFE,someone is waiting for you at home
He had a six didgit number as I have stored it on my phone. The thing that really annoyed me was the middle finger. If I had pulled a stunt like that I would be expecting a visit from the police and be seriously worried about getting my visa revoked.
Well if it is a Qatari with a four digit number plate then there isn't a lot you can do.
pity you couldn't take a photo and just post it up.
everyone should have a good qatari friend to ring up and ask advice of. my friend was shunted by someone who claimed to be qatari. as soon as we got a qatari friend on the phone we were told he was egyptian and the attitude really changed from belligerance to grovelling.
unfortunately depends on who and what they are driving.
and the worst worst driving is coming out of football matches