Pile up E11

[sandypool]

How many of these terrible tragedies have to occur before the authorities REALLY start tackling the route cause of these problems. i.e. decent driving instruction and tests and fines proportional to a persons means and perhaps the next time they catch someone exceeding 180-200KM on the road - an instant ban like the rest of the world would do. And perhaps the next time a 19 year old boy goes to the insurance company to get his high performance high weight car insured they will do what they did to me at 19 - tell me to come back with a 1 litre and they might find a way to insure me. I've had enough of this. Wasta and God need to be thrown out the window, driving like an idiot kills people and should be punished as such.

Emirates 24/7 At least 2 dead scores feared injured.

Hope all in the Expat Forum family are okay.

[Maz25]

Very sad indeed!

I do think however that the high speed is probably a lesser factor as opposed to the fact that a lot of people just CANNOT drive!! It also, as you have rightly pointed out, does not help that some people have access to cars that are far too powerful. Add that to the non-existent driving skills and you have a recipe for disaster.

I also get super annoyed when people claim that 'it was God's will'! How can it be God's will for someone to go out and drive like a complete maniac and kill others in the process. The sad truth is that often the person who causes the accident is also the one who ends up walking away from it, whilst the innocent party pays with their lives!

I commute to Abu Dhabi and I would say that even after passing the scene of a serious accident, the shock quickly wears off and people start driving like maniacs again...result being that 5 minutes later you come to a complete stop cause some idiot has now crashed! If there is fog, you wouldn't catch me driving in the fast lane since there are people who assume that we are all now driving in other lanes and speed blindly down the fast lane, with complete disregard for other road users!

[Jynxgirl]

I came thru that area at around 6am and was horrible. The entire drive was bad. People were going 60 km an hour, next to the fast lane where people were still going 160km.... You could still see ahead quite a bit at the time but some areas the fog got quite dense. I couldnt understand why someone who chose to go so slow, did so right next to the fast lane. But it was like that much of my drive in this morning, as most mornings during fog. I found it dangerous trying to stick with a decent speed and using the left lane to pass by these very slow drivers.

It is a recipe for disaster in normal driving the 100km next to the 180+ emirati race track lane... Fog makes it so much worse.

My heart goes out to those families who are involved in the tragedy this morning.

[sandypool]

I agree but I read a statistic recently that the higher proportion of deaths actually occur in the slow lane further up the road from the accident. Large vehicles that use the inside lane (slow lane) come across these pile ups and slam into the car in front. The small car using the slow lane has no chance against all the commercial vehicles and buses using this lane.

I agree it is probably the crazy driving and poor skills that cause the accident, but if a 4WD ploughs into the back of the crash at 160 kph it has a far greater chance of killing or injuring someone than if they'd eased off and hit it at 60/80 kph.

I just get so annoyed by it all. To me the fix is easy. More enforcement. There are plenty of coppers on the road not blinking when someone driving erratically or far in excess of the speed limit passes them when they should be pulling them over and handing them a fine (and is most cases a court summons). I really believe that if more of these idiots were being pulled up in front of a Judge we'd be seeing a lot less RTA's on the roads of the UAE,

[Gavtek]

My boss has told everyone not to bother coming to the office when there is thick fog and anyone that has to go to the office in Abu Dhabi should leave Dubai after 9am. It's just not worth dieing for.

At least back home if someone is driving like an absolute moron, you can drag them out of their car at the next lights and give them a good kicking.

[dizzyizzy]

I have friends in UK/German/Netherlands who have be banned from driving for breaking the speed limits on a regular basis. Why does it have to be any different here? What am I missing? Why the police can't take this matter more seriously? Why are the drivers who are responsible for the death of others still allowed to drive? When are these people going to understand that THEY ARE NOT GERMANS and that the UAE motorways are not the Autobahn? I just don't get it. There is no excuse for this. Irresponsible, arrogant idiots.

[Jynxgirl]

Originally Posted by dizzyizzy

When are these people going to understand that THEY ARE NOT GERMANS and that the UAE motorways are not the Autobahn?

No... They are locals and can go have a tea discussion and make the tickets nearly go away.

[Moe78]

Zero road fatality in Dubai by 2020: Dahi - Emirates 24/7

The police themselves drive atrociously, they rarely follow their own rules so how can you expect others to do so? They turn a blind eye to many things and fail to use proper driving techniques themselves. The people here think it's stylish to do things like talk on your phone with it held up to your ear while driving and expect the rest of us to appease them for it.

[rsinner]

the biggest problem, as pointed out in the first post, is the Wasta - if people know that they can drive at 100 or even 160 kmphh and no more, it is fine.
but, if some guy thinks (rightly) that the speed limit is 100 kmph, and the other driver has no concept of a speed limit because he can get away with it, it is a perfect recipe for disaster.

also, the driving skills - after thinking about it a lot and experiencing it, I do think that more Asians and Arabs do cause a problem (it cannot be a racist comment - I am an Indian myself). If you have grown up driving without rules and then suddenly descend on Dubai, obviously you will carry over your poor driving skills (I know I am generalising, but stereotypes are generally correct). Not that western expats are never bad at driving, but in general Arabs and Asians are horrendous drivers

[Moe78]

I'm told in Qatar it doesn't matter who you are, a fine is a fine and everyone pays regardless of their connections. Probably exaggerated but a good start for them!