Qatar is six more times as dangerous

'tis what I meant, when I said "radjul" attitude. I sat in the car with a Sheikh once (1994). On the Diwan Street was a traffic light even in those days. He passed it with the signal being red. When I asked him what he'd do if a policeman stopped him, he smiled and said:" I'll dismiss him".

Nope, not going yet. Waiting for the wife to ring from the UK. Hope she hurries up, I'm knackered. I was just "leaving" the religious conversation alone. Nice of you to say bye though!

Who was it who posted on here a while back that they confronted a driver in a mall car park about having their child on their lap? They told the guy that it was not only dangerous but also against the law, and the guy replied something like "don't worry, I am a policeman"!!!

Oh, I misunderstood, tallg. I thought you were leaving us. My wife shares your opinion. She was laughing at a tiny sign at a traffic light showing a motorbike front wheels up. "Who will see that?" was what she said.

Well with todays incident in my life, I am so shocked, My sister is still in shock with what happened. My dad managed to turn the car to the right so that we was able to avoid a face to face impact. Imagine all the Air Bags popping out. When i reached the scene I went and had a look at the kids they seem fine. The mother was shocked, and did not speak much. A witness told me that the youngest kid landed up in the trunk area of prado. The kid was sweet and nice. I reached the accident scene in 15 mins, imagine i am off and sleeping after my prayers, and i get a call about the accident, i went crazy and nervous.

Yet again, I am happy that all are fine. I am very disturbed with this attitude of reckless drivers here. New drivers are like headless chickens on the road. They need to get used to the vehicle first, practice in open areas get to know the car they would be using not just jump off the road. According to my dad the lady was not less than 100Kms in speed on a 60KMS road, lost control.

Also i am disturbed with the response from 999. They did not do much, No one came from Traffic Dept for 3.5 hours and I called them around 15 to 20 times literally begging them to send some one on site, no use. I applaude the services of the HMC Team, All the Ambulance that passed by asked me if i needed any sort of help.

Anyway, I am still so frustrated I hope i recover from this ordeal by morning.

Good Night Everyone..

IMI - The Screen Behind The Mirror

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."

I think it was The Peninsula that ran a story about kids in cars and even had some "undercover" photos (including a baby on the parcel shelf of one car). But the government needs to step in and really force the message home. The poxy little signs they have in a few place around town really aren't going to achieve much. You can't even tell what the pictures are on some of them.

I think we mentioned "stupidity" earlier, brit. Bye tallg.

I must disagree. Yes, there is a belief that "what happens is Allah's will".. I have seen with my own eyes the power of belief when a Saudi colleague carried the body of his 10 year old daughter who had been knocked down by a car and just said "Alhamdilllah"..

However, this is not the same as allowing a minor to it in your lap when driving , or allowing them to run wild in a gym.. That is sheer stupidity..

Yes, I suspect that's right too PM.

MD, I'll leave it for now then!

I am not "timimg" your responses, Alex. But since each post carries a time of posting it is obvious how much time passed between two posts. Now this one probably will have 10:24 pm as the posting time.

I am aware of this "philosophy", and this is ridiculous! I have seen people crossing the street without even checking the traffic!! They even don’t bother to turn their heads to see if there are some cars on the road by the chance… They just step on the road and keep crossing it!.. And that’s what exactly I have been told: "there is a certain time when God will take us, why to bother??”

I just don't want to enter into that "kismet" discussion, tallg. That's all.

Why is it inappropriate to talk about something if it's true?

I'm not blaming every single instance of dangerous driving on religion (indeed, they probably make up the minority) and I'm sure what you say about cultural issues and pride are true, but that thread was not the only time I've heard people defend dangerous driving by saying it doesn't make any difference.

You needed 6 minutes to respond, Alex. Your anger is not real!

I know what you're referring to, tallg. But it would have sounded inappropriate in this discussion to blame it on religion. It maybe a cultural issue, that a man knows what he's doing best. And there is no one to tell him what's right or wrong. It's that "radjul" pride. Whereas this attitude worked in the years between 1991 and maybe 1997 it is obsolete now because of the large number of inexperienced traffic participants. For the guys (the ones I know) it means to change their basic attitude. That's a bit tough for them.

If kids are taught to sit on the rare seat with the seat belt on from the very first time of being in the car, they convinced there is NO alternative for it, and this is the only place in the car where they can sit. If “softhearted” Dad wants to spoil his child by taking him on his lap once in a while, this kid will never know that his Daddy is doing wrong and putting a child's life in danger…

I went to the hotel gym today and there was an Arab gentleman with two boys aged about four and eight. He was allowing them to run around, play with the quipment and mess around. they could easily have hurt themselves..

MD - it's not just the lack of knowledge of physics, it's also the 'when it's my time god will take me and there's nothing I can do to change that' mentality.

