Mar 27, 2006
OK so I was out with the police today as part of the Caltex Roadstar to reward good drivers.
I have to say it was pretty hard to find many at all! The Captain of the police we were out with was local and a very nice man, whilst the officer driving the police car accompanying us was fro Yemen - Liban you were correct most of the officers are fro Yemen or Egypt.
The officer said they get so many hassles from pulling bad driving locals, they constantly argue or reel in their mate in high places to get their points taken off or the fines reduced. But he also said many of them are just mouthy and when he's called for back up and hauled them off to the police station they normally are quiet and behave. But he did point out that Nationals are pretty awful on the roads but are getting better, he also said the Indians and Pakistanis are pretty awful too - from the horses mouth so no more arguments over who's worst!!!!
They said that there are bad drivers from all nationalities and they have big issues policing the roads. One major issue they have is actually 'slow' drivers, you know the ones who sit in the second lane to the fast one, causing people to undertake them, he said these people cause many accidents and are a pain and they should drive in the right hand lane.
For those of you who are interested the nationalities we rewarded were: Sri Lankan, Indian, Iranian, a Scot and two nationals, a man and a woman.
It was so funny as we followed the national gentleman we made sure he was wearing a seat belt, he signalled at every turn, kept to the speed limit, he even had his mobile docked in the speaker system. He was so appreciative and said he would donate the money we gave him to charity. Lovely guy and a great example of how all people should drive.
We followed one lady for a while as we couldn't see if she was wearing her seat belt. She had a baby in a child seat strapped in, which was good, but sadly, no she wasn't wearing her own seat belt. Some people were really good then would dash through a light as it turned red, or fail to indicate, or push in, weren't wearing seatbelts, talking of the phone, the list is endless.
It was a veer interesting experience, had to laugh though as we headed towards Mumzar park two kids flew up the road on quad bikes. The Captain said these things are a big problem and they're very difficult to catch as they just hop over the curb and disappear down a backstreet.
Out again on Wednesday. But honestly the police have a long way to go. The points system is onyl being implemented in Abu Dhabi not Dubai.