Reflections on Accidents

I just heard 2 car breaking screeches, followed by a bang. “Oh boy, another accident” I was telling myself.

I live right on Al-ittihad road. For those who don't know the infamous 7 km stretch, it is the main artery that links Dubai with Sharjah. It is known as one of the busiest streets in the Gulf (if not the Middle East) with about 500,000 trips made on it everyday.

Anyhow, I jumped to the balcony to see how many cars is commissioned off the streets today. There is was, a red car rear-ended a white one at front.

But there was a man on the ground, and it wasn't one of the drivers.

The white car front had a huge dent with splashes of blood all over the front hood. It doesn’t look good at all.

The driver of the white car was still in his car - in a state of shock obviously. The driver of the red car and people in the streets were attending to the man on the floor. His ensemble was in that recognizable blue color. Yes, another construction worker crossing from another wrong place.

The injured man was in motion, which was a bit of a relief to be honest. The guy in the white car managed to get himself out of his vehicle but was on the phone all the time. I could swear I can see him trembling from my 7th floor (8 if you count 1 mezzanine floor).

Astonishingly, the paramedics were on the scene literally minutes after the accidents. They placed a couple of temporary casts on one arm and leg and loaded the victim into the van and zoomed off.

By then there were 4 police patrols one the scene, doing all the traffic CSI stuff.

2 question I would like to raise here:

(1) Why aren't there any pedestrian crossings in this part of town? This is 5 lane highway on each side that cuts thru a heavily residential area. There are residential buildings, 10s of restaurants, parks, supermarkets, mosques and about 4 or 5 shopping malls that are scattered all over both sides of this busy road. Why the hell aren't there any pedestrian crossing bridges of example?

(2) Can someone please please please educate the relatively new-to-the-country construction workers to do anything to avoid crossing roads that are over 2 lanes wide in this place?

Let them know that drivers here are not like ones from where they come from. Drivers who learned how to drive in Dubai have crap responses and reflexes to any sudden changes in road conditions.

Wanna see reflexes? try driving on the streets of Cairo, Egypt or India. There seems to be some hidden language or code of understanding between the people who cross heavy roads like Salah Salem, Al Haram or Gam3at El Dowal street and the ones behind the wheel. That code keeps both alive and well.

In India, expect anything on the road. Cars in opposite direction, people, cattle, carts, wild animals... you name it, it can be on the road. Pedestrians in India have more confidence in their drivers know that the drivers know what to do if they get caught with in sight.

But here in Dubai, Non of that my friend.

Proof? check out traffic news after 2 minute of rain. Everyone start bumping into each other like friggen morons on wheels.