over cautious drivers

I am a cautious driver.  I'm the guy who drives 60 kph as much as possible.  I only hit 80 if the pace of traffic requires adjusting.

 no worries

"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."

adey.like i said technically i agree it was my husbands fault but i think i failed to mention that the other driver was an indonesian man new to doha who braked just because he was lost.

i am not at all being defensive or partial. i am just trying to ask ppl to drive safely and not stop in the middle of the road for no particular reason nor park the car miles before the stopline when u face a red signal!!!

I understand your frustration but a car in front might stop for any reason, in which case a following driver has the responsibility to be observant and keep a safe distance for the traveling speed.

In the UK I was rear ended when the car in front did an emergency brake, so I emergency braked so as not to hit him. I could see the 4x4 behind me bearing down and had to wait for the 'crunch' as I could see he was never going to stop in time.

"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."

First, I have a working camera with me in my car to photograph cars.  When I drive, it's on and ready.  Sometimes I even hold it against the steering wheel when I sense I'm in a potentially-problematic road area.

I take on Land Cruisers and Hummers.  I've had enough of "shababs" and their arroagance.  If they flash me, I just turn on the emergency flashers and slow down.  Then I open the window and play loudly "I'm bad" by Micheal Jackson.

adey, technically i agree but  in all fairness stopping at a green, yes  green not amber nor  red and definitley not flashing green, light is CRIMINAL!!!!!! it was the C ring road for crying out loud. not  a minor road!

 "the car infront of him stopped at the green light and inspite of breaking hard my husband hit him from behind."

 But it was your husbands fault, he was either driving too fast, too close , not paying attention or a combination of these. If you rear end someone it is always your fault because of the 3 factors i mentioned above.

And you dont stop for red alone, you stop for amber and get ready to stop for flashing green.  

"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."

yeah rule of the game, if u see landcruiser coming from behind u change lanes!!!!

you know guys hearing those road accidents stories from you really..really scares me...

now im developing the land cruiser, traffic police & traffic lights phobia!

"Even if  LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."

I have to agree with Jackmohan that I undergo similar emotions when the signal I approach is green ! I am at peace while I approach a signal which is red. Also, to make things worse, sometimes you have a landcruiser behind you, bearing down on you - life is tough after the new traffic fines have come into effect.

Count down times will help, for sure. 

safe drive people. its such an anfortunate story with the accident around Doha.

Everybody is right Everybody is wrong, it depend where we stand.

hi canary what did u do when that car crashed on ur car? U just let him away? 

"Even if  LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."

I have been crashed four times, from the back three times on the Al Saad crossing from the back because people were driving to fast and could not stop.

Last week the other driver crossed three lanes at once and did not reckon on the speed of my car he crashed me from the side and then drove off as if nothing had happened.

Better to look at your own driving skills and take care - we all make mistakes but have to be able to stop in an emergency - if you are not then you should not be on the road driving.

 well in my case, yes the kids were properly buckled and i was dead slow but expected the driver infront of me to slowly reach the stop line.  he just caught me off guard when he refused to budge. look a few feet before the stop line is understandable but  here the distance was sufficient for the car in the left lane to move in front of him  and even that car was atleat two feet behind the stop line.

jackmohan i agree countdown timers are the best. i have seen them in Ajman UAE for the past five years atleast, wonder when the qatar traffic dept will get them(if ever).

i had a horrifying incident when i picked my children after school. i keep the car dead slow in front of the schjool as children and parents are often crossing the road but to my shock a sudaneses boy of three who was standing on my right with his older brother suddenly jerked his brothers hand and fell in front of my car. i jammed the breaks and was terrified as i couldnt see him. i fell terrified but thank god after a few seconds his brother pulled him up and took him to the other side of the road!

i was so scared. what if i had run him over. it wasnt my fault.  he was so close that it was just pure luck that he didnt get hurt. i still shiver thinking had i killed him i wouldnt have been able to forgive myself. i am a mother too and cant imagine something like this for anyones kid.huh.

here iun doha accidents are just waiting to happen and all we have to do is drive carefully and pray we dont have one.

The green light has put the fright of God in me too...

I am at peace with the Red Light at the signal. But when I approach the 

signal and the lights are green - my hand starts pespiring, my heart beats

increase.

Some greens wink forever while some greens turn to red  after 2 winks ....so

if you are at a signal you are not familar its difficult to make out how soon the

green is going to turn to red. (after 3 blinks or 5 blinks or 10 blinks).

Countdown timers would be of great help on the signals.

