That last post isn’t all the way true. It was sincere and
heartfelt but not really representative of what driving here is really like on
a daily basis. A wave and a smile will still help and I’ll still do it when I
have the wherewithal but really driving here is awful.
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| paver taking a break from working on the road to hell |
Lexus SUV and Land Cruiser drivers are rampaging bullies. Not all of them but enough that when I catch
a glimpse of one zooming up in any of my mirrors, I prepare for evasive
maneuvers. Motorcycles come in two sorts: the small delivery ones, whose expat
drivers risk heat stroke and collisions bringing people their KFC and McD’s in
all seasons, and the expensive ones, appearing now that the weather has cooled
off, whose primary function is doing wheelies for kilometers at a time.
We pass evidence of horrific crashes daily. The number of
grotesquely twisted cars on the sides of the roads probably does little to
offset the 9000 cars registered here monthly.
The traffic patterns change from day to day due to constant roadwork,
accidents, and construction zones. A
route that has been getting me to school in 12 minutes for weeks suddenly will
take 40 for no apparent reason. The
level of traffic jam corresponds directly with the level of idiotic selfish
driving that occurs, as on evidence last night when a friend and I were caught
in a jam that had Land Cruisers speeding up not only the left side of the road
but the gravel on the left side of that.
There is, shockingly, a paved pedestrian/cyclist lane that
runs the length of several blocks near my compound, connecting to a similar
lane in the nearby Aspire zone. It was
one of the features that sold me on our house’s location. Less shocking is the frequency with which I
see cars driving along it in an effort to get a jump on the traffic backed up
on Al Waab St, despite these very clear signs:
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| you'd think it would be obvious |
The other day it happened again as I was coming home and I lost my
temper, stopped my car on the driveway where it crossed the bikeway and
gestured angrily at the Land Cruiser coming towards me until he pulled off onto
the main road.
What do I do? A
little bit of waving and smiling, a lot of swearing under my breath and
honestly even more out loud, yes, even with my kids in the car. Probably more with my kids in the car because
then I’m ever more outraged when my fellow drivers are so willing to risk all
our lives. I make sure my kids are
buckled in and I despair for the multitude of kids I see leaning out of
windows, sticking their heads out of sunroofs, bouncing untethered over the
backs of seats and on the laps of drivers. I try to drive sensibly and with focus. You don't see any photos of heavy traffic because I'm too busy keeping us all alive to take any pictures.
I witnessed my first collision recently. I’m resigned to the
fact that I will probably be involved in one of my own before I leave here, though
I’m holding onto hope that the defensive driving I have learned on these
hellish roads will keep it from being catastrophic.
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| yes that is blood on the passenger door |
Here are some links from the Doha News, for more statistics and photos:
rough week in Qatar recently: http://dohanews.co/least-four-killed-fifteen-injured-road-accidents-week/
some chilling statistics: http://dohanews.co/study-qatar-deaths-caused-road-accidents-common-diseases/
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