Taking a picture
I have been reading your community reports for a while now — some of them are related to traffic and driving safe. It is good that the writers preach and practise safe driving. But, taking a picture while they are driving is by no means a safe activity itself. I have calculated the time it takes to click a picture, either from a mobile phone or a digital camera and it takes no less than nine seconds. This time excludes the load time for device and your time to spot a violation by another driver. The road dynamics changes approximately every 6 seconds. The time required to take a picture is actually when your eyes and attention is off the road. This would be lethal. I consider this as dangerous as talking on the phone. Therefore instead of preaching safe driving, the readers should avoid taking pictures while they are driving. One must leave it up to the competent authorities to catch violators.
From Mr Wadiwala Mohammad Kaisar, Abu Dhabi
Stop sign
Now that the schools have reopened, we are starting to see the regular movements of school buses during the day. It was a good decision by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to implement the stop sign on the left side of the school buses. The purpose of the same, I understand, is to facilitate children’s crossing of the road to the opposite side. Vehicles should wait till the signage is folded back. I regularly witness how motorists try to overtake school buses in spite of the stop sign being flashed while the bus is waiting to either pick up or drop children. Although I did not find it appropriate to take pictures of such a disrespectful act, I am concerned about the children crossing the road, including my own children. The authorities need to take strict action and enforce penalties for drivers who do not have patience and cannot wait for school buses. None of us would like to read bad news in the papers.
From Mr Thomas Kurian, Dubai
Serious accident
This letter is to report some serious driving violations on the Abu Dhabi- Dubai highway. I have noticed several times while travelling on the highway that there are no radars on the first half of that road, that is the first 50-70km on Highway 10 going from Abu Dhabi [towards Dubai]. As a result, some drivers travel at speeds that reach 150-180km/ h, endangering other drivers. Apart from placing radars, the police should patrols the stretch.
From Dr Mulham Daas, UAE
Going green is costly
I would like to address the issue of green vehicles. We are all being told to use or switch to green cars, but is it actually practical to do so? Most green cars cost more than the average car running on gas. A high-end car would cost approximately $112,000 (Dh411,936). Instead of buying that, I would rather buy a lower cost car running on gas. Although I do understand the importance of going green, it is not always possible to do so and the pricing of green vehicles by automotive companies makes it almost impossible for most people to afford them. I feel that it is irrational to expect every person to buy a green car unless and until the prices are reduced drastically.
From Mr Prithvi Sulaya, Dubai
