A total of 850 traffic violations were recorded in 12 hours on Jeddah’s roundabouts. This translates into roughly 70 violations per hour or more than one per minute. How could this happen?
It happened because the traffic campaign began without proper orientation as to driving on roundabouts and who has the right of way. Is it the driver on the left or the one on the right?
The motto of the traffic campaign is “Priority is given to the vehicle in the roundabout” but it would be much better if it were clearly stated as to whether it is the one on the right or the left. Legally, it is the one on the right but from the standpoint of the traffic department, priority is to be given to the one on the left. In other words, upon entering the roundabout, the driver must yield to those on his left. The result, however — judging from the number of accidents — seems to have perplexed both traffic officers and drivers.
I am an experienced traveler and I have been to many countries but have never seen a city with as many roundabouts as Jeddah. At the same time, roundabouts are meant to replace traffic lights but there are roundabouts in Jeddah which have traffic lights! Surely an error in both planning and engineering!
I suggest that the problem be rectified by a committee which will abolish roundabouts and regulate the flow of traffic with traffic lights. Otherwise, Jeddah may find itself listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most roundabouts and the most accidents on them.
***
THE following letter was sent to me by a reader:
“I am a Saudi and while I was at a university in Europe, I met an Arab family in the same city and we became friends. I was very impressed with their younger daughter and wanted to marry her. Her mother agreed provided that my father pursued the matter which he agreed to do. I talked the situation over with my mother, however, and she was against my marrying the girl. She said she did not believe in marriages based on love. I was in a dilemma: either follow my mother’s wishes or marry the girl.
“Not wishing to upset my mother, I came home and married a young woman who has proved to be an excellent wife for the past 11 years. We have three sons and are very happy. Recently I had to make a business trip to the country where I studied and by accident, I met the girl I had wanted to marry. She had married but was now divorced with a baby girl. She said she still cared for me and I also cared for her. I thought of marrying her even though my financial situation was not that good. Also, I could not overlook my happiness with my wife and three sons. I thought of how another marriage would affect them and I realized that things would be very bad indeed. In the end, my former girlfriend and I agreed to marry as soon as my financial situation improved. This, in brief, is the story and I would appreciate your advice and comments.”
My friend, I don’t think it is wise to marry the woman. For sure, you will sacrifice the loyalty and dedication of your children’s mother — and you admit that she has been a good wife and your family life is very happy. Why risk losing your wife and sons? Chances are you would not be happy with the second wife since you would always be conscious of what you had lost. Second marriages are permitted for certain reasons but none of those apply to your case. Second marriages on the basis of old love are not permitted. Do not forget that he who wants to have everything very often gets nothing.
***
THE following letter is from Saeed Al-Wateed, a student in the US.
“Studying in the US, I have seen that of our countrymen, the most dedicated students are Saudis who are studying at their own expense. Some of these students, however, are over 40 and in my opinion, it is hard for them to learn English and the time it takes them to do so will be subtracted from the years of service they will give to any employer. It is obvious that many Saudis who deserve government-sponsored education (GSE) abroad were not chosen so if they wanted to study abroad, they had to do so at their own expense. At the same time, those who do not deserve GSE are often the ones chosen. The majority of these GSEs are married and their main idea is to set up and furnish an apartment to accommodate their families when they arrive during the summer holidays.
“Moreover, a number of GSEs consider studying in the US an opportunity for leisure but not for education.
“For your information, the total cost of a six-month English language course is close to SR100,000. In fact, the total amount for five older students could be used to educate a young graduate who would then benefit his country for a longer period of time.”
My dear reader, all I can say is that if anyone doesn’t know the value of money, he should go and ask for a loan.
