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[wilberforce]

http://www.explore-qatar.com/downloads/Driving-Tips/

[wilberforce]

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=July2009&file=Local_News200907132176.xml

The fines are really high now. Six thousand for going through a red light.
Six thousand for making an illegal U-turn. (Don't make a U-y on the street between Villagio and Hyatt Plaza. Go to the roundabout. If you get caught, as someone I know did (there are cop cars around there), you have to pay 6,000!!! Parking fines 300 and up! So obey the law!!!

[veiledsentiments]

The question is... are these fines enforced for the locals or just the expats?

In Oman, they were very fair about enforcement, but that wasn't always true in places like the UAE and Kuwait.

How about Qataris?

VS

[wilberforce]

Motorist gets two years, 40 lashes for death crash

A motorist has been sentenced to two years� imprisonment and 40 lashes for driving under the influence of liquor and causing an accident that claimed the lives of two Asians, last summer.

The traffic police report submitted to a Doha court of first instance said the accused was driving recklessly under the influence of alcohol, and because of his recklessness he hit a bicycle carrying the two Indians, killing them both on the spot.

The accident took place on August 30 last year on the road linking Almana and Gulf Cinema signals, around 3.30am.
The Qatari motorist confessed he was responsible for the accident, saying that he was driving under the influence of liquor on that fateful day.
A traffic police officer told the court that the accused was driving his vehicle on the left lane and he suddenly swerved right, hitting the bicycle carrying the two victims.
The officer said that the collision was so strong that the car came to a stop some 300m from the spot.
He said that he saw tyre marks on the ground.
The officer testified that the telltale signs indicated that the accused was speeding at the time of the accident.
The court said that it was convinced that the accused was driving his car in a way that endangered the safety of the public.

Based on the confession of the accused that he was driving under the influence of alcohol, the court ordered him to be lashed 40 times.
Explaining the two years� imprisonment, the court reminded that according to Article 313 of Qatar�s criminal code, the punishment must be stringent in case of accidents that resulted in death while driving under the influence of liquor, or cases where the accused refrained from helping the victims to survive.
The court said that although the families of the victims were not represented during the trial, they still have the right to claim blood money in a civil court.
The verdict is still open for appeal

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=303720&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=July2009&file=Local_News20090721313.xml

[wilberforce]

Survey gives drivers in Qatar poor rating

Traffic jams, such the one seen in this picture, have become a common feature on Doha roads


A survey carried out by Gulf Times has shown that 41% feel that Qatar is the worst country to drive in. Second with 23% was Egypt, and third Saudi Arabia.

The respondents, who had to have driven in three or more countries to be counted, cited speed and lack of respect of traffic signals as the main reasons for their choice of Qatar.

�I am too scared to drive here,� said Simona Andrias, a Romanian who since moving to Qatar three years ago depends on her husband to take her everywhere.

�Speed limits do not apply here,� said Taylor Streetor, an American.
�People are not disciplined here, because if you have the right connections, you can get out of paying the fine,� said Pinkie Salvador, a Filipino.
Officer Abdel Rahman al-Malki, of the Awareness Sector in the Traffic Department, thinks it�s an exaggeration to say Qatar is the worst country in the world to drive in, but agrees that the country has a serious speeding problem.
�The number of deaths in 2008 increased from that in 2007,� he said. �We�ve implemented new laws and fines, but we�ll have to wait and see their effect on 2009 statistics.�
In Qatar, the number of road accidents last year was 20,455, with approximately 200 deaths, according to the Traffic Department.
The accidents prompted the Qatari government to put in place a new points system whereby a person caught speeding or breaking a traffic light would pay a heavy fine of QR6,000 and receive a point. After 14 points, the driver is put in prison.

Those who said Egypt is the worst place to drive in had plenty of reasons. �I�ve driven everywhere in the world, but Egypt is impossible,� said Abdel Rahman al-Harsi, a Qatari. �I once crashed into a horse carriage in Egypt, and since then have sworn not to drive in Egypt.�
�It takes cleverness to drive there, especially in roundabouts where you�re supposed to be driving in one direction, but people go in all directions,� said Ahmed Mohamed, another Qatari who has driven in Cairo.

