Drivers on Parade

Several weeks ago, I read this story on the same newspaper. I actually saw the video footage, which after about a day or two has been blocked on the internet, at least within the UAE.  I don't know if it's taken out of YouTube for us to see nowadays though.

Then, silence.

I wanted to say that maybe I just won't have enough information thereon since it might have been totally blocked. I would have to say that still, I am at the advantage as compared to my friends from the UAE because news like these are often blocked by their providers.

Then, today, finally, an update.

Those guys who 'paraded' on the Sheikh Zayed Road had their sentence. Would you believe if I tell you that it's only AED 1,000 for each of those drivers? I was really appalled when I read about it. I was actually thinking that maybe their licenses will be taken back and they will be banned from driving within the UAE for the rest of their lives... that would mean that about 40 or more years since they are only in their 20's. But, no, all they got is AED 1,000 per person - something that a distant Dubai friend of mine paid for a year's worth of traffic violations, in which she paid with no qualms. As for these people, I know they would have taken it out from their wallets as easy as taking out AED 10 to buy them a pack of cigarettes.

When I was in Dubai, I had to do a lot of walking to and from office, not to mention running errands as part of my job. This means that I will have to cross roads maybe even more than a dozen times a day. I learned my lesson early on. I never crossed a stop sign just as soon as it turned green (pedestrian walk). I still have to make sure that every car on the front row and the next one was at a halt. You can never be so sure. One time early in the morning, I saw an accident happen before my eyes. An RTA bus was slowly stopping at red light when a white car slammed at the back of the bus, jolting it forward because of the impact. The front of the car was crashed. The passengers climbed out of the car one by one including the driver. They seemed unhurt, but were a little shaken (later on, I was debating if they were shaken off because of the accident or is it because of the booze they obviously took for the night). I didn't want to come anywhere near the scene for fear of an explosion, so I just watched as the car's passengers unload themselves to safety.

I was thankful at that time that I didn't walk on the green sign (pedestrian walk). Maybe if I did, the strength of the impact the jolted the bus forward might cause the bus to hit me.

Oh yeah, the people from the car were all Filipinos, which was very sad for me.

Now, reading this AED 1,000 fine for these locals for "partying" on the streets makes me think: How much did the Filipino driver get for what that accident?

The brief story about the driver's fine is here.

*Image grabbed from this page.