SPOILT EVENING
my EVENING was pretty much spoilt yesterday as we witnessed an accident -or rather the aftermath . luckily i managed to draw the attention of my four year old -so she did not see the body lying on the ground . somebody tried to cross the road at jaidah flyover - and it seemed that it cost him his life .( hope that i am wrong and he survived ) I know things like that happen everywhere but in Doha somehow the life of pedestrian is cheaper than elsewhere - or at least in my home country .
The other day I watched two busses arrive at a construction site and about 50 men chased them around the car-park/construction site tryng to jump on it whilst it was moving....I witnessed at least 5 men on Thursday night leg-it across the main road in moving traffic to jump on a bus that was so overcrowded, i'm pretty certain it was illegal? (It would have been in UK anyway)
Another day in Madness! Qatar needs the green cross code! :)
Yes Alexa, what you say is true.
Kellyb, I think this sums up my feelings as well. Still I have a certain soft corner for those poor labourers who have a physically tiring job leaving them to take risks at the end of the day by dashing across the road without thinking about the repercussions, simply because they might be exausted. Ofcourse, I am not blaming the car drivers here but the system which is not pedestrian friendly. Same way, I feel for those who would prefer to take an evening walk and the lack of public parks around residential areas forces them to walk on roads without pavements and under construction throughtout the year.
I believe it's both the pedestrians and drivers. Like I said, everyone just seems to be in such a rush. If there is not a safe place to cross then keep looking for a safe place to cross.
Dont drive like a lunatic trying to overtake and undertake everyone and everything.
Qatar makes me so cross... everyone is disgusted by the accident rate and the poor drivers - whats done about it? Everyone still drives like an idiot with apparently no wish to be alive and you have pedestrians that are so desperate to get to the other side of the road they'd risk life and limb to get there.
I know, I know... there are new traffic laws, blahdy blah blah... whats needed and it will never happen is a cultural change, peer pressure to drive safer, peer pressure to have a smaller car thats kinder to the environment, education about how and were to cross the road!
I am a tolerant person, and this isn't my country I am a visitor who is made very welcome, but if there is one thing that gets my goat it's the roads, the driving and the pedestrians. I feel like each car journey I ought to say a prayer and i'm not religious! I go white and grip anything and everything and wince and shut my eyes...
As always, if only common sense prevailed :(
Kellyb, I agree that those who walk should abide by rules to avoid accidents. But in every country concession is made for pedestrain. What do you expect pedestrains to do when the next zebra crossing is miles from where they want to cross roads (no underpasses, pavements..!!!) ? I deplore the high headedness of most drivers in Qatar who have a total disregard for pedestrains.
This may be a little contraversal, but... I'm not suprised! Driving around town - especially at night is awful, people jump out into the roads left right and centre. I am sure they think they are invincible and that the cars will just bounce of them. Have patience Qatar! Seems everyone here is always in such a rush to drive places and get places... if it's not safe to cross wait untill a gap appears... I'm sure a traffic jam will appear at any moment, so there's your chance!
I hate being a passenger driving through the souk area - it scares me silly when everyone just runs across the roads with one hand stuck out as if to command the car to stop...
Have some sense...
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
when ?
I saw the same thing happend to a 2 Asia subcontinent guy just after Jarir Book shop. Two bodies laid on the road front side of the car smashed.
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
You know , my home country has a GDP far less than Qatar has -but we have many paths for cyclists , sidewalks and zebra crossings with traffic lights .I keep asking myself about this issue - how can we afford all that -when this "richest country in the world " can not apparently ..
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
Depressing ,is not it?
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
yes ,hopefully .the question is how many people will die till then !
Qatar needs to be pedestrian friendly. In general, people are not considerate towards pedestrian, even on those, not so busy roads in and around residential areas.
alma I am so sorry - this is awful
also i have nearly had accidents when
a)someone is riding a bike with no lights going the wrong way
b) people crossing roads without looking esp in the dark
Yesterday I heard of two friends of friends dying in unrelated incidents.
Terrible...
I also had a near miss at the Jaidah Flyover when two idiot females tried to cross the road. Luckily I was able to swirl on the other side of the road and just managed to save them from becoming a statistic. Though the speed limit was 60 and I was between 70-80 but still they should cross the road from the zebra crossings if there are any.
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
yes ,his evening was spoilt ,too ...
sometimes it happened to me crossing at the same place .it was frightening experience .
I think I will never do again ...
Don't say that..
have fun tonight..
"Everything in life is destiny."
I bet his evening was spoiled too. Terrible.
Accidents happen..
"Everything in life is destiny."
How horrible!
tra la la