Today marks the second anniversary of “Fog Tuesday”, when the country’s worst traffic accident in its history occurred on the Sheikh Zayed Road near Ghantoot. Eight people were killed, 280 injured and hundreds of cars were damaged or written off. Everybody agreed that this must never happen again. The anniversary was marked yesterday with a tragic memorial. More than 20 vehicles were involved in a pile-up on the Lehbab-Jebel Ali road. Yes, it was foggy and yes, people were driving too fast to notice a stationary bus that had collided with a lorry. But driving too fast without fog lights in poor visibility is going to lead to a crash sooner or later.
While the police continue to call for slower driving speeds and fog lights, anyone who drives on any major road in the Emirates, whether in sunshine, fog or at night, assumes considerable risk. There is still too much erratic driving, with overpowered cars being steered by underpowered pilots. While we remember those who lost their lives two years ago – and the bus driver who died yesterday – we should also acknowledge that much remains to be done to make driving in this country a pleasure, and not a pain.
