A COMMUTERS CRY FOR HELP

This morning, like any morning, I woke up and went through the usual stress filled routine of getting to work. After the 5 minute shower marathon that involves shaving and brushing my teeth, I got dressed, got into my car and hit the road. Getting on the highway was a hassle as usual in the "perfectly planned" city that provides one exit to the highway for an entire suburb. Everybody on the road was naturally in a rush and as usual, had zero respect for anyone. All pretty standard for me during a weekday morning drive to work. What triggered me to write this piece however was my reaction to the usual jackass overtaking me from the shoulder flashing his headlights as though he had somebody bleeding to death in the car. On any other day, I would ignore it and move on with my life. Today however I found myself saying, in a completely calm and serene voice, “It is way too early in the morning for this shit...”

Driving in Jeddah has been nothing short of a living nightmare for many commuters across the city. Add to that peoples attitudes while their fasting and it is nothing short of going for a hell-ride. Over the past five years, we have all seen the situation get worse and worse with very little being done to counter it. Before getting into how to fix this problem and what can be done, let’s step back for a second and think about the reasons behind the excessive aggressiveness projected in this lovely, calm ocean front city.

Let us start with the obvious. The public know and respect traffic law as much as the police force enforces it. When the law is absent, human instinct reverts back to what the economist Herbert Spencer referred to as “Survival of the Fittest”. The shoulder on the highway has become a legitimate lane with cars overtaking police cars using this approach. The right of way for the roundabout is for whoever has the balls to keep going and ignoring the other cars. The situation is so bad, that we have police officers spending the night in jail for speeding and cutting red lights. When there is so little concern with enforcing the law, the desire to follow it and respect other motorists on the road fades away as it has today. Disrespect if left untreated, is contagious like a disease.

Secondly. Over these past five years, the rural population of Saudi Arabia has seen a major decline in its population. According to the ministry of economics and planning, the rural population of the country saw a sharp decline from representing 30% of the population to 13%; all of which was injected mainly into Jeddah and Riyadh with some spillage into Mecca and the Eastern Province. This was mainly due to the neglect that was experienced by these rural areas in terms of government services, urban development and the creation of economical opportunities.

Saudi Arabia has always had a small number of major cities. With time one would expect that this number would grow in relevance with the population and government spending would broaden into other towns in order to avoid the situation that is present today. The government has identified this issue and began to build economic cities that are to have good city planning, zoning laws and regulations. Additionally, major road work in the form of bridges (although questionable in quality and completion time) is being undertaken to address some of these issues.

Despite all this planning and grand ideas we hear about everyday in the paper and on tv, commuters will continue to cry for help as long as a lack of strict traffic law enforcement continues to be a part of the problem.