THE VIEW FROM THE PASSENGER SEAT

I can drive. You. Nuts. But I don't drive vehicles. Much as I want to. Or dream about it. I can only manage bikes. Presently. The saddest with this fact is my Bebe. For quite some time now, he has been complaining about the rigors of driving our car. Specially in Riyadh in particular. And in Saudi Arabia in general. [Although he also complains about driving in the Philippines.]

He wishes loudly that I am a driver myself. But right now, my designated seat is to the right of the driver. I have the passenger seat.

Don't get me wrong. He loves to drive. It's the tiredness as a result that he does not like. In the Philippines, he also says the streets are quite dark at night. So unlike in Riyadh where streets are relatively well-lighted, at least in the major thoroughfares. The streets are wider too. Although in the last few years, the width of highways seems to be immaterial with the increased and increasing volume of cars on the road. Traffic jams are now a regular thing. Although still tamer than Manila standards.

But more than the conditions of the road, it's the type of drivers in this country that is at issue here. The bad rap that this country gets for the kind of drivers it has on the road is, from all indications, well-deserved.

Just look at the traffic accident statistics.

Arab News says (in a March 18, 2007 article) that according to a report issued by Riyadh's traffic department, 283,684 traffic accidents took place last year, resulting in the death of 5,883 people. While the report showed a 2.2 percent decrease in accidents compared to the previous year, the figures are nonetheless still shocking, to say the least. The figures mean that three people died every three hours last year as a result of accidents.

On another note, Arab News also says that highway police have started stopping reckless drivers after the traffic department found 63 percent of total traffic violations (2.88 million) took place on highways in 2006. Highway police detected 1.8 million traffic violations last year alone.

The view from the passenger seat is that these accidents happen due to reckless drivers and driving. A report I found on Google reveals thus --

The causes for this increase in traffic accidents can be summarized as follows:
* Aggressive driving behavior such as driving at high speed and not obeying traffic signals
* Poor car maintenance, particularly the tires and the brakes
* Disregard for warning, regulatory and guide signs erected to facilitate the drivers' mission and safety of road users.

It is so vexing (as a passenger at that huh; how much more if you're the driver) and even deathly threatening to watch another car at your far right careen diagonally across to the left of the road because this other car's driver wants to make either a U-turn or a left turn?

What about these? A car simply switches lanes without warning. A van is parked just where the driver wants to park even if it blocks another car or is obstructing normal traffic. After all, the driver only needs a second to finish his business at the store or at the bank near where he parked his car. Two cars stop by the side of the road with not even the hazard lights blinking just so the drivers can have a chit-chat. A young boy who does not look as if he is past his puberty is mightily struggling to see the road beyond the car's windshield. Do you think he has a license to drive? A driver is driving with one of his feet up against the dashboard. He must be driving an automatic car. A guy is driving with his infant son infront of him. He must have left the baby's car seat at home. The driver is busy using his mobile phone while slowly navigating traffic. He must be checking his GPRS? A car is weaving its way in and out of the traffic at high speed. The driver must have lost control or urgently needs to visit the toilet? A car is chugging along like a train, instead of being smoothly driven. The young driver, and his equally youthful-looking passengers, are simply having a joy ride. While on a busy street.

I may not be a driver but methinks the view from the passenger seat is not any better.