During one of my driving lessons, I, along with my instructor, was driving on a very busy street and was focusing on the traffic light, which was green as our car was approaching it.
As I was about to pass, a pedestrian just approached quickly trying to cross the road as fast as he could and accordingly I had to apply breaks abruptly to avoid hitting him. I got so irritated from his lack of concern and ignorance, the driving instructor told me that this is very common and drivers need to be extra cautious all the time especially on busy roads. This very small incident made me reflect a lot, in the UK, the traffic laws are very strict and they apply to everyone using the road, drivers adhere by the rules as second nature because they all know that any violation of law that could also jeopardize the safety of others or one’s self or competitive driving attempts are not tolerated. Not only obtaining a driving license is a quest but also it can be revoked if you drive unsafely or if you are considered a reckless driver.
Same rules do not apply to pedestrians. If you as a pedestrian crossed the traffic light when it’s red, the only consequence would be a harsh look from the child next to you “it’s wrongggg, only cross when the green man on the traffic light appears,” but no one will “detach” your legs from you and tell you not to walk, and if you were involved in an accident because of your carelessness, you will cause the poor driver a heart attack when you emerge in front of his car like an escaping cat and it will be a burden on insurance companies as well, but still there is no law for crossing on red light for pedestrians. Even though they emphasize a lot in schools on road safety and they keep on instructing pedestrians to remain safe on the roads, but still, lots of people are careless, and as a human nature, if one person cross, others on the same traffic light will cross mindlessly and the poor driver needs to have at least six sets of eyes to cover all places to avoid hitting anyone.
It’s just funny how people still think that you can change people’s behaviors by merely telling them that it’s wrong. In Saudi Arabia, how many billboards do we have that says “Drive safely, reaching your destination late is better than not reaching it at all,” and sadly our roads are considered the most dangerous in the world. How many other billboards do we have that tell people “Don’t throw trash on the streets, be clean” and just one look at any public park will show how effective those billboards are, which is very sad.
It only takes few people to violate the law and not being punished for everyone else to follow, it’s just natural. Why would anyone bother to abide by the traffic rules if others are not and lawbreakers are not being punished “with the exception of crazy rich Sahir.” Why would people stop throwing trash on streets that are already filthy, so yeah, one more coffee cup won’t hurt if thrown on the street, after all, why do we have street cleaners?
The other funny thing is when we believe that shopkeepers are very religious when they close their stores at prayer times, and it’s obvious that if the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice does not enforce the law by asking its members to take rounds during prayer times to ensure that stores are closed and if a store is found open then very negative consequences follow. I doubt that most of the shops would even bother closing in absence of such a law. Even though children are being taught in schools that praying is the second pillar of Islam and huge efforts are being put into this practice, which is vital in our great religion, but still, no clear law, no adherence (regardless of my personal opinion about closing for very long times during pray times).
This applies to all aspects of life, no clear rules and laws, then no adherence, it’s a very simple equation that if it applied, our life would be much easier and simpler.
@ HatoonKadi
