Radar every 5 kilometers in Doha!

some of that road rage that you most obviously felt has been vented out on the thread... lets call it... 'web rage'...

That was really funny...

Because they fear us. Maybe we look scary.

Can I say why?

Because most of the time when an aggressive driver swerves in front of you from the shoulder or overtakes you on the right or drives into oncoming traffic so he can pass the truck up ahead instead of waiting in line like everyone is supposed to....it's a local driving a VXR!

This morning, I sh*t you not, driving my kid to school, I'm sitting in a long line of traffic on a side road that never moves very fast. Who pulls out into the left lane of oncoming cars and passes me and everyone else by but three locals who can't be bothered to wait like the rest of us have to -- then of course they drive all the way up to the small roundabout and then nose their way in at the front of the line.

While Qataris can be generous to a fault, they are also some of the most selfish, self-absorbed people behind the wheel of a car I have ever met.

"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."

-- Maya Angelou

is usually a pretty good indicator of driving behaviour...

As for the survery, may be calling it statistics is a bit too much... but that's what people perceive... Any idea WHY a disproportionately large amount of people feel threatened by Land Cruisers? Why not Prados or Pajeros?

Statistics?????????????

You mean votes?

Of course most expats here are scared of LandCruisers.

I know the stats, but the stats are mostly teenagers, a huge percentage of the driving teenagers in this country are Qatari.... I don't measure driving of a nationality by the number of dead people from road accidents.

the statistics speak for themselves...

here... have a look at it again...

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/464456

no driver is perfect bleu! nobody!

'SO DARK THE CON OF MAN'

ver, they're only being objective, this isn't supposed to be qataribashing.com. Some people here say EVERYTHING is our fault, and you don't seem to understand sarcasm.

So, Asian drivers are perfect???

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/464456

About Aisha's post, she clearly mentions that the people from the subcontinent are there from other types of accidents typically of an occupational nature...

Aisha and Tallg are overeager to appease this Qatari character bleu and are trying really hard to apportion some of the blame on Asian drivers... yeah right... suddenly driving at the speed limit is not a virtue any more... its about skill and control... Utter Nonsense...

Read the outcome of the vote carried out here on QL... the outcome is obvious...

As for Alexa and your Asian driver... Yeah as usual, that random individual is your gold standard for Asian drivers around the world...

well u rit,but in dubai they got those kindda raders which record the time and the speed once you passes by and the next one calculate the time diffrence in which you have crossed the way. so by anyhow they will get ya if you overspeed between the 2 raders.

i got ma fingers crossed hoppin not to be those kindda raders :S

Indian, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan.

Basically the historical tectonic plate of India (that 1 day was a separate continent by itself).

And what do you mean by Westerns? North Americans? Canadians? Australians? New Zealanders? South-Africans? Western Europeans? Central Europeans? Eastern Europeans?

Hey where in the world is sub-continent? I never heard about it. Do they require Visa?

Worst Driver are the WESTERNS! hahaha

S.S.R.

mmyke, just get out of our way!!!! If you just moved away when I was 20m away, I wouldn't have flashed.

I used to do a lot of legal work associated with this injury...if people could see the results, they would be extremely cautious in their daily activities...

if flipping the bird is deemed insulting, then they should also charge those who flash their headlights while being within 3 meters of the rear of your car at 100 kph.

Thank you Alija for taking out some time and replying. As you are a Doc at trauma you must be busy 24/7...

At any given time, accident victims from Indian subs are definitely going to be more than that of Qataris as these people form the largest expat group. So percentage wise it is always going to be high. Are you peole going to publish your studies? That will be definitely an eye opener.

Everything's gonna be alright!!!

I'm a doctor in training at HMC, and currently in the surgery and TICU (Trauma intensive care unit)departments) . You have a lot of Qataries involved in high speed accident fatalities (on average one every 2nd or 3rd day), and especially a lot of the youngster ones (age 10-25), and I have had in countless times to be the one to directly tell the devastating news to their loved one. However, pay a visit to the TICU unit , and you'll see that the majority of patients are those of SubIndian continent nationals (RTA, fall, assault etc...).

