The Doha Digest: February 2007

This article was in the paper last week. I couldn't resist sharing it. I really don't want to be insensitive. It is a tragedy when any young person dies--but it really drives me crazy the way some people drive here and how everyone just ignores the problem.

To all mothers reading this...you may want to stop now. In case you don't, YES--Jon and I drive safe and wear our seat belts.
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Here is the text of the article in case you can't read it (with my comments in red):

Teenager killed in ‘bizarre’ accident
A Qatari teenager was killed in a “bizarre” road accident in Gharrafa (Gharrafa is the neighborhood next to ours) on Friday, a Traffic Department official said yesterday.

The 19-year-old boy died on the spot when his Land Cruiser literally flew off the road and hit the top of a 3 meter (almost 10 feet!) high compound wall, nearly 3 meters away from the road, said Brig Mohamed Abdullah Al-Malki, adviser at the department.

The 4X4 vehicle then landed on the ground a few meters away. But the boy, who was thrown off the vehicle, flew a further 50 meters (164 feet!) before hitting the ground, the official said. “Presumably, he was not wearing a seat belt.” (Presumably he wasn't wearing his seat belt?! NO KIDDING!)

The cause of the accident is puzzling too. There are tire marks on the road but there is no clue as to what may have caused the driver to take evasive action and hit the curb before take off. (The cause is not "puzzling" to anyone that has driven in Doha for more than 10 minutes. Especially in this area, a lot of younger Qatari men in SUVs drive ridiculously fast. The area is residential, but they fly down the road and flash their lights and practically run over anyone that doesn't get out of their way. You don't have to study the accident to guess that he was going too fast and lost control--probably because of a near-miss while passing another car. Like most men at that age, they think they are invincible and they "feel the need for speed." Police officers don't pull people over for speeding here, so you don't have to worry about that. There are a few places in the city that have cameras for electronic tickets--but everyone knows where they are and just slow down while passing them.)

Whatever the reason, it was a bizarre accident, the official commented. The base of the wall is undamaged, he pointed out. How could the vehicle soar so high in the air is absolutely puzzling, he said. (Look at the picture. There is NO damage to the base of the wall. The only part that is absolutely puzzling about this accident is that it doesn't happen more often. My guess is that the cause of the accident will never be found because they will not want to shame this boy's family by printing in the paper that the accident was his fault for driving too fast.)

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Underneath this article was an article about how much progress they have been making with the new driver safety campaign.....ya, right....