Job Discussion Forums

[millie18]

As it's illegal to use your mobile phone while driving - aren't the police encouraging drivers to commit a traffic offence? And of course, these guys who do use their phones while driving really need ANOTHER reason to take their attention off the road?

Far better that the RTA complete some of the endless road construction projects - THAT would help alleviate 90% of the traffic 90% of the time.

[squirk]

The roundabouts are murder. Some have traffic lights but even so people jump the light. Then there are the radar cameras everywhere. I've heard that if you know a policeman, you can get your traffic fines removed. I don't want to try that. If you don't pay your fines, you are barred from leaving the country. Big brother!!

[lollaerd]

The roundabouts take some getting used to. It was much worse before they put the traffic lights on them. Sometimes you'd see a car crashed right in the middle of the roudnabout.

This cute little fellow is make an appearance all over the place.

�Naseeh� to guide motorists THE PENINSULA


DOHA: The Traffic Department will soon install 2,000 new traffic sign boards across the country to guide motorists and raise public awareness about traffic safety.

The newly introduced traffic character �Naseeh� (meaning �one who gives advice� ) will greet and guide motorists on many of these new sign boards. Dressed as a traditional policeman, Naseeh has been introduced as an innovate way to raise traffic safety awareness, according to Col Mubarak Al Nuaimi, director of media campaign at the Department.

� This character represents the tradition of Qatar and will call people to respect and abide by the traffic rules,� said Al Nuaimi. The Department has already installed 300 sign boards in areas including Al Wajba, Gharaffa, Markhiya and Souq Waqif. More boards will be installed at all major highways and interior roads, he added

[lollaerd]

�Futuristic� Ras Abu Aboud Tunnel opens

The 330m Ras Abu Aboud Tunnel linking Wakrah Road and the Corniche was opened to the public yesterday. Part of the last stage of the Ras Abu Aboud Road project launched by the New Doha International Airport (NDIA) Steering Committee, the tunnel is a two-lane one-way link to the greater project which includes a four-lane carriageway, two tunnels, and 21 post-tensioned bridges in all directions, an official said yesterday.
�This is a futuristic street integrating drainage networks, water irrigation system, electrical and communication cables, as well as security devices,� Qatar Civil Aviation Authority chief executive officer Abdul Aziz al-Noaimi said at the opening ceremony.

Officials said there is also a watch-room at the Ras Abu Aboud Tunnel which provides live traffic feeds and is fitted with pollution measuring devices. Vehicles that are higher than 5.5m will not be able to use the tunnel.


Meanwhile, the Urban Planning and Development Authority (UPDA) said it has finalised a plan to link the New Doha International Airport with the West Bay area via a 12km undersea tunnel, Arabic daily Arrayah reported. The undersea route will serve as a main arterial road connecting Wakrah and the adjoining districts in the south with the West Bay and Dafna areas.
UPDA said it has also finalised plans for another 13km road between Souq Waqif and Rayyan passing through the Hamad General Hospital.

[lollaerd]

A few months ago a little 5 year old girl was killed right in front of a school by a reckless local driver. If there had been a speed breaker in front of her school, she might have survived. The driver's servant was accused but traumatised witnesses saw the real culprit. Speed breakers should be put in front of every school in the country.


Residents warned against putting up speed-breakers

Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: The Traffic Department has warned the public against putting up speed-breakers in front of their houses.

Brigadier Mohammed Abdul Rahim Maarafi, Chairman of Radar, Planning and Traffic Safety of Traffic Department said those who put up unauthorized speed-breakers would be penalized by the department.
People who fix unlicensed speed bumps will be fined up to an amount of QR12,000. There is a competent committee to monitor the illegal constructions on the road, he told an Arabic daily. Brigadier Maarafi said the department�s plans to introduce the point-to-point �smart radars� is fast progressing. The intention is to monitor motorists who tend to accelerate the speed in between two radar points. The �smart radars� is capable of calculating the time crossed by a particular motorist from one point to another, he said.

The department is already using mobile radars to control the speed of vehicles plying on Doha roads where there are no fixed radars. Twelve radars have already installed in tunnels to check the growing number of accidents in the tunnels. Traffic department has also plans to transform all the roundabouts into traffic signals. Discussions are also in progress to replace old traffic signals with �smart� signals. The new signal can alert on the traffic density on each road and thus control the flow of vehicles during peak time. With the support of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), traffic department has also plans to set up control rooms at selected points to ease traffic congestion at some of the crowded signals.