Combined, those of the SubI continent are by far the largest majority of bed occupants in the TICU, and are most likely the one to undergo permanent sequelas and complications (go pay a visit to the TICU and ull see what I mean).

Oh wait, another thing, we are finalizing a study on the pattern of traumatic Head & Neck injury in Qatar in the years 2005-2009 (results will come soon), and I will be glad to provide a copy for anyone whos genuinely interested.

I don't know whom to believe Alija or my friend. But since I know my friend more than Alija, I would like to believe her.

Well, she was working with HMC. And her office was exactly in front of the place where the bodies are brought after accident. According to her she literally had to pass by the bodies and crying realtives everyday, to take her lunch. She said that most fatalities were QATARIES in age group 15-30 and I mean Q A T A R I E S, not even Arabs from other countries. Where as other expats like Indians were normally involved in less fatal accidents.

Eventually she could not bear the trauma and left the job after some time. (well, she was not a nurse or doctor)

Everything's gonna be alright!!!

asians? east asians or south asians? as far as i know qataris almost always have the most fatal accidents in doha. ask for a statistic in hamad hospital or ask qatar airways how many locals are being flown to europe for treatment.

they said asians are the reason for accident and other driving incidents but what about local they drive through pavements they overtake you without giving signal. they do speeding if they didnot do anything why so many local died in car crash.

if local who are the citizen of this country if they don't obey the law then don't expect from other to accept your law..

I agree. And a sign wouldn't go amiss either!

But if they implement my wonderful idea and space them at 5 meter intervals on all roads, you'll always know when the next one is coming.

Or use those lines of little white bumpy spheres.

Can't stand the fact that they put in speed bumps and then don't maintain their paint jobs. I've nailed my head on the car ceiling so many times because I had to slam on the brakes 5m before a pavement-colored speed bump that I suddenly just saw.

Man, I hate it when that happens...

"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."

-- Maya Angelou

Speed bumps ever 5 meters, that's the only solution.

empowered (and clearly they must already have this authority, but they don't do this much at all that I have seen) to simply on-the-spot ticket various driving offenses as they saw them:

Driving on shoulder and cutting into line

Creating a third lane where there is none

Driving with children in front seat

Talking on mobile

Not wearing seat belt

And I am in agreement that visible radars help reduce speeding overall. But maybe there IS some purpose to having a few hidden ones across town, that move and get repositioned frequently; otherwise, you just get the cars that simply brake/slow when they see the camera, then speed up again once they've passed it.

"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."

-- Maya Angelou

Yes, hence my comments that "both are dangerous", and that the "latter probably causes more accidents".

@ Alexa & Tallg...control does not & cannot defy the laws of physics...a landcruiser (or similar vehicle) has a higher centre of gravity,add to it the fact that most of these guys drive with strictly off-road only sand tyres & you have a receipe for disaster,how much control they have just doesn't apply...it would,if they were driving a Carrera GT3 or a Gallardo, 'cos those are vehicles designed to be driven @ high speeds,that's when "control" & "good driving skills" come into the picture...A South Asian driver is more often than not driving a pickup or a mini van considerably less powerful than a 4.5L V6 landcruiser so chances of life threatening injuries are considerably reduced,having said that,South Asian drivers have,without a doubt poor driving skills & road manners but most of the accidents resulting from that are fender-benders not serious personal injury like a local kid in a landcruiser...lest we forget,HE Sh.Fahad's needless & untimely death is a proof in point...

I know. We should really take the time to learn the driving culture of the country we're in. But we're Westerners, so we don't bother. We just moan about it instead.

tallg, I blame the west for everything....

The westerners can't drive safely, they even like to use rope-like devices they call "seat belts". They also lose control when they drive fast, so they just drive slowly.They are also terrified when I'm behind them, they don't even understand standard light signals when I tell them to move away (it's easy: a single light flash).... I have to repeat it many times before they get the message.

I blame The West. If we weren't so good at driving the rest wouldn't seem so bad.