Hanan Hassan, an Egyptian, agreed but said it was unfair to compare Egypt to Qatar. �It is way more crowded in Egypt; there is no room to drive properly. Besides, the streets are not well planned,� she added.
Citizens from Egypt�s neighbouring countries have also suffered from Egyptians� driving. �My brother drives on the Egyptian-Libyan border, and he�s lucky to be still alive,� said Munsif Ali, a Tunisian. �Neither Egyptians nor Libyans can drive,� he added.

According to the World Health Organisation, the highest rate of road deaths in the world is found in Africa and other developing countries, such as India and Pakistan, where traffic accidents kill more than HIV/Aids, malaria and heart disease put together.
Drivers from the areas agree with the statistics.

�We have to drive through narrow streets, with no traffic lights, and in rainy seasons through landslides,� said Rupchan Tamang, from Nepal. �Obviously it�s more dangerous there.�
�In India there all the roads are narrow and run both ways, so people crash into each other,� said Abdel Aziz Bukat, a driver who worked for some years in Kerala.
Other countries the respondents mentioned included North Korea, Syria, Italy and Kuwait.


http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=304346&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

Soon the Gulag will go to make way for the new airport.

Abu Aboud bridge nearing completion


Contractors are putting the final touches to the Abu Aboud bridge, which will form the main link to the new Doha International Airport and will widen the northern and southern ends of Ras Abu Aboud Road.
According to a report in local Arabic daily Arrayah, the project, which will be completed this August, cost QR740mn. There will be four lanes leading to the airport, as well as a network of roads currently under construction leading to and from Abu Aboud roundabout.


The roundabout will be removed and replaced with an intersection consisting of three traffic signals.The Abu Aboud Road will be converted into a highway with no signals or roundabouts interrupting it, the report added.

[wilberforce]

Drop in traffic violations seen
Traffic Department director says that the introduction the new traffic laws has succeeded in reducing the number of violations




By Ourouba Hussein/Staff Reporter






Al-Kharji (second right) with head of Fazaa Abdulaziz Faisal al-Thani, Brigadier Ali Sulaiman al-Muhannadi, head of Lekhwaya and al-Sulaiti at the press conference. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

A total of 269 electronic traffic violations (recorded by speed cameras and traffic signal radars) per 1,000 drivers in Doha were registered in the first half of this year, marking a 14.4% decrease in the violations� rate, compared to the first half of 2007, when the new traffic law was initiated, Traffic Department Director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji said.

He was speaking at a press conference yesterday.

Brigadier al-Kharji explained that since the new traffic law came into force, a 36.7% decrease in the electronic traffic violations was recorded in October 2007 and 13% in 2008.

He pointed out that in the first half of this year traffic violations increased by 37.6% compared to the corresponding period last year, subsequent to the increase in the number of speed cameras and cars in Doha.

The official revealed that 46,086 traffic violations were recorded in 2008, marking an average of 64 violations per hour.

Al-Kharji cited factors like the national campaign against road accidents, increasing the number of speed cameras, raising traffic behaviour awareness and co-operation of Lekhwaya and Fazaa on enforcement of the new traffic law, as main reasons behind the decline in road accidents.

�The agreement signed between the Traffic Department and Qatar Centre for Volunteering to raise awareness on road accidents also helped in decreasing their numbers�, he added.

Al-Kharji concluded that the decrease in traffic accidents� casualties by 15.4% per 100,000 people in 2008 compared to 2007, was a proof of the success of the traffic law.

Speaking to Gulf Times on cases filed in the traffic court, statistics director officer Ibrahim Saad al-Sulaiti said that a total of 2,414 cases were registered in 2008, compared to 4,784 in 2007, marking a decrease by 28,6%.

