Dubai - my way or the highway?
An interesting spat in the Gulf News this morning, between the Police and the RTA, regarding the imposition of a minimum speed limit of 60kph on certain roads. On this, I side with the police.
The RTA's declared intention is to reduce accidents, but whilst their motives are worthy, their reasoning is not. Far better to educate drivers, and specifically those idiots who insist on travelling at a slower rate than the surrounding traffic in a fast lane. Inevitably, they get passed on the 'inside', in an empty but theoretically 'slower' lane to the right. In the UK, there is a rule requiring drivers to move to the lane nearest the edge of the road that is available to them - if that is full, then they can travel in the next lane, and so on. The lane adjacent to the centre of the road is supposed to be for passing only, though in practice this often gets filled with cars, and the 'slower' lanes are left empty, causing the same frustration as we experience here.
The American solution is different - drivers may pass a slower moving vehicle on either side, provided the road is clear to do so. This has the effect of freeing up the traffic, and aslo necessitates much more active use of mirrors and indicators. Though in theory this is the more dangerous of the two systems, in my limited experience it makes for much smoother progress in traffic. Relative differences in speed tend to be fairly small, and most drivers are very clear about signalling their intentions.
Perhaps the ideal solution is a combination of the two - a clear understanding communicated to all road users about lane discipline, and a rule that requires them to move to the right-most empty lane as soon as there is space to do so. Couple that with a campaign to promote the use of indicators, and visible, active policing of the new rules, and we might actually make some progress.
The RTA's declared intention is to reduce accidents, but whilst their motives are worthy, their reasoning is not. Far better to educate drivers, and specifically those idiots who insist on travelling at a slower rate than the surrounding traffic in a fast lane. Inevitably, they get passed on the 'inside', in an empty but theoretically 'slower' lane to the right. In the UK, there is a rule requiring drivers to move to the lane nearest the edge of the road that is available to them - if that is full, then they can travel in the next lane, and so on. The lane adjacent to the centre of the road is supposed to be for passing only, though in practice this often gets filled with cars, and the 'slower' lanes are left empty, causing the same frustration as we experience here.
The American solution is different - drivers may pass a slower moving vehicle on either side, provided the road is clear to do so. This has the effect of freeing up the traffic, and aslo necessitates much more active use of mirrors and indicators. Though in theory this is the more dangerous of the two systems, in my limited experience it makes for much smoother progress in traffic. Relative differences in speed tend to be fairly small, and most drivers are very clear about signalling their intentions.
Perhaps the ideal solution is a combination of the two - a clear understanding communicated to all road users about lane discipline, and a rule that requires them to move to the right-most empty lane as soon as there is space to do so. Couple that with a campaign to promote the use of indicators, and visible, active policing of the new rules, and we might actually make some progress.
posted by EyeOnDubai at 12:30 am
2 Comments:
It's yet another thing the RTA has got completely wrong.
I recently read that undertaking is not in fact illegal in the UK - just that you do run the risk of being arrested for dangerous driving in most circumstances.
Given that no one in the UAE is ever arrested for tailgating or lane-hogging (both of which would rapidly get them pulled over in the UK) I highly doubt the police would prosecute anyone for undertaking.
The problem is that undertaking is so dangerous here becase of mad weavers. You can't just gently pull out in to the clear middle lane, and come out again in front of the white Nissan Sunny hogging the third lane at 80kpmh. Because there will be at least six sheikhmobiles trying to do the same manoeuvre at about 200kmph, coming from all different lanes including "mezzanine" lanes - extra lanes they create for themselves between the actual ones.
And not to forget there will be more white Nissan Sunnies pulling out straight in front of you, doing about 40kmph, heading for their beloved third lane.
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