No driving License for Women Soon........

are really messed up here...and I've seen that's general opinion on this post...

PENALTY POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE EVERYWHERE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION!!!! GATHER 15 POINTS AND FOR A MONTH U WILL SPARE US IN TRAFFIC...AND BELIEVE ME, MOST OF THE LOCALS AND ASIAN DRIVERS WILL GATHER 15 POINTS IN 30 MINUTES. GET 15 MORE IN SIX MONTHS AND WE WILL NOT SEE U DRIVING FOR ANOTHER 3 MONTHS...HERE U GO!!! CONGESTION SOLVED.

PS: I apologize if somebody felt offended on my remark with Asian drivers...but it's a reality..they have no rules..at least here in qatar

Traffic dept. consultants are americans. From people who elected Bush as a president no advise is weird enough. So the threat is still there.

I don't actually know if they will implement it. What I can tell you though is that I had no problems (in spite of my worries) transferring my license. So maybe it is all hype????

Maybe we should sit back and relax.....at least now I know that I can :)

Why are you all crying hoarse and wasting your energy and time for something that is not understood. I have been here for 24 yrs.as an expat.with a reasonably logical and critical thought process.All this discussion makes no sense as long as it is not in arabic which is the language of the traffic department.So sit back and relax.

even taking a contract copy may not be enough. You need to convince them the necessity. Those females who work in companies which provide transport for their employees may not be given a license.

"The easiest thing to find is fault."

Do they really think that the non working women are responsible for the traffic chaos?? They should stop issuing license to these reckless teenage drivers.

There is a picture in today's newspaper, a 19 yr old Qatari boy died in a road accident. From the shape of the car its very obvious that he was in very high speed and probably not wearing seat belt, he was thrown out 50 mts away from the car. No other vehicle was involved in this accident.

is this for real???????

this is crazy.

so now employed women have to take a copy of their contract to get a license....its senseless.

happy heart

drive safe because someone is waiting for you at home

The young 4x4 qatari drivers keep asking desperately for a performance track or some arena where they can legally perform stunts and go on two wheels and do donuts and stuff like that, i think thats a great idea actually that way they dont have to take anyones drivers license away! There will be less and less drivers on the street every week!! Traffic problem solved cause how can these guys drive when theyre dead??

Than you, very well said Moonbeam. No matter how long you live here this place will never be home. Anyone thinking otherwise just fooling themselves.

I want to add, why is ok for people from this part of the world to move to Europe and North America and expect thier culture and way of life will be respected when they do not do the same to others?

That is a truly intelligent solution. The point system seemed to work in Italy when it was implemented....only thing is....have you seen the police here? Just today I had to avoid a collision because some idiot (not a taxi) decided to drop off a passenger in the middle of the roundabout. I honked my horn...and guess what the police were right there just looking at the entire scene with a very smug look on their face.

Why don't the police crack down on driving offences?

If you commit three - you lose your license?

Then the roads will be really quiet and drivers with licenses have them on merit not someone's perception of necessity!

Well here's another insider news and just in from a reliable source! Apparently, there are way too many people having driving licences but do not really need them. So the buzz is that as per the new filteration rule, persons having driving licences but do not fall under the elite category of "those who really need it" may have to justify their necessity to drive in Qatar.

Those who are unable to provide a valid justification to retain the driving licence, will obviously have to lose it and go back home in a cab!

This checking would be done either at the time of licence renewal (i.e. every 5 years) or at the time of car permit renewal (i.e. every one year) at the Qatar Traffic Dept. Justification could be done either by providing a letter from your workplace or by submitting a picture of your office clearly showing heaps of documents piled on your desk!

Am sure we all know whether we fall in that elite category or not. Wish you all luck in trying to keep hold onto your licences! :)

P.s. Chill out it was just a stupid joke. But with Qatar Traffic, you never know! I am only giving more brilliant ideas :P

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Love sucks, True love swallows

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E4U & LG Presents Bollywood RemiX Nite with DJ Suketu

www.e4u.name.qa

Qatar traffic department has always been special....in a special olympics kind of way.

Only Love & Respect of Others Make us Human.

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Women or men are not the problem. The government must stop all kids and underage from driving including those in the police cars!

The traffic department should get a prize for coming up with the most asinine idea this year.

How many non-working women actually are out driving during rush hour? Is it really possible to reduce traffic congestion with this stupid new ruling?

Have they even thought about replacing roundabouts with traffic lights (the intelligent ones, like SCARTS systems used in Australia), and putting more and better trained traffic cops out on the streets ?

OK, I agree they lack the ability to come up with such ideas, or implement them. Why not then import ideas and manpower to manage this problem? Like they do when they pay blokes like us to keep their oil flowing.

Stealth think he's a great person and a good adviser! huh! very good on offending people!

He's system analyst not brain analyst! What do you expect? Ooppss!

Just keep dancing, it will do you good!

