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Expats getting deported for speeding

According to Arabian Business, the minister of interior and undersecretary have given the go ahead to take strict actions against expats who jump red lights, drive without a driving license and those who speed. Already 86 expats have been deported. Jeez talk about overkill. I’m not sure how this exactly works but if I get caught speeding again (I’ve been caught a number of times) will I get deported? [Link]

199 replies on “Expats getting deported for speeding”

To solve the traffic jam in the morning…. Just the kuwait government to spend money on school buses i mean good school buses with a qualified driver… And see how many cars will stays home…. Each student come with a DRIVER …

Mark , have you cleared your Traffic fines? If not , dont go to the fine section directly – they will seize your license and may even deport you. Go through some official who works in the Traffic department and has connections with the Fine’s section and then you might be safe.
You will be the last person i want to suffer lol. What you did was very wrong, you should be very careful from now on.If you are using a sports car now, switch to a Yaris or something like that loll !!

Not over reaction. Time to start respecting the law. Plus people are not getting deported for going +20 km/h over the speed limit. There are reckless drivers who go far above that speed. In other countries the driver would get arrested and sent to jail, why should we jail a foreigner and feed him?!

I think the problem with this action is how some will end up using it politically and I think it had already been used once and they deported a kid whose the only family he ever knew (mother side) are Kuwaitis but his father happened to be a none Kuwait and the kid -who felt Kuwaiti- was involved in some political activity at his University.

No, it IS over reaction. How about the fact that running a red light is a KD300 fine but BBQing on the beach is a KD1,000 fine?

There is someone just randomly coming up with punishments and they aren’t making sense. Getting deported for a mistermeaner is extreme.

The bigger people I think is wasta and not the fines involved. People will continue to speed and break laws if they can get away with it so how about to solve the problem we abolish wasta instead of deporting people?

Are they saying that only expats commit driving violations. My message to the Kuwaitis is don’t throw stones in glass houses. SNAP

IF you’re gonna come live in Kuwait you better respect the laws irrelevant of how Kuwaitis drive.

So can I work in the US as a foreigner studying there? No, because as a foreigner I have no right to work there. Most places in the world do this.

Legally you can only work for a university as a part time worker, you can’t hold a full time job on a student visa

Well, if it helps to control the traffic violations……why not?

I just got back my license from having confiscated from a u-turn violation…….now i’ll be stopping at every stop sign and driving the speed limit. Also had two speeding tickets……..american or not they still took my license!

My friend who has a car and supposedly “ู…ุนุฏู„ู‡ุง”, was stopped by police and they impounded the car and took away his driving license.

What was his offense? Tinting? Fuck I really need it, I’m not trying to be cool, the sun is a killer here in the summer and I have hyperpigmentation on my skin. ๐Ÿ™

So When a Kuwaiti Drives pass a red light he gets deported to his house ๐Ÿ˜›

end of the story don’t speed no matter what either your Kuwaiti or not.

Both non Kuwaiti people and Kuwaiti people speed to much and drive reckless in this country !

Look all driver here are crap. Even if they weren’t crap when they got here they morph into it because you pick up the habits of those around you. And let’s be honest the worst drivers here are not westerners. Call it racist or whatever but it is true. I dint normally get cut off or passed in the shoulder by westerners it’s usually some geezy punk, rich entitled jerks or a woman in an suv full of kids not in their seat belts and bouncing around the car. If they want to enforce the law or create new ones they should be the same for all who reside here….Not show preferential treatment

AMEN Bro! The thing about the Kuwait government is that they go for the ‘quick fix’ and have no foresight in the reprocussions of their actions, the rest of the GCC is already rolling their eyes again with the ‘blame the expat’ card. If they want to control the traffic they should implement a ‘black point’ system (remember this word…SYSTEM) which corrected the streets of Dubai in a week. Deportation because of A traffic violation for expats is ridiculous. Kuwaitis fail to understand how to implement SYSTEMS and Systems is what is needed ALL over Kuwait. I rarely see policemen in Kuwait and the lack of presence they have on the road leads the residents to disrespect them for not doing their job and that is issuing tickets. I sat at a street light yesterday and EVERY car (expats and Kuwaitis) were talking and texting (TEXTING???) on mobiles with no policemen in sight. This is a photo opportunity to make the public think they are doing their job and it is just another temporary attempt to solve a HUGE problem when they should be looking for a civil permanent solution that addresses the problem across the board.

You said it all, the police here is also punks sitting in their cars browsing their phone in my opinion. . Maybe the traffic police hasn’t increased wih the population? Why they don’t know English beats me, with all the foreigners one should think a cop should be able to pronounce 113 instead of 130 km/h, I ended fighting and got a court case after 3 years. That I didn’t know about. Just another day in kuwait.

Start THINKING naser…..you implement a penalty system that punishes bad driving accross the board, THIS improves the roads. Kuwaitis don’t commit driving offenses? EVERYONE does in Kuwait because the police are no where to be seen. They came out now, great! So they should issue tickets with stiff monetary penalities, this gives revenue to the system so you can build new driving centres, etc. Stop being so lazy and organize your country. You look stupid.