There was a thread on here not long ago about a really bad crash, and everyone was criticising the speed they were driving and the state of the tyres on the vehicle, and someone popped and and basically said that those things don't matter cos when it's your time it's your time.

But your right, showing adverts like they did (and still do) in the UK would definitely help.

Alexa, you weren't born then. That's why you still don't know how to drive.

If you believe it or not, in Germany they used to show a series called "The Sixth Sense" in the 60s and 70s (20 years). Showing traffic situations and how to react properly. They broadcast this 1 minute before the main evening news at 8 o'clock. Trust me, everybody saw it everyday, willingly or not. And as the old Romans say: Semper aliquid haereret", something always sticks, most people in Germany "learnt" without knowing they were learning.

They haven't seen enough "dummy" tests, janey. The Traffic Department should air them regularly. But who will watch Qatar TV?

It's more like lack of common sense MD.. Knowledge of physics is a bonus.

because they're kids and they can't be put on stand by or shut down?

I don't see the rules being implemented.. I still see kids not behaving properly when inside the vehicle. Why could that be?

Since I live here for more than 15 years, PM, I don't see it as you do. It is a sort of stupidity, but the main reason behind this "careless" attitude is "not knowing physics". And physics, as you know, is the science of "forces". It is a lack of general education, or knowledge, if you will. Not basically bad by intention. Just, not knowing. We'll have to give them a lot, I think. Let's do it.

QS, there is a law in Qatar: children below the age of 12 years have to sit in the back seats.

I posted this in an earlier thread:" Babies are used as airbags". Somebody called me "sarcastic".

this kind of "drivers"? didn't they teach her that she cannot keep her child on her lap under any circumstances??

Sometimes I see little kids (under 6-7 y.o.) are sitting in the front seat, sometimes two of them together, and even without a seat belt!! they are jumping up, ...Parents must be charged for such a culpable negligence!

Thank God no one got hurt! Although, i must say driving with a child on your lap is purely good driving logic. Some people seem to think that even if they have big cars, everyone will make way for them! Csi.

You are forgiven, PM.

I could, PM, but it was dam* hard!

Thanks for the message.

IMI - The Screen Behind The Mirror

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."

Volkswagen have developed a "distance sensor" which forces the car to slow down once an obstacle is recognized. I think this system should be made obligatory here.

Oh no I forgot, mines a Pajero not a Prado! i've never seen so many crap women drivers here!

The UAE traffic safety dept has come up with a great slogan btw...

"Drive slow while people fast!"

Glad to hear that the family is well..

The Accelerator / Brake mix up has happened often.. The main thing is that no one got hurt..

U seem to write in good English, but the lady did not speak a word. Anyway.. As long as all lives are safe.. the disaster was not serious..

IMI - The Screen Behind The Mirror

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."

hehe.. a couple of weeks back one of my colleagues (egyptian) came up to me and showed me a picture of his cayenne in all its glory. I must say it looked awesome in high resolution, and you could even read the number plate. All feelings of insecurity vanished instantly as he showed me pics from two more angles with a very visible traffic light that was still red. He'd managed to get those pics somehow from the Traffic police.

So, if you want a strikingly brilliant picture of your car, feel free to zoom past one of those red lights with the camera, and drive straight to the station and collect your prints. It costs a wee bit more than your usual photo, but hey, You can READ the number plate! And the reflections! Stunning.

They're also giving away free points. They're so kind, they'll relieve you of your car once you collect 12 points.

If anyone of you passed by the Jaidah Flyover between 8.AM to 12.PM you may have come across a Toyota Parado Rammed on the pavement fence around 8 of them. This car rammed my dad's nissan altima (Alhumdulillah) they are fine. My sister & dad were heading for CHN when this happened. The lady a 3 weeks old driver apprantly with a child on her lap came in high speed lost control came on the opp side smashed my dad car, and further blew up 8 pavement barriers on her side and came to a halt. (The lady and kids are fine as well). The reason that she gave was she mistook the accelerator pedel for brake pedal and went flew all the way. Sad that the Parado stands cancelled and my dad's Altima is badly brusied. Alhumdulillah all lives are fine. The cherry on the cake was when the police came after 3.5 hours till then the traffic was a mayham. I moved the Altima, but the Parado was badly hurt.

Tomorrow is the police Investigation day..

What do you have to say about this. A new driver 3 Weeks old.. with a child on her lap driving the car. I want to upload this pictures.

Guys when you leave your house, be patient, be calm and Drive Really Safe. I feel sorry for my dad..

Alhumdulillah again..

IMI - The Screen Behind The Mirror

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."