I firmly believe that much of the poor driving here is due to inexperience. We all know that teenagers learning to drive have to have that "first accident." Many, many here have just gotten their drivers' licenses while in Doha. That adds up to a lot of novices on the road. Another factor is that most of us in the West have practically grown up in a car. We've watched our parents drive and absorbed the rules of the road and the physics of mass and trajectory and velocity. That may not be true for some expats.

Mandi

Yes, it's hard to write a comment like that without causing offence.

But it's a fact that 80-90% of the people I see driving aggressively are Qatari, and 80-90% of the people I see driving without paying attention are from the sub-continent.

Actually, that's a better way of wording it than my first comment. Less offensive I think.

Alexa has a point. From my observations, while the Qataris may drive aggressively they do usually appear to be in control and paying attention to what they're doing. Where as the sub-continent drivers appear to be less aware of what's going on around them.

Both are dangerous and there's no excuse for either, but the latter probably causes more accidents.

(I realise not all Qataris and all people from the sub-continent drive in the way I've described, but those are the patterns I've seen while I've been here)

alija, they know it as a rumor, and you know it as a fact.

Maybe they get scared when they see us coming behind them in our landcruisers.

"Hands down Qataris are involved in more high speed and reckless accidents than any other nationality, just wait outside the emergency department of Hamad for an hour or two and the fact would be obvious..."

I work there, and though there's a large proportion of Qatari nationals involved in high speed accident, by far the largest proportion of traumatic accident cases are those nationals of the SubIndian continent (Indians, Nepalese, SriLankans, Bengalis, Pakistanis) and so on.

As of a personal experience: Was involved 4 times in car accidents in Doha (And 4 times Police determined the other parties as being 100% at fault).

1st case: Indian pickup driver , 2nd: Egyptian woman, 3rd: Indian driver, 4th: Nepalese pickup driver.

There are bad and good drivers in every nation, but by far, I have seen that those of the SubI continent are the lousiest drivers, followed by Arab expat nationals, followed by local ones.

No offense to any1, but mere observations!

No worries Alexa, you merely got me interested in the article, I was gagging for it to confirm what I already knew to be true :)

____________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

why not every 5km traffic police instead of radar?

as in Norway. So run a red light it costs you 30% of your monthly income. Speeding 10% and so on....

An old Qatari once told me that the meaning of progress is that in the old days Qataris had camels they couldn't control properly, these days they have motor cars they can't control properly.

(Apologies for the stereotype, but it really was a Qatari who cracked that one to me).

Uhum! Seems nice idea but I think the best way to do is they have to fix first their Roads.

For example you are Driving to Shahaniah road (Halfway to Dukhan) on the slow lane (right side) road are uneven and some times a lot of holes, so you are forced to drive on fast late (left side) but if you drive on fast late there is a lot of maniac driving above limited speed so what else you have to do?

1. Drive in Slow lane and you might get tire puncture, break your car, the worst thing is you might get roll-over driving on uneven road or holes at 120 KMPH

2. Speed up so that the maniac driver can't get you.

3. Slam your break so that the maniac behind you will crash and burn, and cross your finger to be lucky to be alive.

I think first things first is they have to fix the road before implementing those 5KM Radars....

"Asians"??...he's right about that one if his definition of "Asian" is 20-something, bored shitless, psycotic local kid in a f'in landcruiser...unless of course he meant the poor south Asian drivers that these idiots usually plough into...they don't realize how stupid they sound making statements like this when everyone knows who the real culprits are...& i have proof to back up my claim,just pay a visit to the long-term trauma unit @ rumailah hospital & try & count how many youngsters AREN'T there due to RTA's & how many of them AREN'T local...admitting a problem is the 1st step to solving it...clearly,these guys have a loooooooooong way to go as far actually finding a solution is concerned...

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I think you have me confused with someone who gives a sh1t.

MR PAUL, It's usually the Qataris who wear it that way, but I can't guarantee that all those who do are Qataris :P

I'm just conveying what was reported. We can't see any problems. It's all their fault, those Asians.

