Driving (Me Crazy)

Here's a really interesting article that appeared in the paper today.

"The Grand Mufti of Dubai has said it is a sin to violate traffic rules and that failure to wear a seat belt reflects ignorance of Islamic teachings.

'Islam impels every road user to comply with traffic rules . . . it is a sin not to,' said Dr Ahmed bin Abdul Al Haddad, Grand Mufti and head of the fatwa department at the Dubai Fatwa Centre.

'There are quite a few fatwas clearly stating that it is obligatory to observe traffic laws and haram to violate them,' he said.

He rebuked reckless drivers who argue that safety precautions demonstrate a lack of faith in God or those who claim that their strong faith means they are exempt from traffic safety rules."

Actually, the thing that I found most interesting about this piece is that this one of the theories that I came up with to explain the terrible driving. It's both reassuring and odd to see my theory validated. The Emiratis are famous/infamous for being really crazy drivers, and, sadly, it is true. And keep in mind that I've spent months of my life in India, so if I call someone out for being a bad driver I know what I'm talking about. It's not that Emirati drivers are technically deficient; rather, it's just that too many of them drive like utter lunatics. I've been passed on a single lane exit ramp on a cloverleaf (try to get your brain around that one). One time I was driving back from Dubai and was in the next to fastest lane (normally I don't drive that far to the left, but I had passed a truck) travelling around seventy miles an hour. Suddenly, a car blew by me in the fast lane going somewhere around one-hundred miles an hour (rough estimate, but he made me look like I was standing still). At the very same time another car, probably going around one-hundred-ten miles an hour passed that car - on the shoulder of the road, with about two feet on either side between the car in the "fast" lane and the guard rail. And the action on the roundabouts here demands its own separate posting. I suppose if I drove in Boston or Atlanta I wouldn't find all this so unnerving, but my years of driving in the tranquility of Vermont has put the daredevil in me to sleep. Of course, the other thing that I think which is important about this story is that it helps to show how seriously the political and religious leaders are taking this problem, which I think is a great sign.