Its easy for you to say when you don't know half of the story. Don't want to talk about it but don't assume that I didn't try "the rights" that were supposed to be with me

Next time don't jump into conclusions and judge people for whatever you to beleive. No need to feel sorry for me, but try to be open minded a bit and not so defensive

Cheers

If you had 49%, you could have had many rights which you probably didnt make use of while entering into the venture. I feel sorry for you.

"The easiest thing to find is fault."

To answer your questions:

A. I have been here for 14 months

B. My Qatari Partner was the reason

C. I lost money since I did not come as an employee but as an invester and had actually put 49%. And I had to get an exit permit to leave which is in the hand of my partner. which in return wouldn't give it to me until I give him all my shares in the company.

Any other questions Mr Stealth?!!

qd06, I will not get into a long winded debate tonight as there are alot of points to consider when entering a subject like this. Many are founded from personal experiences both good and bad, for both of us probably. You views are correct, but that does not mean I agree with all you say. Expats are essentially are immigrants (temporary or not)...we all travel new and challenging roads to make an attempt to make our fortune.

Imagine at the age of 55 losing a company and all that you have struggled for over years, and all the money that went into your venture......without your rights being protected. Your life vanishes before your very eyes; and all because the sponsor says, 'my friend, has a friend...in this high place' and the police clear out your place and pretend it never existed. Organised crime? Well it happened. I am Italian, and we might have some serious problems of our own....but you know what? No one can take away my rights in my own country. So here I live comfortably. I enjoy what I have. But I make no illusions about where I am, and that I should always be on guard. Experience has taught me that. Most expats come, enjoy and leave.....I have grown up around this my whole life, and so I have a very unique perspective. How long have you had the pleasure of living here? And can you honestly say you feel safe with having to give up 51% of what you have if you want to invest in this country? As an African American you more than anyone should respect the feeling of helplessness that persecution can cause. The phillipino maid, made pregnant by her employer being stoned.....the indian worker having rubbish thrown at him just for fun......the english girl raped because she "she had it coming, her dress was too revealing."..etc, etc....

Yes the world would be a much better place if we would could all get along.....but the sad reality is that humanity is born from hardship......and with one of the highest GDP's of the world; todays youngsters here don't have a clue what hardship means...with their gadgets, landcruisers, cheap labour at their beck and call...and we are just being used.

Lets enjoy and reap the rewards, but this place after all these years, will never be 'home'.

Its your decision. Did they prevent you from leaving the country?

How long youve been here in DOha? How come it took you this much time to make a decision? Well you needed the money, you got it nad then you start bad mouthing the rules of the country. Thats great man great.

"The easiest thing to find is fault."

So if I pay you a salary I can do whatever I want with you?! I can own you?come on isn't that slavery?

or just because you are african american only you are entitled to talk about slavery. Man I awlays get it wrong, there is no freedom of speach at all. Whatever you say there will always be someone who takes it personally and gets very defensive.

Isn't it slavery that when u need to buy a car you need a permit? when you want to leave you need permit? when you are not treated equal? and quoting you " on and on and on"

maybe you get free housing, free transporation and your ect ect but most of us don't.

lets all dewll and live in the past and forget the future. I condemn Eve for she was the reason we are not living in heaven.

And now for others not get offended "specially Qataris" I'm not saying Qataris are bad, I'm saying the laws are unhuman. And since I'm a free man I chose to leave the country.

Funny Moonbeam. It is these same people who were literate and practised medicine, astronomy, and many other sciences while many in Europe and around the world were illiterate, and dying of the plague and other diseases.

I am sorry I don't share your views because even though I am an expat. I am African American. I have lived with the reality of Democracy/ Socialism for all of my life. I will not pretend that it is the Utopia that some Western expats try to make it seem to be. I will not pretend that another human being is not capable to think and be as enterprising as I am because of his nationality or heritage.

I still have to live with the reality when I go home I can be pulled over because of the color of my skin. I still have to live with the reality that I am automatically proven guilty before I am innocent not because I have College degrees or a home in a certain neighborhood. I still however am positive in the spirit of Human Beings that all things can be overcome if we look at each other as Human Beings.

I get offended when expats compare themselves to slaves when they get paid a salary, get free housing, free transportation and on and on. However when it comes to addresing the real slavery of the past times and current times these same people become silent and say why can't we all just get along....

Act your age not your shoe size

Well the traffic consultant over here is an American if you dont know.

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

qd06, for someone that comes from a background that most of Qatar's expats come from you should not be so quick to judge a population and mentality that has taken centuries to grow, and develop. You seem to forget that if it wasn't for oil or gas......this area of the world would still be in tents. It is the forward thinking of this society and the world around it that has made the Middle East the thriving commerce it is. But what some expats view as undemocratic or unreasonable is justifiable considering that laws in our countries are made BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE, not by a delegation that decides FOR THE PEOPLE....

