Expatriates always complain about the traffic in Saudi Arabia. It's not the congestion that irks people, although that can be a pain in the neck on certain streets at certain times. There are no dearth of cars on the street. You can buy cars on installment and petrol is dirt-cheap. But what irritates most people is rash driving. Many drivers leave their common sense when they enter their cars and flout traffic rules with impunity. It may be a bit scary driving in such a milieu. Especially when you see mangled wreckage of cars surrounded by police vehicles and ambulances every now and then.Apart from that, however, driving is a pleasant experience when seen from a South Asian perspective. Here you have to mind other cars only. Back home you would be required to watch out for pedestrians, especially those who suddenly decide to cross the street in a great hurry. Some of the pedestrians would be four-footed. Some of the vehicles are slow human-powered ones. All of them would be competing for space on the narrow roads bursting with traffic. In this chaotic mess, drivers would be honking their horns constantly. It's enough to drive you crazy.
Coming back to the scene here, I think the congestion would worsen considerably when women are evetually allowed to drive (I believe the ban would be lifted sooner or later). The number of vehicles would double almost immediately. Parking cars would become impossible in the core areas of cities.
Public transport and a network of pedestrian paths with a high sensuous quality must be given serious consideration.
Photo credit: mliss
3 comments:
Well, most women are on the roads anyways, with the drivers that shuttle them around. The problem can't get *that* much worse I would think.
Who knows, maybe the presence of women on the road will help some of the men to at least calm down a bit ;)
I guess you're right, allowing women to drive may not increase the traffic that much. I'm not sure about your other comment, though B).
I hear you. Driving around in Saudi can be a frightening experience. What I fear the most is people who race one another at crazy speeds in busy streets. Being a Saudi myself and having used to the way drivers are always helped me to avoid collisions, I can almost feel when there's going to be an accident. About women driving, a) I don't see that happening soon, b) not all Saudis will allow their women to drive, and c) it won't be so bad, cause a lot of foreign private drivers will lose their jobs and won't be in the streets.
Nice blog! Keep posting.
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