OMG that was me!! sorry!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL..(ops, no Loling) ok ok.. so it was not you.. I didn't know you are driving a tank..:)

-----------------

HE WHO DARES WINS

good...

these types of drivers just dont want anybody in front of them, doesnt matter whether you're driving at 120, 140 or 240, when you look at your mirror they're behind you flashing their lights. absolutely crazy!

OK i will do it on Wednesday and send invitation tomorrow morning for sheesha

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did you pass the Al-Muntaza signal area today in the morning? around 8:20?

DaRu.. but i need at least 30 min to get ready.. it will be around 11... :( ..tomorrow i have to wake up early..

some other day, a bit earlier...yes, we will do it, ok?

You're queen of the road now.. Nobody will mess with you, so go out and scare a few people.. It'll cheer you up:o)

wana go now again to farm house :D

Qatarisun not late lets go some where near.

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we could go to Ritz for shisha or somewhere else for something else.. :)

is that too late now?

when you change the lane, and move in front of some car, the driver of that car takes it as a personal offence. He just cannot accept it, just no way. He tries to push you out, to take over your car and jump in front of you with the pushing break at the same time (i guess, it must be a kind of "punishment" for the crime you have just committed...)... They won't sleep in peace if they didn't take revenge for changing lane by somebody in front of them...

sick people... sick mentality...

I am planning to replace my small car (nissan sunny) with a bigger one. Not that bigger cars are safer its just that motorists in qatar tends to pay more respect for suv's (as per my observation).

try driving towards mesaieed in the mornings and you'll know what i mean...

arabianbusiness.com

worth adding to bookmarks imo

here's the link :

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/528503-qatar-population-jumps-to-18-in-h1?ln=en

so feeling a bit pissed off!! I HATE driving here!! and yes, I DO think it is mostly Qatari drivers. and it is fine and well to joke about it, until it is YOUR family in an accident, YOUR kid smacking an airbag, or back seat. Why can't this country get over itself!!?? They have loads of money- got it, they can drive fast, fancy cars- got it, they rule the roads- got it. So grow up and pay attention and quite acting like 16 year olds on the road!!

Like I said- bad day at work, and the traffic just made me oh so glad I am outta here in a few months. For Good.

I was behind two guys today who both wanted to be in the same lane, and basically they just pushed against each other until the smaller car was pushed off the road.

u may find https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/the data here......

I mounted the pavement to get into another lane today!!Wahey! wouldn't have done that in the UK....probably cos I couldn't afford to drive a big car in the UK I spose!...did anyone see me lol and I mouthed expletives to an idiot that cut me up lol!!oooohhhhh!!

Personally I would say NORMALLY driving here isn't sooo bad. Except for this time of year.

My list above is GDP, not income. I didn't realise corleone had said "per capita income". Where did you get that data corleone?

tallg, can you tell me where I find the "income per capita"? All my sources only list the "GDP per capita".

A large perentage of death in Aust (8.15 per 100,00) occur on country roads, when you look deeply into the stats, most deaths are attributed to speed. So traffic and public transport may not play that much into it? Gotta love how stats are and can be skewed

 I may be blonde but I am wise

smile lots laugh more

Valid points hashin, and that statistic is available for the UK at least - it was 55 per 100 million vehicle kilometres in 2005 (the same date as tigs original per capita statistic).

Anyone got the same stat. for Qatar?

Qatar has more cars per thousand than the UK. UK has a pretty decent public transport system. Not to mention the heavy toll taxes that people need to pay in the UK and the price of gasoline which encourages people to drive less. So basically more people per thousand are travelling in a car in Qatar than in the UK. Before you assert that traffic jams cause people to spend more time in their cars in the UK, do bear in mind that very few fatal accidents occur when traffic is crawling.

I feel all these factors would have contributed to the skewed statistic. Although driving in Qatar is definitely more dangerous than driving in the UK, its not as dangerous as these statistics make it out to be...

In summary, road fatalities per 1000 people is not an accurate measure of road safety in a country. In my opinion, road fatalities per 1000 km driven is a far more accurate measure.

That would probably put several countries in Asia and Africa over the GCC as the most dangerous places to drive...

Agree with you tallg...according to my sources

 I may be blonde but I am wise

smile lots laugh more

Qatar are top now I think, unless your information is newer than this;

1 Qatar $ 80,900 2007 est.

2 Luxembourg $ 80,500 2007 est.

3 Bermuda $ 69,900 2004 est.

4 Jersey $ 57,000 2005 est.

5 Norway $ 53,000 2007 est.

6 Brunei $ 51,000 2007 est.

7 Singapore $ 49,700 2007 est.

8 United States $ 45,800 2007 est.

9 Guernsey $ 44,600 2005

10 Cayman Islands $ 43,800 2004 est.

The per capita income here is nearly $100,000. That's second only to Luxembourg. And there are less than 400,000 women in Qatar. And 76% of the population is male. And I hate traffic. Anyone willing to share a helicopter?