No disrespect, but expats are a commodity with no rights in a country that will never protect their rights. So I think we have 'right' to at least have an opinion on something that potentially can hurt our wellbeing. And for someone that has enjoyed (or the most part...and gotten hurt by not having any rights) after 30 years here...... I am definately entitled to an opinion....and anyway, in the end what I say won't make the slightest bit of difference, so what's the harm?

AHHHHHHHHH. Does every expat always jump to conclusions and always think of the worst case scenario.Please give the government and its departments a break for once. Let all of the facts come out before you start the protest march.

Act your age not your shoe size

You know I bet it was just a bunch of middle aged Arab men sitting at the Department of Transport thinking of ways to cut congestion, and there big idea was "well housewives don't need cars, they are HOUSEwives after all."

:P

Thats the problem of having too much money and don't know what to do with it!!! rather than building a better road infrastructure, lets copy what the kuwaitis did and ban the expats from having a second car to solve road problems!

its things like this that made me run away from here.

God, I think its better to call the expats by their real names "slaves"

So many laws are unhuman and are bringing the country back to the dark ages

This city is just doesn't have a good enough public transport system to pass this.

i can understand you completely. We probably out before you. Especially if we have to move to mesaieed ... i can't drive, no way i put my son's life in the hand of the bus driver.

Well luckily at the moment I have a job, so I'm not included in this(yet). But take away my ability to drive and I am outta here on the next flight.

all ladies whether they are veiled or not are bad drivers.

ITs a good rule that they are planning to bring. Three cheers to the Traffic authorities.

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

i told my hubby ... if i cant drive here i think we should go to saudi. Same sacrifice cant drive make more money and living in the better housing.

Unfortunately the wrong group are being targeted. Expat ladies appear to be very safe when it comes to driving, remove them from the road, and by default you have a higher percentage of bad drivers!!

The really bad drivers, veiled ladies (any nationality) that only look in one direction (front), pick up drivers, speeding land cruisers and long haired local teenagers will need to find somebody else to intimidate.

:) just looking back at my spelling! Atrocious!

Gypsy, I'm glad you see it like I do. I hope it won't come into effect. Lets see if this country is truly a democracy. ;)

Hey everyone let's hear your views, maybe we can make this into a petition. :)

Goodnight all.

I agree. Life here isn't that great, there's a lot of freedoms we are missing out on as it is, take away something basic like that, and no amount of money is worth staying.

Sad thing is expats don't have much of a say anyway. I wouldn't live in Saudi, so if I cannot have a decent life here, we won't stay here. With rising costs, high rents, lack of transparency... taking away a person's freedom would be the last straw.

16 was with an adult in the car, in 6 months I was allowed to drive by myself between 6am and 12am. Then it was 2 or 3 years before I was allowed to get my full liscense, before that I would have lost my license if I got so much as a speeding ticket.

16 is the leagl limit in many places. The difference is that the kids are educated to respect, and will lose the licence immediately if they don't behave. Plus many places say that it's okay as long as an adult is in the car with you. I agree with this. Maturity is individual, and girls are more likely to be cautios the boys at 16.

I can't see it happening. I mean the UN and the US would freak out. This isn't Saudi.

I think if the women here put their foot down, it won't happen. I have a suggestion to all the wives online; qatari or expat....... boycott the 'wifely duty' (LOL) and watch the men react and put their foot down too. Hahahaha....I wonder if it would work???? :)

I've had to flag down random drivers at 3am because none of the cabbies wanted to drive me all the way to my house.

Well I was 16 when I drove, but I had to pass tests and take defensive driving, etc etc. But yes, nobody gets out of the way for an ambulance here and when they finally do get through theres a line of ambulance chasing land cruisers dangerously following behind them.

3 hrs! I know! Once at 10pm I got stuck waiting for two hours for a cab. I can't even imagine living without a car again.

Plus nobody really believes the ambulance that has it's siren going....so it would do no good.

Instead of banning women drivers why don't they stop issuing licenses to qatari boys under the age of 18-21....maybe then there would be less congestion and accidents. I have seen kids no older than 16 driving here.

No Moonbeam you should wait 40 minutes to 3 hours for a taxi.

I lived without a car here for 5 months and it was awful, and I don't even have kids to care for!

According to them you should let your kid bleed..... :|

You know Gypsy, I lived like that for a year....so I am talking out of experience. It is a hard life for both parties.

I think the authorities have their heads in the clouds. Chances are I can get around the new rule....but that doesn't take away the fact that it is an imposition on civil liberties. Are we living in democracy.....or what????

What if the kid falls and splits there lip open and need stiches or something? Are they going to call an ambulance?

What about going for groceries and other shopping? You can't rely on the Taxi's here.

Cook, make babies...LOL! Hubby would be too tired, and Mommy to P&(&%$ off to make babies that is for sure!

THANK YOU! I tried to start this conversation and nobody bit. Exactly! What are housewives going to do with no cars!