Job Discussion Forums

[007]

"In one of the worst road accidents ever seen in the Middle East, up to 200 vehicles crashed into each other on a busy highway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Reckless driving and thick fog have been blamed for the pile-up during the morning rush-hour, and an investigation is now underway."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/97E69A11-1A1E-4F5C-8E76-3D52A5C852F7.htm

[mishmumkin]

There were reports of drivers following the emergency vehicles in the far left lane (shock surprise)-eventually blocking up those lanes so the vehicles that needs it couldn't get through.

(shaking head)

[ardiles81]

Yes, the driving skills are on the interesting side...and it does not help that you get young men in big fast cars doing what young men in big fast cars are wont to do. (No, not THAT, it's illegal unless you have good wasta).

It doesn't help that seat belts are not used, mirrors and signalling are for girls and westerners, and that speaking on your mobile at 180 is part of the driving test.

Another thing that doesn't help is that it is all the will of some deity or other.

[boondoggle]

Too bad $110 a barrel oil can't resurrect the deceased! Oh well!

[MyTrunkshow]

I was listening to a radio show in Dubai (Radio One?) and the caller said that in spite of the fog one SUV plowed past him after flashing his high beams and then crashed into the wrangled mess.

hmmm....thick fog, can't see, flashing lights at other vehicles to move and speeding on a 4 lane freeway. Stupid comes to mind.

I've just spent the last week driving through Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and all over Dubai, even into Fujairah. Overall, I found the drivers courteous and not unlike N. American driving except for the speeders that must be doing 140 to 180 when the rest of us are doing 110 to 120.

A lady at the conference told me that Doha had worse drivers. She also said that the health minister (or Qatari transporatation minister's son was recently killed in a hi-speed collision).

Regards,
mytrunkshow

[veiledsentiments]

The Gulf overall has long been in a race to see who has the worst drivers and who can drive the fastest under the worst conditions and which country can kill the most people by vehicular accident.

I consider Kuwait to be the winner in those categories... multiples worse than the UAE, which is multiples worse than Oman...

VS

[seven seas]

shame....

[johnslat]

Here are some fairly recent statistics for Oman and Kuwait:

Kuwait


Overall facts and figures
The rate of traffic accidents in Kuwait is four times more than in most industrial countries.
The total number of dead during the past 10 years has reached 3,000.
Kuwait ranks third in the number of deaths caused due to road accidents
2003 Statistics
45,376 accidents took place
An average of 124 accidents per day
372 people killed
2004 Statistics
55,000 traffic accidents took place
An average of 150 accidents per day
400 people killed
2005 Statistics
57,000 traffic accidents were reported
An average of 156 accidents per day
455 people killed
2006 Statistics
There were 44 road fatalities in January of 2006
There were 39 road fatalities in May of 2006
There were 29 road fatalities in June of 2006
273 persons died in road accidents over the period Jan 2006 - September 2006
Source - Kuwait Society for Traffic Safety (KSTS).
Source - Kuwait General Traffic Department


Oman

Statistics (from Al Mustadaama), an Omani non-profit research company (and developer of Oman�s first child passenger safety campaign, Salim and Salima, Safe and Sound, state that worldwide, there are 1.2m deaths from road traffic injuries each year, out of which, 88 per cent are occurring in the developing world. For every death, nearly 50 more are injured. The economic costs are enormous, ranging from 1.5 per cent of the GDP of each nation.
There were 689 road accident victims last year (2005) and 42 per cent of the fatalities were children and young people under 15 years and 50 per cent were family breadwinners, men aged from 26 to 49 years.
The number of road deaths, is currently about 13 per 10,000 vehicles, again, higher, when compared to three per 10,000 vehicles and 1.5 per 10,000 vehicles in Bahrain and the United Kingdom, respectively.
Source - Yahya bin Capital Market Authority (CMA) � Oman

54 people died in the month of June 2006
654 others were injured in the month of June 2006
There was a total of 904 accidents in the month of June 2006
In the last week of July alone 7 people were killed with a further 151 injured. These were the result of some 240 accidents across the country
Recent statistics by the ROP noted that there were around 408 deaths and 4380 injured in 5703 accidents from January 1 to August 12, which is already 30 deaths more than same period, last year.
Source - Royal Oman Police

Oman has posted a small decrease of two per cent in the number of traffic accidents last year, compared to the previous year
Last year (2005), there were 9,247 accidents, compared to to 9,460 in 2004.
The number of road users increases every year as is witnessed in the number of registered vehicles in the Sultanate. In a simple comparison, 73,000 vehicles were registered in 2005; 57,000 vehicles in 2004 and 42,000 in 2003.
Source - Royal Oman Police
113 dead and 1414 injured in 1653 crashes from the beginning of January to March 2, 2007
This is 7 more deaths than during the same period last year

Source - Royal Oman Police



http://www.altaqata.com/DynamicPage.aspx?id=87

Looks like Kuwait has the dubious honor of winning.

Regards,
John

[pat blake]