Mobile balances have been distributed all over the city as part of the campaign to control the overload of trucks, and 6 fixed balances have been installed in Salwa road. Over 26 fixed balances are to be installed at different parts of Doha. The department, in consultation with Ashghal and Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, will also identify 11 different locations for the overnight parking of trucks. Trucks have to get prior permission from traffic department to enter the city during peak hours, Brigadier Maarafi said.

[lollaerd]

Mapping speed radars on cellphone

Source ::: The Peninsula


Doha: Nowadays, there are mobile phone applications for almost anything one could possibly think of � even for tracking police speed traps on the streets and highways of the city you live in. One such application provider Doha�s Net-savvy youngsters seem to have been frequenting, is Trapster.com. The website provides an application for mobile phones with GPS and Internet capabilities, such as iPhones, Blackberrys, Androids, Palms and high-end Nokia models, that alerts the user to police radars in real time by using the phone�s GPS system.

Users can register on the website and download the application to their mobile phone. They can programme the application to give them verbal alerts when approaching not only fixed speed cameras but also mobile speed traps, combo cameras, red light cameras and even the locations where the police often hide. Since Trapster is a community-based application, it relies on the uploads of its users to indicate the location of these speed traps. Users can also vote on the credibility of these locations. The locations with the most number of accurate votes are labelled �high confidence� while those with low vote counts are labelled �low confidence�.

In Qatar, where speeding fines are pretty high and strictly enforced, the Trapster mobile application is gaining popularity among the local youth, especially those who have Blackberrys and iPhones, if the animated discussions on the Net, especially Arabic forums, are any indication.

It is yet to be seen how the Traffic Department in Doha looks at this new phenomenon. But, in an Associated Press report, the developer of Trapster, Pete Tenereillo, said police officials in the United States whom he has spoken to have not complained about the application because it encourages drivers to slow down. Till the time of writing this report, there were a total of 3,390,875 Trapster users and 1,251,073 traps had been reported globally.

The majority of traffic violations recorded after implementation of the new traffic law in Qatar are related to speeding, use of mobile phone while driving and wrong overtaking. Cases of jumping the red signal are very few thanks to the severe penalty imposed on this serious violation.

Each year, almost 400,000 young people under the age of 25 years are killed in road accidents � about 1,049 youngsters every day, according to the World Health Organisation. It also says that pedestrians and those using public transports are the main victims. But in Qatar, rarely are public buses involved in accidents.

According to the WHO, speeding is more likely to be a factor when the driver is under 25 years old. A five percent increase in average speed leads to approximately a 10 percent increase in fatal crashes. The desire for thrills and risk-taking is high among the youth, according to the WHO. Speeding, racing cars with friends gives a feeling of achievement to youth in the 20 to 29 age group.

THE PENINSULA

[lollaerd]

Traffic fine rumours squashed

Source ::: The Peninsula
DOHA: As rumours continue to circulate about a steep hike in traffic fines, a senior official of the Traffic Department has clarified that such reports are totally baseless and there is no change in the traffic law.
Over the past month, e-mail messages have been circulating about a new �traffic violations law� with a detailed list of new fines for different violations. Though the messages appear to be a fraud at the very first look, they have been widely circulated, causing confusion among the public.

�The Traffic Department is dealing with all violations as per the current traffic law, without any change or amendment,� said Brigadier Mohammed Saad Al Kharji, Director of the Traffic Department, while denying the reports spreading through mobile phones and the Internet. The email message about the �New traffic violations law � October 2009� gives a comparative list of the �new� and �existing� fines. Anyone who is aware of the current law would immediately realise that the message is fake, since many of the existing fines mentioned in it are incorrect.

For instance, it says that the �fine for using a mobile phone while driving� has been raised from QR3,000 to QR10,000, whereas the existing fine for this violation is QR500. Similar is the case with most of the other violations. Only a na�ve person would believe this message when it says that the fines for most violations have been raised from QR10,000 to an incredible QR50,000. Despite all this, the message has been circulating fast as people forward it to others without thinking much about the content. The Peninsula has received a number of calls from people seeking a clarification on this matter. A resident said he had seen the same message displayed prominently at a work site in the Industrial Area a few weeks ago.

