Dubai drivers insensitive to fellow travellers?

Published Thursday, March 21, 2013

By Sneha May Francis

My morning drive to work will never be the same anymore.

Witnessing the tragic end of a motorist, who couldn’t be helped despite my calling for help, will plague my memory forever.

What will perhaps haunt me most is the lack of apathy of fellow travellers who drove away without stopping or calling for help.

Some honked away while others slowed down to peek into the car, but none bar one stopped to check if the driver of the white sedan abruptly parked on the median was OK.

The windows of the car weren’t tinted, and it was evident that something was wrong. Yet, no one bothered.

Had someone stopped as soon as the driver lost control of his car and it came to a halt, his life might have been saved, I think.

But that will now remain just a possibility. For, a life was lost. Was it lost to our indifference?

The driver of the ambulance that arrived later informed that two emergency calls were indeed made to the police to report this incident.

But the calls, one by this reporter, were made too late for them to be of any use in saving the man’s life.

A reader wrote in regretting that he drove away because he didn’t see the driver and thought “someone’s car (had) broke down and he just put the car up the footpath to not block the road”.

Perhaps there were others who thought the same, and no one in particular can be blamed for not stopping knowingly. We as a society should, however, take the collective blame.

We, at Emirates 24|7, spoke to some daily commuters to understand if and why there is this sense of indifference to the safety and well-being of their fellow travellers.

“It’s not that we don’t want to help. It’s just that we don’t know if we are allowed to help,” claimed one motorist, requesting anonymity.

“I’ve heard that you could get into trouble if you try to administer first-aid before the paramedics or police arrive on the scene.”

He has a point – only those certified to administer first-aid can and should do so. But the question remains as to why do we hesitate in making that all-important emergency call when we can see that there is something wrong with another human being and he or she needs immediate aid?

Ensuring the driver gets timely aid is the least we can do.

“Sometimes it isn’t easy to pull over to make that call. The traffic is on-going, and with no place to park all we have to do is drive on,” reasoned Jojo, a resident of Al Nahda.

It isn’t that the intention is not there, but some claim that they are hard-pressed for time.

Another commuter reasoned that he had witnessed a similar case, where a driver had parked in the middle of the road, and had called the police. “I couldn’t park anywhere so I drove on. But I made that call,” he insisted.

Unfortunately, he received a call from the police within minutes claiming they couldn’t spot the car. “Some people just randomly stop in the middle of the road, so you don’t know which is real emergency and which is not.”

Emirates 24|7 Facebook follower Fatima Suhail wrote in: “This incident goes on to prove that some people have become absolutely insensitive and ignorant towards the issues and needs of the others. We have sadly become so self-centred and heartless that we do not even wish to spare a minute to check on the others, who may appear to be in some kind of problem.

“Instead, a majority of us would prefer to drive away or simply honk at the motorist to get his car out of the way, regardless of the circumstances.”

“I’m sure many would’ve wanted to help, but they had to get to their office on time,” rationalised a driver.

That’s not a logic we’re willing to buy. It isn’t every day that you find someone passed out on the wheel of their vehicle – and if you do have to stop at the next intersection to make the emergency call, it might add three minutes to your morning commute.

But that call could be the difference between life and death for someone else – someone you may or may not know.

Would you expect a random stranger to make that call for, God forbid, you?

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