In our Arabic media:

Asians: India, Pakistan,Bengladesh, Sri-Lanka, Nepal.

East Asians:other Asians.

Khaiji:non-Qatari GCC Nationals.

Arabs:means non-GCC Arabs.

Westerners: includes Australians.

We know that you arr not an enemy for any one

But plz do not change ur ID

looooooooooooooool

WE kow that what Mr.Director of Traffic and Patrols said is true but he did not mention any thing about the white color monsters roaming all over DOHA

the maximum number of incidents would obviously involve Asians because between Indians, Pakistani, Nepalese, Sri Lankan and Philipines, thats easily 50 to 60% of the population right there... so they may have a few bumps and scrapes and they have the most simply cos they are a majority

Although his geography teacher wouldn't be too pleased with him cos he has overlooked the fact that Qatar is an Asian country as well... ho hum...

However, regardless of all that... the number of incidents is irrelevant because speed cameras are deployed to reduce fatal high speed accidents and that has to be the context cos the article is referring to deaths per 100K etc...

Hands down Qataris are involved in more high speed and reckless accidents than any other nationality, just wait outside the emergency department of Hamad for an hour or two and the fact would be obvious...

why do you believe all what you read!!!!

80% is shockingly high. It amazes me that car insurance is still so cheap out here.

Gulf Times is busy, they also said the highest accident rates are those between 20-29 and ones that drive 4X4's

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=289951&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

In all fairness, only Qataris were studied but out of the group over 80% of them have had accidents in the last 3 years. ____________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

maybe they should be named and offended, then maybe they will learn to drive responsibly.

And like tallg said, it does seem that he means sub continent and eastern 'Asians'.

Bleu, I have a quickie for you.....Is it only Qataris that wear the agal with the 2 'tails' or is there another GCC country that wears them as well ?

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I think you have me confused with someone who gives a sh1t.

britexpat, I just did a quick-fix of selective parts of Google's translation, the I had to go to a meeting.

I can't edit it, but a mod reformatted it.

Yes, Qatar is in Asia, but clearly he isn't referring to the local population when he says Asians.

It's because these 'Asians' make up the majority of the population of Qatar that they have the most incidents, so that paragraph is kind of irrelevant unless he backs it up with some statistics.

Oh well, what to do yanni....

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I think you have me confused with someone who gives a sh1t.

Qatar is in asia, [west] so that is what he is diplomatically trying to say, so he doesn't offend his country men. ;)

And I quote....

"Is not possible to determine certain nationalities, but the incidents come mainly from the Asian nationalities and it may be due to the difference in the driving environment, "

Point 1...So its always the 'Asians' that are at fault, not some local in their big landcruiser thinking its a Ferrari eh ?

Point 2.... "then there is the problem of communication with these communities since they speak many different languages."

Surely the fact is, if you dont have a good knowledge of English and cant understand roadsigns, then yer shouldnt be driving.Full stop.Period.

Its just common sense.

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I think you have me confused with someone who gives a sh1t.

by the way,..will they plant radars every 5KM in Doha to Ras Laffan road..???,that would cost a fortune..:)

Interestingly Qatar is a West Asian country, too. Maybe Al Kharji was absolutely honest?

every 5 KM's ,.. this is a joke right?? maybe it would be easier to hang a radar above each car...or install some kind of chip in it.

in our project in RasLaffan, they installed what's called IVMS. which is limiting your speed to 120 max and will beep in very loud if you exceed that and it will record it.it's a solution.

but you need to speed some times,..right?

within the town limits, we have to drive below 100kph due to natural roads (constructed in such a way to act as speed controller)......thanks for info Bleu!

And Turkey ?

Cyprus is Asian? How do they get into the Eurovision song contest?

Very intresting. It will be more intresting of which Asian Countries (errors ommitted)

Afghanistan

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

Cambodia

China

Cyprus

Georgia

India

Indonesia

Japan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

North Korea

Pakistan

Philippines

Russia

Singapore

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Thailand

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

"What irregularities that are still recorded a rise in the ratios?

