I've heard strong rumours that if a Qatari is completely 100% to blame for a traffic accident which involves another car driven by an expat, the expat is the one who gets blamed and has to apologise to the Qatari.
You're completely wrong, we're usually blamed for anything we do, and we sometimes accept the blame when the policeman says that the poor expat who is 100% to blame can't afford to fix anything and you have full insurance.
So the question is, what happens to the young Qatari driver who was 'allegedly' racing with his friend in Landcruisers and killed the Al Thani minister last week? Will the authorities finally punish a local for driving like an idiot or will they just allow it all to blow over?
I'll repeat this, we are always punished for our wrongdoings, it's not just because he's an Al-Thani minister. I'm sure he would be punished for killing any human being.
Any locals reading this, please don't feel that this is an attack by me - I echo Bleu's sentiments in his response to the questions listed at the top of this post.
It's not an attack, but a misunderstanding, many expats seem to think we're above the law.
There are a few reasons in my opinion as to why driving is so bad in Qatar:
1. Locals can afford huge cars as soon as they pass their test and due to their age drive them like toys
That's not a reason, everybody who's that young drives a car like a toy, even if it's a tiny car...
2. Many locals do not sit a driving test and simply use wasta (spelling?) to obtain a license.
I sat on the driving test, as well as MOST people I know. I passed immediately, but I'm sure that the policemen are more "understanding" when the driver is a Qatari, or a westerner (I'm sure they give Asians a hard time on the test, and try to fail them)
3. expatriates who cannot just swap their own license for a Qatari license do as much as it takes to pass the Qatari test, not necessarily learning anything in the process.
They don't want to learn anything... they want to swap their license and weren't allowed to do that, so they do whatever it takes to drive.
4. If you do not drive in the same way as most others on the road you will never reach your destination.
Yes.
5. A lot of people employed as drivers have little or no education and so there is a real lack of intelligence in their actions (not meant as an insult, I just believe you require some kind of IQ to drive well)
Yes, and my driver is good, has at least high school education (1 failed year in a university).. He also has a colored belt in Taekwondo (no idea what color).
6. Western expatriates realise very early how cheap it is to buy and refuel huge cars (including me).
Yes.
7. Traffic laws are not enforced anywhere near as much as they should be in order for people to obey them.
And that's a good thing.
When most of us Qataris started driving at the age of 12-14, there was no traffic law.
Police only intervened if there was an accident.
We had less cars on the road and less accidents.
A few years before I started driving, people used to beat-up Indians for any of the following offenses:
Sure,
I've heard strong rumours that if a Qatari is completely 100% to blame for a traffic accident which involves another car driven by an expat, the expat is the one who gets blamed and has to apologise to the Qatari.
You're completely wrong, we're usually blamed for anything we do, and we sometimes accept the blame when the policeman says that the poor expat who is 100% to blame can't afford to fix anything and you have full insurance.
So the question is, what happens to the young Qatari driver who was 'allegedly' racing with his friend in Landcruisers and killed the Al Thani minister last week? Will the authorities finally punish a local for driving like an idiot or will they just allow it all to blow over?
I'll repeat this, we are always punished for our wrongdoings, it's not just because he's an Al-Thani minister. I'm sure he would be punished for killing any human being.
Any locals reading this, please don't feel that this is an attack by me - I echo Bleu's sentiments in his response to the questions listed at the top of this post.
It's not an attack, but a misunderstanding, many expats seem to think we're above the law.
There are a few reasons in my opinion as to why driving is so bad in Qatar:
1. Locals can afford huge cars as soon as they pass their test and due to their age drive them like toys
That's not a reason, everybody who's that young drives a car like a toy, even if it's a tiny car...
2. Many locals do not sit a driving test and simply use wasta (spelling?) to obtain a license.
I sat on the driving test, as well as MOST people I know. I passed immediately, but I'm sure that the policemen are more "understanding" when the driver is a Qatari, or a westerner (I'm sure they give Asians a hard time on the test, and try to fail them)
3. expatriates who cannot just swap their own license for a Qatari license do as much as it takes to pass the Qatari test, not necessarily learning anything in the process.
They don't want to learn anything... they want to swap their license and weren't allowed to do that, so they do whatever it takes to drive.
4. If you do not drive in the same way as most others on the road you will never reach your destination.
Yes.
5. A lot of people employed as drivers have little or no education and so there is a real lack of intelligence in their actions (not meant as an insult, I just believe you require some kind of IQ to drive well)
Yes, and my driver is good, has at least high school education (1 failed year in a university).. He also has a colored belt in Taekwondo (no idea what color).
6. Western expatriates realise very early how cheap it is to buy and refuel huge cars (including me).
Yes.
7. Traffic laws are not enforced anywhere near as much as they should be in order for people to obey them.
And that's a good thing.
When most of us Qataris started driving at the age of 12-14, there was no traffic law.
Police only intervened if there was an accident.
We had less cars on the road and less accidents.
A few years before I started driving, people used to beat-up Indians for any of the following offenses:
(To all the Indians on QL: Sorry for that)
We're much more tolerant now. :)