Flying debris damages cars in Sharjah

Some residents of Al Nahda, Sharjah, near the Dubai border, were left in a dilemma last week when traffic police from the two emirates couldn’t decide who to hold responsible for damages caused by flying debris from a building under construction in Sharjah. The flying debris shattered the windshield of a few cars parked on the open sandy area of the Dubai side.

The residential area immediately after the Al Nahda bridge is known to be very crowded and anyone who has been there before can attest to the fact that finding parking is a nightmare. For that reason, scores of motorists park on the opposite side of Dubai in an idle vast sandy plot.

They park there despite the fact that there’s a huge RTA ‘no parking sign’ at the entrance of the area, warning motorists that they’ll be fined if this rule is violated. In fact, on quite a few occasions, Dubai traffic police have levied fines on the vehicles parked here, but it seems the owners are not ready to comply any time soon!

Another possible reason why motorists prefer to park on the Dubai side is that Dubai traffic moves a bit faster, especially in the morning rush hours compared to Sharjah.

On this particular occasion, the unfortunate motorists were astounded to find their cars damaged. When they called Sharjah police, they couldn’t do anything as they claimed that the cars are parked in Dubai, but Dubai Police also said that they couldn’t do anything to help since the debris is from a building in Sharjah. Clearly, this case hit a stalemate!

Some onlookers argued that it won’t be possible for insurance companies to pay for a case whereby cars were parked in ‘no parking’ areas; needless to say, the car owners are the losers here.

- This reader is a freelance writer in Dubai

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