Let me just say a word or several about pedestrians. Pedestrians all over the world are considered pests by most drivers, but here in AD, they are a complete law unto themselves.
It appears that any driver hitting a pedestrian (whether at fault or not), can be sued by the injured pedestrian or his family for an amount of "blood money". The amount is determined by the injured family! Until such time as the driver (or his family) can pay this "blood money" - sometimes several hundreds of thousands of Dirhams (many years' salary for most people), the driver is imprisoned. Obviously, drivers therefore go out of their way to avoid mowing down pedestrians.
This, in turn makes the pedestrians bolder than usual. They are assured that cars will avoid hitting them at all costs, so they meander, saunter, waddle and stroll, with glazed eyes, talking on cell phones, staring into space, or chatting to their children, one another or themselves - wherever and whenever they want, including highways, blind corners and red robots. They are completely oblivious to any other road users - almost as if they were in a coma or sleepwalking. Then, at other times, they dart, scuttle and scamper across the roads from behind buildings, bus-stops and parked cars, without the slightest hesitation or botheration to check for oncoming cars. It is almost as if they have an invisible force-field around them once they don those black or white robes......
When we arrived, we were confused about when to cross at robots and baffled by the u-turning cars, so we decided that "when in Abu, do as the Abu's do", so when they walked, we walked - which was most of the time, as they rarely stopped for traffic. After a couple of near hits, and some pretty hair-raising moments when the robots turned green for the cars and we were stranded in the middle of a 4-lane road, we decided to stop doing as they do, and now rather wait until there are no cars in sight - left OR right. This means that crossing a street can take us up to 25 minutes - but hey, it is better than being roadkill!!
Maybe they should take a lesson from the British, who paint these signs on the road at pedestrian crossings - to help dozy blondes like me .....
It appears that any driver hitting a pedestrian (whether at fault or not), can be sued by the injured pedestrian or his family for an amount of "blood money". The amount is determined by the injured family! Until such time as the driver (or his family) can pay this "blood money" - sometimes several hundreds of thousands of Dirhams (many years' salary for most people), the driver is imprisoned. Obviously, drivers therefore go out of their way to avoid mowing down pedestrians.
This, in turn makes the pedestrians bolder than usual. They are assured that cars will avoid hitting them at all costs, so they meander, saunter, waddle and stroll, with glazed eyes, talking on cell phones, staring into space, or chatting to their children, one another or themselves - wherever and whenever they want, including highways, blind corners and red robots. They are completely oblivious to any other road users - almost as if they were in a coma or sleepwalking. Then, at other times, they dart, scuttle and scamper across the roads from behind buildings, bus-stops and parked cars, without the slightest hesitation or botheration to check for oncoming cars. It is almost as if they have an invisible force-field around them once they don those black or white robes......
When we arrived, we were confused about when to cross at robots and baffled by the u-turning cars, so we decided that "when in Abu, do as the Abu's do", so when they walked, we walked - which was most of the time, as they rarely stopped for traffic. After a couple of near hits, and some pretty hair-raising moments when the robots turned green for the cars and we were stranded in the middle of a 4-lane road, we decided to stop doing as they do, and now rather wait until there are no cars in sight - left OR right. This means that crossing a street can take us up to 25 minutes - but hey, it is better than being roadkill!!
Maybe they should take a lesson from the British, who paint these signs on the road at pedestrian crossings - to help dozy blondes like me .....
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