Wanted: more footbridges in Doha

Sorry for your loss Expatgeezer.

The story is in the Gulf Times this morning.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=414657&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

i agree we need footbridge especially in the major roads like corniche. imagine how many pedestrian crossings are there in the long stretch of corniche? you have to walk several kilometers to cross to the other side of the road.

nomerci,

you appear to not have empathy for someone who grew up in remote areas with no access to education and by fate, find themselves here!

i sincerely hope that you would never have to experience what i am trying to say by having such a fatality with yourself or a family member...

nobody throws themselves ) except suicidal individuals which are not these cases) in front of a moving car, as the a result of a conscience decision... its lack of something and maybe we drivers ought to respect that lack!

The reality you left back home is not exactly the same of the many pedestrians in Doha!

just food for your thoughts!

think, and not only when it comes to crossing streets, the real problem is that people don't think and don't want to take responsibility for their own actions.

If you have a Kalashnikov you can walk very slowly.

I am guessing in case of the people who come from countries (say India for ex.) where the speed of traffic is much lower than what we see here...more often than not their judgement, as to when the speeding vehicle would be near them, fails them by a huge margin and when they see it so close to them they just panic and get hit.

Nic...."big road, many fast cars...I need to cross....what to do? Walk slowly or walk fast? This has nothing to do with education, this is the simplest logic possible.

nomerci,

are you serious?!

if you came from a very poor background and didn’t have the chance to get an education, I would understand why you were asking such question!

some (if not the most) pedestrians here in Doha, do come from those backgrounds and that is why they were not trained to cross motorways the way you are!

figure the rest, I think you can...

nomerci, the question is: who is more valuable? The car or the human? In any case the human should have priority. Unfortunately in Qatar the car has priority!

Nic, is it really the State of Qatar's fault that some people can't cross roads carefully?

probably you're right HGL, there was a guy doing exactly what you said when i was driving in bin mahmoud.

he was really insensitive as to where he was walking, kept on babbling on his celfon then i noticed as i approach that he was almost occupying the outer lane, i honked to signal him and guess what happened? The idiot got mad and raised his fist (usual gesture for some here, not the middle finger).

Sad to hear all this evidence confirming that Doha continues to be an underdeveloped city in such a rich nation and continues to invest only on its fake facade on display!

This country develops it from the outside... eventually when they will have the high speed rails, highways, they will think about the pedestrians!

It’s like introducing bicycles without having the adequate infrastructures!

GCC's roads are great life threatening risks!

The best ones I have seen are the people talking over cell phones and crossing the roads, unaware of the traffic, as if they are in their living rooms...:)

They really are a danger to themselves and others.

nom, i hear you. i also saw people crossing the street then apparently decide not to and go back. or they are holding hands with two or three people and can't decide if they cross now or not.. they're driving the drivers crazy:-((

arecel, I DO slow down when I see somebody crossing. BUT, they do TOO! Thing is, IF I were to cross any busy road, I would run as fast as I can.....apparently they don't think it a good idea...(scratching head....)

Coming back to the footbridges. People say they are unusable because they are dirty, not maintained. Why are they dirty? could it be that people just throw their garbage where they walk? As it happens in so many other places around Doha?

Besides, unless there is a law executed and enforced with drastic consequences that those footbridges MUST be used, they won't do it.

I haven't faced too many of them on the major roads but in inner streets with single lane roads, half of the road is taken up by pedestrians.

There are sidewalks there too so no excuse, there is no way to pass unless I hit them or I move over to the wrong lane.

Still the city is crying out loud for some pedestrian footbridges or underpasses whatever they want.

I've seen people crossing outside the Arrivals terminal IN THE SHADE of the bridges. Stupidity knows no bounds!!!

nomerci, that patch of the road is considered a grave yard because of the number of accidents that had occurred there. as for me, i don't understand that area at all. if you want to cross the other road to get to lulu hyper, you have to either risk your life by crossing (cars don't slow down even if the drivers see you) or you can go all the way to the next r/a or signal (i don't remember now)which is veeeeerrryyy far..