Still the signals & speed radars there have decreased the accidents and 

its quite visible. Signalized roundabouts though slow have lower accidents. 

This is not news, this is and will be the ongoing traffic situation until finally authorities actually do somthing to stop it, and people get wise that they are not alone in the street, not to mention that kids belong in the back seat buckled up and not prancing and dancing and heads out of the window.

this kind of news makes me paranoid...

my husband is driving his own car now (4 days) & im always worried everytime i knew that his on the road...

"Even if  LOVE is full of thorns, embrace it. For in between those thorns there is a ROSE that's worth all the PAIN."

YOU DONT KNOW ME, DONT EVEN TRY !!!

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The distance recommended by the driving schools is to stop so that you can see the tyres of the car in front of you. Most people don't consider that if they did they would understand if you get hit at the back you can be pushed on to the car in front. In this case you are not only the victim but also the culprit for not keeping the proper distance to the car in front..

from vehicles as per the law. in some countries i have heard its 7 metres.

it

should be such that as per the road speed limit you should be able to

come to a halt  without hitting the vehicle in front.

Lamea how long did the cops take to get to you after the accident.

Drive safe guys

cheers 

YOU DONT KNOW ME, DONT EVEN TRY !!!

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If you manage to keep enough space to the car in front of you, you should be able to stop in time so that you don't crash into the car infront. Remember when you are nearing a traffic light it may change at any time and more caution is necessary in case the driver in front of you stops suddenly.

Caution is the main word here and if you have kids in the the car you should be extra cautious as the 80km speed limit is just to fast for all the very bad drivers in Qatar.

If you stop at the traffic light you should be able to see the back tyres of the car in front of you, if you don't then you put yourself in danger.

A little more consideration from all using the roads would make Qatar a lot safer place and especially for you Lamea if you have kids in you car you should be extra careful approaching and stopping at the traffic light.

I agree with Hokey-Pokey. At 80 KM/HR and with enuf of a gap and focus on whatz happening ahead, its not too difficult to stop.

I also feel that it might be a good idea to have count-down timers at the signals. The rash drivers will try to beat the timer as well, but atleast it makes life easier for the careful one's.

In most civilized countries whoever hits another vehicle from behind is normally at fault. If you are following a vehicle in city traffic under 80Km/hr you can easily check to see if you are too close, when the vehicle in front of you passes a light pole for example, try to count to three before you pass the same point, if you can then good, you have a safe following distance, if you cannot count to three you are TOO close!!  

What if a child runs onto the street, and the guy in front of your brakes hard, are you ready to stop too??? It is not only the red lights you should be preparing to stop for... slow down, the fast food joint will still be there, even if you are a couple of minutes late.

In my opinion for the volume of traffic on the roads, most of the speed limits are too fast to begin with.

I hope those children in your vehicle where propely buckled into their car seats........

these days are very easy to take licence... no L and S test... no engine and lights test, like they used to ask the name of the units on the car and ask to turn on the head light, high beam.. low beam.. etc etc..but these days just parking and road test...  they simply give licence blindly... especially in Karwa ... recently my fren on the road test did not put signal light then also he passed it... before it was not like that... i heard that if u pay 200 then also if u did mistake in road test u can pass out....

when fines are more than your salary that is what happens

keep a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front at any time to prevent this type of accidents from happening, remember that if you hit a vehicle from behind it's always your fault...

the presence of the camera all over doha made most drivers paranoid. some drivers suddenly applies break when they approach the signal even if its still green, rendering the cars behind him to cease suddenly.

on the contrary, there are also somewhat lunatic drivers who speed up just to make sure they pass the signal before it gets red. "beating the yellow/orange blinking light" as i call it... forgetting that there is also speed limit in that place. the camera not only senses beating the red light but also over speeding.

I hate drivers who are over cautious and even those who are dangereous on the roads...

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No human can stop racism and its easier to make a deaf hear u than an ignorant.

you have to consider that some are new drivers in Q and arent sure about the road rules even though they have a licnece it takes a while to gain confidence on the road.  I guess the onus is on the person behind the car to consider some bad judgements from other drivers to avoid hitting them regardless of whos at fault.  i remeber driving in aus, we were always taught to drive with a bit of distance from the car ahead of us for these reasons, it enables you to stop at a safe distance when the driver infront makes a sudden stop..

You are right. Some people stop way before the line.

At the end of the day, it's better that they stop at all rather than passing red lights.

As for the people getting flashed with radars when the light was green. That usually happens when they're testing a new flash. They're not really charged.

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