Motoring etiquette
Dear Sir,
The letters, “Traffic frustration” and “Indisciplined motorists” (Gulf Times, March 18), both highlighted the misery of driving on Doha’s roads. Most of the roads in Qatar are in excellent condition and consistent efforts are made to improve them further. So the fault does not lie with the infrastructure. The problem is the way people use them. Generally, I would say that the drivers on Doha’s roads are a careless lot. They feel they own the road and show no sensitivity to other road users. There is no respect for pedestrians. They just want to rush from point A to point B in the shortest possible time. And if someone is on the way, they just lose their cool. Why is this?
The main reason, I think, is Doha’s drivers are not a homogenous lot: they come from different countries following different driving cultures and having vastly varying road conditions. The way one drives in Cairo or Mumbai cannot and will not do in Doha.
A solution to this is to make etiquette of motoring an essential part of Qatar’s driving test. It would also be a good idea to make all drivers retake their tests periodically to get rid of bad habits. I hope these proposals will be seriously considered by traffic authorities.
Another area that should be looked into is wider deployment of traffic police at various points of highways and roads in Qatar. As a long-time Qatar resident, I clearly remember that in the past there was more visible police presence on Doha’s roads. And it did help. But nowadays one hardly sees any police patrols and spot checks on highways and roads. The mere presence of police makes people drive more carefully. We can’t have the roads deteriorate to the level of “lawless lands”.
Rajesh, [email protected]
Please send us your letters By e-mail: [email protected]