Yeah, Ive noticed the ambivalent attitude of some pedestrians crossing in front of me - its like their courting tragedy - the look on the face is almost "...so what are you going to do blue eyes, hit me??" Maybe its just a ruse to generate blood money.....I dont know - I give on Qatar.

hmm, I have encountered people crossing D ring, just around the LuLu area. They walk across a very busy road as if they are taking a leisurely stroll in the afternoon. I had to swerve to avoid hitting them with my car. Do they not realize what they are doing is very dangerous?

one night, i saw a woman in an abaya crossing near hamad signal in an area not well lit and it was still a green. good thing we spotted her, else, she'd be dead meat:-((( now, i wonder, if she's a male expat, would he be alive till now? that's the problem with people around here. if it's male expat, nobody gives a damn. it's as if being male and foreign (esp. nepalis) don't worth a thing.:-((((

Not building footbridges because people may not use them is such a ridiculously flawed logic.

Although constructing some footbridges is necessary, it will not solve the purpose, unless they have escalators fixed to them. People DO NOT want to climb up a footbridge and would rather use that energy to try and scamper across :-(

Lost our secretary this morning to a Road Traffic accident, the news so far is that he was crossing the Road on B Ring when he was struck by a bus.

Young man leaves behind a wife and three young children.

Just when I was wondering why is he late he is never late just to find out that he never made it to the office this morning.

So Sad..:(

doesn't betray me, there was a couple of years back a study on "how pedestrian friendly is Doha" and to my understanding they "failed".

Regards!!

I dont think I have ever seen a national and/or his family attempt to cross a busy highway.... unless of course its in his Cruiser - ergo - no need for ANY footbridges - its like the film "Death Race 2000" out there some days!! I'm sure in the "secret book" that all Qatari's have that we expats arent allowed to look at - you know, the one that ellicits hate against foreign workers and invites nationals to come up with more and more ways to make our lives a misery out here, that there are points allocated for "hits" for different nationalities and different levels of mobility.

Whyte; I stopped at the pedestrian cross walk, going over the right turn, which is clearly marked with parallel white lines, not in the middle of a busy street.

some peds cross the road in a really crazy way, i hate cruisers,but i dont blame them here

Stopping in the middle of a busy street is not very advisable either.

Guys, the other day I stopped to let someone cross the road on Al-Sadd street in the right turn going on to Qassim Bin Mohammad Street (which connects to Al-Nasr) at the pedestrian cross-walk, and a landcruiser behind me honked, flashed lights and angrily passed me OVER the sidewalk to the left, narrowly missing the person I stopped for.

Apparently there are things you cannot buy.

Timebandit... You always think positive :) Good

jdylan said "Come on; Qatari's only spend money when it benefits Qatari's. They're not spending a dime for the safety of immigrant workers."

Yeah but the immigrant workers keep denting their cars, and getting stuck in their radiator grills so I guess they have decided to look into it.

they just noticed that now?? i'm surprised by their observation skills.

There's no cameras at R/A to catch those who jump red lights. People should not cross streets on and near R/A' s its too dangerous!

Just the other day a Merc fellow jumped the red light ...any pedestrian even if waiting for red light to cross would have been hurt as I am sure the speed with which he shot off he wouldn't have been able to control his car if someone appeared.

Ouch!

That's on purpose, nomad. There has to be some prey for the Land Cruisers!

Laborers cannot afford cars :-(

No Value for Bachelors !

I don't understand why expatriates always want to bring their 'culture' here. You need a car in Qatar! And bigger is better. When will you understand that?

The footbridges that are already there are so filthy that you will most probably try to avoid using them. Go and check the footbridge near the new arrival terminal. I used it once and decided never to use it again.

Why bother to make more if the one already existing are not maintained.

Come on; Qatari's only spend money when it benefits Qatari's. They're not spending a dime for the safety of immigrant workers.

Govt. should consider footbridge in every road projects they have especially roads near residential areas and implement strict policy of J-walking knowing the high statistic rate of accident in this country.

One good example also and must have is the Lulu Center to HMC there are a lot of accident occur in that place.

Welcome to Motor City!

It's like trying to cross the M4 in places. But would people walk out of their way to use a bridge, or would they just cross where they are to save effort? I guess it would be nice to have the option. That way at least it would be your own fault if you get hedgehoged.

SAlwa Road, C Ring, Corniche all need bridges. Pedestrians have an impossible life in Doha

I agree.. One death is a one too many. :O(

More than one death per week, and lets be honest, in one city. That has to be a problem.

I agree with you. However, people also need to take care and use their brains. One can cross at the traffic lights using a bit of patience.