Talk about the rush hour fender-bender from Hell. The Khaleej Times reports that over 150 cars piled up on the Abu-Dhabi to Dubai highway yesterday, in the worst wreck in the country's history. Authorities report four deaths and 317 injuries in the crash, which also involved 12 buses. About two dozen cars caught fire, triggering a massive rescue operation and snarling traffic for hours. Officials say that foggy conditions and rush hour congestion contributed to the disaster, pointing out that the close quarters driving of commuters makes such pileups more likely. Armed Forces personnel and helicopters were called in to clear up the crash zone, a task made all the more difficult by bad weather and the presence of 12 destroyed buses. Be careful out there!
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It must’ve looked like a scene out of “The Blues Brothers” with all of those cars slamming into each other.
I can tell you from experience that there are no (enforced) traffic rules in the UAE, having been in a taxi race going down a highway at 120mph. My ship (USS Antietam) pulled into Dubai, a few friends and I got into one cab, some got into another and the taxis raced down the road to get us into town.
And we were getting passed as 120.
Ouch, I hope they had insurance
Shoot, that’s taxi drivers anywhere. We had a taxi driver in NYC USA that gave us a ride during fleet week who briefly touched 80 mph in downtown NYC near the WTC. I was scared to death.I have driven myself at 100 mph+ for hours so I’m no stranger to speed.
My fear started with the 250K+ miles on the odometer (how good are those tie rod ends and balljoints? VBG) and then the fact that I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
TN had a pileup near Chattanooga on I-75 a few years back. Same problem – heavy fog in an area known for heavy fog (in other words DUH!) and high speeds.
As usual it’s the other guys on the road with us that scare me the most whether I’m in a car or on a motorcycle.
I wonder when the US will send massive amounts of federal aid to help those oppressed people clean up the mess and help spread our democracy? Oh wait, I forgot – we’ve already contributed billions in oil revenues over the last 50+ years.
When I was in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the first Gulf War, some of the drivers there fit the description of the previous posts. Lots of money, fast cars, wide open roads although quickly becoming developed and congested, and not much driving experience previous to the current generation all adds up.
“close quarters driving”… by idiots = carnage.
Sadly, the survivors will all go back to driving the same way next week…