Speed of course; they are the main issue and our enemy number one. We are trying hard to deal with them wisely to minimize it, we are aware in advance that it will not be easy."

Trust me I am not the issue ... I am innocent and I am no one enemy :-(

Mr. Q, please change my ID :-D

maybe the reason why they've come up with the idea of installing radars for every 5 kms is because of the sheer arrogance/ignorance of the traffic rules by most (not all) drivers here in qatar or zero visibility of the traffic police on the roads (i see the red ISF landcruisers more than the REAL traffic police).

In the UK no one will cross a red light to let an ambulance/Fire Engine/Police Car through. Often in the news you read stories of emergency response drivers being summoned to court for crossing a red light or speeding through a camera. They have to prove they were on a blue light job. Same is happening here.

As for a true emergency in Doha, if my wife needed to get to a hospital fast I really wouldn't be concerned about fines, her health would come first and I would fight the fine in the courts.

Why the concerns about speed cameras? Simple DON'T SPEED.

What about security tag detectors in shops? Are they justified? Takes away the fun of stealing goods! It's all the same thing. Obey the law and you have nothing to worry about. Ranting about locals doing what they want, well let them. We are not the police or judges.

now we have to deal with radars every 5 km !!!!!! Can u imagine having to get somewhere somehow fast !!! ( and for those of u who will say leave home early...i am talking emergencies,accidents or a woman about to have a baby!!!! I think if they do this ,Doha will turn into something like a legoland city,pretend city.So frustrating...oh and btw,how about getting their traffic police in shape,i had an accident last week,and i called 999 7 times ......u guessed right NO ONE SHOWED UP and i waited for 1hr 40 minutes in this blazing heat.....Its a pity.

Speed is the number one enemy? Just Clueless.

I'm not going to knock Kia. I can honestly say I had so much fun in my V6 Sportage, I used to drift around TV rounabout like something out of Fast and the Furious: Doha Drift (c) Paul R Productions LLC Qatar.

LOL Paul!

I remember a true story told to me years ago..

A man in a southern village in England built his own kit car..

He took it out for its first run, down the winding roads. As he roared round a corner there was plod in his police car. He slammed on the brakes and went stright into the back..

Plod got out of his car.. Walked a couple of times around the kit car and said "God afternoon Sir.. What do you use to stop this thing when I'm not around?"

I had a sportage, great brakes, I used the car in front or walls !

Ofcourse when one drives a KIA, the issue is not the acceleration, but the deceleration. I am thinking of fitting Brembos to the front of the car..

They say no hidden cameras, but what about the unmarked police cars that have speed cameras on the dashboard or on a tripod on the road. Surely the arguement is that speed needs to be reduced, a marked traffic police car with a camera slows down speeders, a bright yellow gatso/truvelo camera slows down speeders.

Also the idea of introducing Specs is great, these record your average speed between two points,so you have to travel at the speed limit or below to avoid a ticket. Finally, it's a speed LIMIT not goal! Leave 10 minutes early and you have a peaceful relaxing drive.

... and some would argue that constant acceleration to high speed and then breaking to the legal limit is more dangerous than consistent high speed.

btw, bleu - thanks for the translation and great post! it is on the frontpage....

true true...you get up to a fair bit of speed just betwen traffic lights.

---Please read our Community Guidelines before posting on Qatar Living. It will save us all a lot of pain :)

You can get up a fair bit of speed over 5kms.

"the incidents come mainly from asian nationalities" -- hmmmmmmm interesting fact

Every 5 kms? yea we Asians are the only bad drivers..

Hope its not like the ones in Dubai... they installed radars with video cams....it checks the distance between the vehicle in front of you ...overtaking etc...

Half Salary i wil keep aside Charity Fund For Radar.

I think the translation could have been better :)

"Is not possible to determine certain nationalities, but the incidents come mainly from the Asian nationalities and it may be due to the difference in the driving environment, then there is the problem of communication with these communities since they speak many different languages."

This may be true, since Asiana make up the majority of drivers in Qatar. However, the other bit is rather codescending , don't you think ?