Doha, Pearl of a City

I got a chance to visit Doha, Qatar, last weekend for the first time. It's not far from Dubai--a distance comparable to that from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia--but getting there requires going by plane with all the complications of international travel, including early check-in and obtaining a visa, not cheap at about $25 per person.

Travel by road from the UAE is not possible since Qatar occupies a peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia, which does not permit through travel by foreigners. A new airport is opening soon; the old one we landed at seems undersized for the traffic and lacking in amenities. Travel from the airport to town would be quick given the short distance except for the traffic, which seemed heavy along the main roads.

We stayed in an older part of town, the Souk Waqif area, which is not that old, just in comparison to much of the city, which looks brand new. From the souk there's an excellent view of the spiral shaped Fanar Tower, the Islamic cultural center, and the fabulous Museum of Islamic Art, the I.M. Pei- designed masterpiece of a building, known as MIA locally. The corniche, a lovely waterfront walk, connects the MIA in a big loop to the modern downtown area, which rises like Oz across the water. Rustic dhows offering boat rides line the waterway, while across the corniche road there is plenty of green with parks open to pedestrians. The feeling of openness, walkability and green space was a striking difference from Dubai.

We started the walk from MIA to downtown but got waylaid in our search for a restroom and something to drink, finding the first but not the second. It was Friday and nothing would be open until later that afternoon. The Museum finally opened at 3 p.m. (free admission!) and we spent two hours there, emerging in time for sunset. There was a pleasant chill in the air, a bit cooler than Dubai, with many people wearing coats or jackets. It was spring festival time at the souk, with friendly crowds and family entertainment. Household goods, fabrics, jewelry, spices, antiques, and native handicrafts were on display, with many coffee shops and restaurants. There was also an amazing bird market, with all kinds of birds and other animals, including a few cats and dogs, turtles, and squirrels. Locals took part in live auctions for the choicest items.

Not far from Souk Waqif is the Falcon Souq, with many small shops and thousands of falcons on display. Doha must be a falconry center. Beyond that we found some beautiful horse stables. We had dinner at one of the boutique hotels in the souk, the highlight being the best mint tea I have every had. No alcohol is served in any of the establishments in the souk. Restaurants in the larger hotels downtown have bars, but none were visited during our stay. Unlike Dubai, alcohol is not available for purchase at the airport duty-free, so visitors looking for drink may be out of luck. What Doha does offer is a welcome view of more traditional Arabic culture, with less westerners in the way.

There was lots of building going on, just as there is in Dubai, so it will be interesting to see how these two cities compare in another 10-20 years.

UAE Drivers, Pedestrians, Cyclists Beware

Road safety is a huge issue in the UAE. There was an alarming rise in traffic accidents in Dubai with 148 deaths last year. The police catch many offenses, especially speeding, using their system of closed circuit cameras, but they are not often seen on patrol. The penalties that currently exist, including fines, black points, license suspension and vehicle seizure, do not seem to be deterring unsafe drivers.

The main problems include excessive speeding, not wearing seat belts, not using child restraints, running red lights, using mobile phones, tailgating, drunk driving, not giving way to pedestrians and cyclists, and driver inattention to conditions. Usage of seat belts and child restraints are not mandatory, nor are there any restrictions on cell phone use. It seems obvious that those safety precautions should be enacted, but even if they were there would still be a big problem with enforcement.

While vehicles can be impounded for driving in excess of 200 kph (124 mph), speeding below that level results in fines that can be paid with no limit on the number of tickets.  Getting speeding tickets does not appear to affect insurance rates. For many drivers, that's a good thing, because the cameras, which now seem to be everywhere, make it incredibly easy to get tickets, sometimes more than one, before the driver is even aware that the camera has been activated. The system of black points, which provides for a driver's license to be seized at 24 points, is only triggered at the highest speeds or for certain offenses, like running red lights. The National reports that more than a half million drivers received black points last year, but only 2,500 had their licenses suspended upon reaching the limit of 24 points.

Various campaigns have been instituted to address the problem. One such campaign, called "Kulluna Shurta" or "We Are All Police,"  encourages people to report traffic offenses immediately using a dedicated free number, 8004353.  Private motorists are also encouraged to send photos and video of offenses. This week a new campaign started to bring attention to the danger of sudden swerving,
where drivers change lanes unexpectedly without proper signaling. News reports said that 41 deaths in Dubai last year have been attributed to that cause alone.

What makes enforcement more difficult is that speeding seems engrained in the regional culture. Other cultural differences compound the problem. Safe driving practices that are well-accepted in western cultures, such as signaling and checking the rear view before changing lanes and yielding way to a merging driver, are foreign to many drivers here. Such drivers may be used to smaller roads and slower traffic jams, but the high speed highways of the UAE leave little room for error.

Some seem to believe that the solution is more driver education, rather than more penalties.  More education is always a good idea, but it seems obvious that there also need to be more penalties and license suspensions. In the U.S. it only takes a few speeding tickets before the license is suspended and insurance rates go up dramatically. Even well-educated people will not learn their lesson and drive more carefully until it affects them in the form of an accident or cost. Increased police patrols in high problem areas would also have a deterrent effect. Putting cameras in cars is another idea. Beefing up the penalties seems the best place to start.

Sadly, another sudden swerve death happened just this week, as a driver changed lanes suddenly causing another car to overturn and its driver to be killed. On the same day three pedestrians were mowed down on a side street near Emirates Towers. Reading such reports makes me fearful to take the road in our car. Biking along the Jumeirah Beach Road bike path seems more dangerous to me now as well. How many have to suffer death or injury before more effective measures are taken?