Reckless drivers must be penalised

Dear Sir,   

Following your editorial regarding the menace of reckless driving in Qatar (“It’s time to put the brakes on reckless driving”, July 7), allow me to present my own tale of woe. I was involved in a traffic collision last week when I was rear ended. The other driver immediately accepted responsibility and, after informing the traffic police, we went our separate ways.

Having collected my police report, I then visited the insurance company (who shall remain nameless) for authorisation to proceed with the repairs. Repairs must be carried out only at a repair shop authorised by the insurance company and, as my car is a 2007 model, I had to accept the use of used spare parts in the repair. All perfectly acceptable until one considers the damage to my car is restricted to the plastic valance. These are not available as “used parts” and so a brand new part will have to be procured.

I am informed that I am now liable for 50% of the cost of this new part. Why? In addition, I am to lose the use of my vehicle while it is in the repair shop. Again, I bear the cost of hiring another car, taxis or having to rely on friends and colleagues for transport. There has to be a better way!   

I am not the “at-fault driver” in this incident so why should I, or any other innocent motorist be penalised for going about our lawful business in a less than new vehicle? This system is not only wrong, it is immoral. The party to be penalised is surely the at-fault driver and his insurance company, who have agreed to underwrite all claims made against him.

The insurance company should claw back that money at source when the guilty party comes to collect his car following repair. In the case of third-party only insurance, the premium should be increased to cover such liabilities.   

In addition, the authorities should consider changing the system of motor insurance to that of insuring the individual, not the car.

When Doha was nowhere near as gridlocked as it is, and there were far fewer vehicles on the roads, the present system was found to be satisfactory. However, with the huge influx of workers from all parts of Asia, and the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the roads, the present system is in danger of collapsing under the sheer volume of claims.

By insuring the individual, he/she is encouraged to drive carefully or pay ever-increasing levels of insurance premium to cover the risk, or, for those serial offenders, being refused any insurance at all. In this way, those individuals who are found to be responsible for the most claims can pay the most for their insurance while the rest of us benefit from our careful driving via a system of premium reductions awarded for not making any claims.

Irresponsible and reckless drivers must be penalised if this menace is to be eradicated from the roads of Qatar.   

In my home country, police patrol cars are equipped with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras that will automatically flag any vehicle that is owned by an individual who does not have motor insurance. The vehicle is immediately impounded and, if the proper documentation is not produced within one month, the vehicle is crushed. I agree, this is a drastic step but it is far better to crush a few cars than to continue with the present system of insuring the vehicle and allowing anyone holding a licence to drive it and the insurance premium remains the same as a percentage of the value of the vehicle regardless of the number of traffic collisions, speeding and other traffic violations.  

 It is a sad fact that if you drive in Qatar, you will be involved in a collision at some point. The only uncertainty is the severity and outcome of that collision.   

Vincent Meehan  

Doha 

(E-mail address supplied)

Time in the sun      

Dear Sir,

Further to the letter, “Let the sun shine on you!” (Gulf Times, July 7), I also find it strange that in a country where the sun shines throughout the year, people are having vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D, it is said, protects against a host of diseases, including osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancers of the breast, prostate and colon.

Various studies have cited “decreased outdoor activity” as one reason that people may become deficient in vitamin D.

Many experts now worry that public-health messages warning about skin cancer have gone overboard in getting people to avoid the sun.

Rajesh

rajeshnair.it@gmail.com

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