English number plates

The Ministry of Interior is planning to change the licence plates of vehicles in Qatar so that their numerals will only be in English, reports a local Arabic newspaper. According to the report, HE the Minister of State for Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani has already issued orders for carrying out the necessary changes in the licence plates, beginning with new vehicles. An agreement with firms abroad is planned to facilitate the process, the report said.



http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=304917&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

Motorist fined QR10,000 for drink driving


A Doha court has fined a man QR10,000 for driving his car under the influence of liquor and endangering the life of public.

It also cancelled his licence for two months and fined him QR3,000 for drunkenness as the law in Qatar terms it a separate crime.

A traffic police investigator testified in the court that he found the accused, a local man, inside the car and that he smelled of liquor.

He said that a colleague informed him that the accused caused an accident a few minutes earlier at a different place.

Explaining the conviction, the court said that it found the testimony �coherent�.

The accused denied the charges and therefore he escaped from lashing, according to the Islamic rule.

The ruling is still open for appeal in a higher court.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=304921&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

Fatal accidents on the decline; death toll 82 in first half of �09
Web posted at: 8/17/2009 2:7:57
Source ::: .THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Fatal road accidents are on a decline in the country as only 82 peopled died in road mishaps in the first six months of the current year as against 107 in the first half of last year.

The reduced death toll in road mishaps, resulting from the new and stringent traffic law which was enforced in October 2007, is despite the fact that the population of vehicles has been on the rise.

Likewise, radar-detectable violations, the most serious among them being jumping traffic lights, have come down by 14 percent in the first half of this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Figures released by the Department of Traffic and Patrol Police show that radar-detectable violations have dropped as much as 36.7 percent since the implementation of the new traffic legislation.

Such violations were down 13 percent last year over 2007. Statistics reveal that one road accident takes place in the country every second. But a vast majority (95.4 percent) of accidents are minor and only 2.1 percent of them cause serious injuries or death.

At least 78 of every 1,000 motorists in the country were involved accidents in 2008. The figure the previous year was 84

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=august2009&file=local_news200908172757.xml

[wilberforce]

Drive against traffic violators intensified
Web posted at: 7/24/2009 3:7:10
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: The Department of Traffic and Patrol that has intensified its campaign against erring vehicles and drivers registered 30 violations on the Salwa Road on a single day.

Of these, 15 vehicles had failed to meet the safety standards and specifications while 20 vehicles were involved in various other traffic violations The inspections were conduced by the Internal Security Force in cooperation with the Traffic and Patrols Department in the Doha city and its outskirts.

During the raids, the police also arrested a person who stayed in the country violating the entry and residence rules, said a release issued by the Ministry of Interior yesterday.

Lt. Muhammed Hamad Al Murri, Campaign officer from the Internal Security Force said that the campaign aimed at achieving traffic safety and ensuring the implementation of the traffic law. During the inspections, the team will also arrest violators of the entry and residence law of the country and will transfer them to the departments concerned for further action.

The campaign is carried out mostly in the summer season because of the low traffic, as a number of people have gone on vacation, said Al Murri.

The inspections have been scheduled in a way that don not affect the free flow of traffic in the city. �We will avoid places where the traffic rush is witnessed during the peak time,� said the official.


http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=july2009&file=local_news200907243710.xml

[mesquite]

A terrible tragedy. The son of a friend.

[mesquite]

[mesquite]

[lollaerd]

ِGPS to warn motorists of traffic jams

Qatar�s Traffic Department is turning to GPS technology to warn motorists of traffic jams ahead.
The department will soon introduce a mobile GPS system which will allow motorists to know in advance the busy streets at any given moment and hence avoid traffic jams.
The technology will be made available through Google�s Earth program for motorists who have mobile phones with a GPS program.
It will show the motorists how busy the streets are up ahead so that they can judge whether it is good for them to take that road, especially in the peak hours. If not, they can search for alternative routes to reach their destination.
A thick red line on the mobile screen will show how busy the streets are. The line�s thickness will indicate the extent of congestion.
Traffic officials hope that the project will ease congestion. - Arrayah