An expert from the Traffic Department told The Peninsula yesterday that he had been receiving a number of queries from people about the issue.
�It is surprising that people go by such rumours. Anyone would know that if there is a major change in the traffic law it would be announced through the media by senior officials,� he added. It has been pointed out that many residents don�t have easy access to authentic information about the traffic law since an official English version of the law is still not available.

THE PENINSULA

[lollaerd]

You can see the same show on the Corniche Thursday nights after midnight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWXnLFX5Ws&feature=related

[veiledsentiments]

The negative side effects of too much testosterone. Did you notice how many of those cars were smoking so much that obviously they are soon to lose the engines.

Oil change? We don't need no stupid oil change!!

VS

[johnslat]

Dear veiledsentiments,

Reminds me of my Iranian roommate at USF (Tampa, FL), back in the early 70s. He's bought a car, and one day he drove me to the supermarket. We;d made it to the parking lot there when the engine just quit.
I looked at the gas gauge - no problem there - so I opened the hood and checked the oil. It was bone-dry.

"When the last time you put oil in this thing?" I naively asked.

"Oil???" he replied.

Regards,
John

[lollaerd]

Ashghal to open Sadd tunnel for commuters today
PUBLIC Works Authority (Ashghal) will open the Sadd tunnel for commuters on Saturday. The Sadd Tunnel is a part of the 22 February Interchange and Al Amir Street development project, which is considered as part of Doha Expressway Project. The 1135 metres long dual carriage tunnel will connect Sadd Street with Lakhwiya roundabout. The scope of this project has been expanded to include upgrading of Rasheeda Street that connects the end part of Sadd tunnel with Lakhwiya roundabout, in order to provide a smooth flow of traffic after the opening of the tunnel. Meanwhile, work is in progress at the Lakhwiya roundabout to accommodate the anticipated extra traffic after opening of the tunnel. The tunnel includes a large reservoir with capacity of (1800) cubic metres to collect rainwater located beneath it, which shall be pumped to Jowan pumping station through 1000mm pipe....

[lollaerd]

Road speed limits under review by Traffic Dept
As part of a general road safety review, a committee under the Traffic Department is reviewing the speed limits on roads throughout the country, a senior department official said. Brigadier-General Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, who was speaking to Arrayah Arabic daily, said that speed limits will be cut in roads going through urban areas and those that see a high volume of pedestrian traffic.
Asked about the speed limit difference between the C-Ring Road (80kph) and B-Ring Road (100kph), he said the two roads should have the same speed limit in view of their similar conditions. About the vehicles� new licence plate numbers, al-Kharji said that they were approved by his department and will be introduced soon.
According to him, private cars will have plates with white background and figures in black which he said will be only in English. Al-Kharji added that motorists who stop on the white lines before the traffic signals could be checked by the Radar camera and, accordingly, be fined QR300 and three traffic points since the white lines are for pedestrians crossing these roads. Asked about insurance companies that refuse to insure some vehicles, the official said that insurance companies are obliged by law to give a third-party insurance for any vehicle.�According to the law, insurance is a must for any vehicle in the country. Under no circumstances are insurance companies to reject an insurance coverage application.

�It is not a voluntary job from the insurance,� he added.
Al-Kharji urged those motorist who have been denied coverage by insurance firms to lodge a complaint with his department.
To a question on the death toll from road crashes last year, he said that there has been a decline in road crash casualty.However, he did not reveal statistics, saying that traffic department would wait one month after the beginning of a new year before releasing the previous year�s statistics.Al-Kharji also said that officers of several departments under the Interior Ministry who are on patrol are authorised to take action on traffic offences. �As part of the co-operation between the different departments of the Interior Ministry, patrols of Internal Security Forces (Lekhoya) or Al Fazaa have the power to stop offending motorists,� he added.

[Otterman Ollie]

Ok so its a tricky place to drive in, I'm used to the cut and thrust of Istanbul on a daily basis, get a few smashes tere on a regular basis, so are you saying that this place is worse then?

Thinking of trying my luck out there next year, do I buy a car or take the bus?

[rdbi]

You'll really need a car. public transport isn't much good. You'll be fine. If you've been driving in Istanbul then the defensive driving thing will already be programmed into your brain. I think you'll find it's not as bad as Istanbul anyway.

[stickleback]

You definitely need a car. There is only one taxi service in town - a real monopoly.

What's the new road like? I spent a couple of murderous years on the road to my job but I've heard this will cut the time in half. Does it? The commute used to drive me nuts.