(goodness, gracious me!)

It came from today's Gulf Times so they probably just made it up!

Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about

the stats for UK (quoted by tig) were taken in 2005 - not sure what they are for more recent years.

When were the ones for Qatar drummed up, tig?

wicked evil grin

can be shortened to just a 'wg' if preferred

i vote for TIT :)

---Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer---

You can't teach experience...

"this is terrific"

Much better than lol, smirk, etc etc

TIT

"this is terrific"

Much better than lol, smirk, etc etc

TIT

if stats prove that Qatar is within the world's top three! Just returned from another hair-raising 90-minute journey more akin to a ride on the dodgems than a school run. We experienced two near misses, witnessed one Ambulance desperately trying to get thru a jam, passed two fender-benders, etc. plus the usual laneweaving without any indication, last-minute barging in at the traffic lights, LandCruisers (yes, in particular) bombing down the sidewalks and hardshoulders. I've driven in many countries (both left and right-hand drive) in Europe, USA & Australia but daren't do so here!! My driver is very experienced but still we've been hit hard from behind. It doesn't matter how careful one is....there are an extraordinary number of reckless drivers here who think they have the skills of a Formula One driver....

always reminds me of *mirkin* now! can't help it! reminds me - where did a put the damn thing!

"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365

not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the

many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers

were given. Satan - 10."

One point to remember though, people have different ideas of what is funny so may be using LOL properly. I learnt this at the last Laughter Factor where the two ladies sat next to me literally laughed out loud at every single joke the comedian made. He wasn't that good.

How about *smirk*

yep, i'm down with enclosing emotions etc in asterisks

*nods head in agreement*

Laughing Out Of Politeness (Means it wasn't funny but I do feel sorry for you, and besides, you could do with your self esteem bolstered)

or

*snigger*

"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365

not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the

many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers

were given. Satan - 10."

That's one of the reasons we use percentages though, to allow things to be compared! But your point is valid - there are many ways to express statistics, like those I listed in a comment above.

(and technically per 100,000 isn't a percentage)

(and the populatoin of Qatar is nearer 1,400,000)

ooh... I forgot to add... The UK is therefore 12 times as dangerous... Touche?

I would say LMSO would describe something as more funny than LOL. We need something to describe a mildy amusing comment that doesn't result in an audible noise being made (and now also one whose acronym isn't already in use)

Let's just review the stats once.

UK Population = 60,776,238

5.5 deaths per 100,000 people gives us a total of 3343 deaths

Qatar Population = 907,229

30 deaths per 100,000 people gives us a total of 272 deaths.

So, if we forget percentages, more people die in the UK than Qatar due to road accidents every year.

I should be a politician. See how I can twist facts around

LPO for laughing politely.

Hmm, that must have been for a few years back, in 2008 the winner is.......... (drum roll please)...... ETHIOPIA

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130638

LMSO

laughing my socks off....

janey sorry I am not that cool!

I have read somewhere that Qatar has the highest accident rate per capita in the world... I have to dig those up

feel free to suggest an alternative

Lower case, upper case it's confusing no matter what! CSI is crime scene investigation.

You can't teach experience...

Tig, I think chuckling slightly inside should be acronymed in lower case - csi. It's more fitting I feel.

I'm sorry Tig did you think my comment only deserved a CSI???

Apparently the UK is one of the lowest rates in the EU.

Other rates of interest;

Japan: 6.96 per 100,000 populatio

Australia: 8.15

United States: 14.66

This is only one way of measuring it though. You can also do deaths per 100 million vehicle kilometres, and deaths per X amount of licensed vehicles.

Tallg has come up with a substitute for lol for when something is amusing but not really funny. He has come up with CSI (chuckling silently inside).

But no I really don't understand alsboy's text talk. I don't think dat and der is cool for that and there. Sorry JaneyJaney

Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about

nazek, one must always make provision for bad traffic if they don't want to be late.

Plus, in South Africa some people spend 1.5 hours plus each way on traffic on their way to work... I guess Doha is not that bad, huh?!

Traffic here is really annoying I was 10 minutes late to work today although i was out a whole hour earlier than usual another 10 minutes and I'm going to get a whole day cut out of my salary is that fair?

no lol

Tig.. why so irate today? ;)

As far as I'm concerned this is how cool people talk nowadays.

I see accidents everyday (well almost) going to work, I've gotten used to it. :(

i know half of the deaths or accidents happens just because they are driving at high speed and staring at a gal sitting on road side and baaaaaaaaaaaaam.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh these gals

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and as for you alsboy, I can't understand anything you write. Can't you write in English?

Just call me Tigasin. That's what I'm talking about

Frankly... Can u c Qatar on a Globe? 4get askin abt 'global basis' :)

LOL Gypsy...:)

Stop being racist.