Job Discussion Forums

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

Where's the education expert form the Gulf News or Khaleej Times ... I'm sure his input would be something along the lines of ...

"There's no such thing as a bad driver, only bad driving instructors"

uaeobserver · Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 236

1) In general, young boys are not good drivers.
2) In general - the faster you drive, the bigger the accident.
3) In general - the bigger the car, the bigger the accident.
4) In general - it's a bad idea to drive and talk on your mobile at the same time.
5) In general - seatbelts save lives.
6) In general - tinted windows reduce visibility.

In general - young UAE males drive big cars, with tinted windows, really fast , and talk on the phone while they're NOT wearing seatbelts.

Driving in the UAE is by far, the most dangerous driving I've ever seen --- and that's not "in general."

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

This from todays Khaleej times.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/May/theuae_May832.xml&section=theuae

Highway test for driving licence soon
By Adel Arafah (Our staff reporter)

25 May 2008

ABU DHABI � Driving licence seekers will now have to undergo highway driving test, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed Maiouf Al Kitbi, Director of Motor Vehicles and Driving Licence Department in Abu Dhabi Police, told Khaleej Times.

The new condition set by the department would be enforced shortly after consultations with the driving schools in Abu Dhabi, he said.

The condition, he said, was set following the steep rise in the number of accidents on highways and mainly caused by fresh driving licence holders.

One can hope... but I seriously doubt it will do anything to make it better.

wannago · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 85

^ This will be solely for the expats who wish to obtain a driving license. The locals will continue to do as before and step to the front of the line and claim their birthright.

The Lemon · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 42

johnslat · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 5:29 pm Post subject:

"Even though the ratio of vehicles to population is greatest in the UAE (5.4 people per vehicle, compared to 2.1 people and 1.3 people per vehicle in the UK and US respectively), the number of fatalities per hundred thousand vehicles is nearly six times greater than that in the USA, and morethan ten times greater than in the UK. The major causes of RTAs during 2000 are detailed in Table 3. The largest single cause of an accident was classed as careless driving, contributing more than 36.5% of all casualties andfatalities in RTAs. Excessive speed took the second rank in all incidents accounting for 16.% of casualties and 27% of fatalities.

http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:JkD30hIJf38J:www.salimandsalimah.org/documents/RTAsinUAEcompared.pdf+world+traffic+accident+statistics&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=34&gl=us

But Korea ain't bad:

"For those that don�t know, Korea by far leads the OECD in pedestrian fatalities caused by traffic accidents and is second in vehicle fatalities caused by traffic accidents."

The OECD is comprised of 30 countries, but does NOT include any Middle Eastern countries.
"
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development�s 2007 International Road, Traffic and Accident Database, 6.0 per 100,000 Korean pedestrians died in traffic accidents in 2004, and 5.8 pedestrians per 100,000 in 2005. Thus, placing Korea in first place among the countries that are members of the OECD for two years running (the average for countries was 1.58 per 100,000). With the number of deaths in traffic accidents, Korea fared slightly better coming in second place among these countries with 3.45 people per 10,000 cars... Korea has actually come a long way in recent years. In a study released by this same group in September 2006 they state that between 1970 and 2004, the number of motor vehicles in Korea has multiplied by more than 2 000. In 1971 there were 145 000 motor vehicles in Korea and by 2004 there were 16 million! They go on to say that the number of road fatalities tripled between 1970 and 1990 and reached a peak in 1991 with more than 15 000 deaths but since 1990, the number of fatalities has decreased by 50%."

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2008/05/any-updates-on-last-years-bus-accident.html

redeyes · Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 254

At the risk of repeating my self from previous threads , do many of you take taxis to work then?

Does HCT have any policy of trying to put teachers in apartments close to work, or are apartments scattered all over town, near and far from HCT ?

Surely that seems common sense, to place teachers in apartments close to work, and that would take the edge off that morning journey -- or doesn't that figure much in HCT planning?

I know that The British Council,often, for example, try and place teachers within a fifteen minute to half hour commute.

That has been a common policy at many Unis I have worked at too,and helps a lot.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Once you get to see the cities there, you will see that although it sounds like a sensible idea to put people close to a college, for most places it just isn't feasible. With the shortage of affordable flats in the major cities - and a large faculty, they pretty much grab whatever acceptable flats they can get. Your proximity to the college is luck of the draw.

Most people start out using taxis until they get sick and tired of standing out in the hot humid weather while all the taxis drivers seems to have taken a break. Laughing

Fortunately cars are much easier to lease now than they were when I worked in Abu Dhabi. I used a taxi until I could pay cash for a car... which I bought in November... and I always went new, not used. Nowadays I would look into leasing... from day one if possible.

VS

redeyes · Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 254

Lemon, I just took the liberty of PM'ing you -- hope that's ok.

Thanks,

RE.

rocketchild · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 96

the UAE, esp. Dubai has a high concentration of third world drivers.

As in people who didn't even dream of driving until they arrived in Dubai and realized. If you don't drive, you don't work. Or, you must hire a driver to bring you back and forth.

One can see how poorly people drive in the UAE. This is due to not growing up in a 'driving culture'. Sure 'some' people drive in India etc...but maybe in their 50 year old cars that can max. out at 40kmph.

You have labourers who can't read or write driving poorly maintained heavy vehicles, which are involved in many horrific accidents daily.

Brakes? What? Slow down? courtesy?...none.

Emirati's who drive like it's a blood sport, because the 'law' is different for them. And it is.

Education is lacking for most of these drivers. Machismo. Poor drivers education. Who's teaching the drivers to drive?

The blind leading the blind.