Haha Naser no. I am saying all people here should get the same treatment. Fines, license suspended, etc… Haha I am the last Amreeki to have a Western mentality about Kuwait. I am a former Atheist turned Muslim who observes Ramadan and all that good stuff. I also do my best to show how AWESOME Kuwait and the people who live here can be with every video I make. I LOVE IT HERE.

Your work is awesome Tjcfilms, and I thank you for all the effort you put into it. I’m a Kuwaiti and I acknowledge the fact that we have serious problems and that blame shouldn’t be put solely on expats. Everyone should be treated the same here.. Anyways, thank you again!

True, very small percentage, most expats in Kuwait are from the sub-continent or other arab countries and are living below the poverty level of most western countries. Most have never had proper driving training and because there is no proper driving training in Kuwait, they won’t learn here also, hence the road fatalities. They should inform expats of what the driving laws are so everyone understands them – they don’t do that either.

Must avoid checkpoints. Does “Waze” work any good over here? Is there something better and more updated?

would you rather have someone, probably a chic driving hummer eating sandwich, talking on the phone while checking her eyelashes in the vanity mirror gunning it out at 140kph+ rear-end you at the traffic stop because it turned orange/yellow, or jump the red light?

out of curiosity, any statistics as of which nationalities have been deported so far? i went through few checkpoints recently and I was simply waved away without being stopped or checked, made me wonder if Westerners are also being thoroughly checked/deported as part if this new “campaign”…

I’m not a westerner and I get waved by too. Police know who to stop.

Want to get waved by?

1. Wear your seatbelt.
2. Don’t tint your front glass.
3. Don’t drive with a cracked windshield.

It is a bit of an over reaction, but if they made it KD100+ for a serious moving violation people would say the same thing. People would say “I cant afford the ticket” my response would be “exactly” but then they would give you a sob story about rent and the kids etc. and its sad but whats the alternative? chaos? because thats what we have now.

Its not worth pointing fingers at certain nationalities for the bad driving, it distracts from the debate. Serious monetary penalty coupled with a strict point system (where you eventually loose your license) for moving violations that cannot be overturned without a court date and evidence would help.

Some people would get screwed and the word would get out that its not worth speeding etc. Before any of this can be done the issue of enforcement has to be addressed, it doesn’t matter what the law is if its only enforced one week per year.

And I know we have dedicated traffic cops, what are they doing everyday? What are they being paid to do? And I dont care if its hard to be a cop or if people have wasta, you either do your job or you dont. Grow a backbone, be tough, people will learn. You think people follow the rules in other countries ex. UK because they are born that way? they are trained by society, and by the threat of heavy fines.

WE (everyone) are not bad people here in Kuwait, we are just unsupervised.

this is not about enforcing law, it is pure 100% anti-expat thing, and i can prove it with my simple humble logic:

1. this is on step of the big plan of getting rid of expats, while enforcing a higher violation fines sounds reasonable, yet still some minority sick people (saw them with my eyes) find it irritating to find an expat able to pay such a fine.

2. reducing traffic jam, another municipality failed to solve riddle, that will simply in cooperation with MOI will lay it on the expats hanger, making driving license retrieval difficult to achive, where people from certain nationalities, came from villages, don’t know how to shift a gear or honk a horn, will get license on the fly because they are Sir’s drivers.

3. if the purpose was traffic shaping and saving lives, you tell me:

Kuwait’s population is 3 M
Kuwaitis are 1 M
Non Kuwaitis are 2 Million

80% of the 2 Million are Hindi and Egyptian nationalities, those of whom known either not having car, or have a car and drives carefully, or work as a driver for a Kuwaiti

so supposing all people over speeding (though every body knows Kuwait over speed more than expats):

1M Kuwaiti * 30% driving (worst case)
=300,000 Kuwaiti over speeding

2M * 20%(non Hindi + non Egyptian) * 30% driving= 120,000 non Kuwaiti over speeding

Backup your Sh!t Folks ! we are going away !
final word: KARMA

We are Indian not Hindi !!!
Someone make a post and law on this to !

I liked your analysis and valid reasons.

just t clarify your flawed logic: out of the 1 million Kuwaitis 70% is less than 25 years old. Not sure what percentage of the 70% is between 18 and 25 years and eligible for license since some are handicapped and some are studying abroad. yet

oops stupid me. didnt realise the calculation you made. my mistake. well, ur absolutely right in that case ๐Ÿ™‚ I blame the small mobile screen ๐Ÿ™‚

I believe you are correct sir! They want to try to bring down the expat population only to even it out to their own, Kuwaiti’s. It has nothing to do with putting Kuwait nationals in to the working sector jobs. It’s all about not being the minority of their own country.

” no need to pay attention to whose behind you when
drivin”

Well said gentleman.. dat jus showed us HOW U GUYS PROBABLY DRIVE WITHOUT PAYING ATTENTION TO OTHER CARS!!! d mirrors right/left n esp. over our head is given in order to PAY ATTENTION TO ALL CARS DRIVING AROUND US remember.. d mistake does not always have to be OURS… n in any case even if we dont pay attention to d citizens behind us at a turnin red signal, who will start overspeedin immediately to cross d signal b4 it turns red (for wut i dunno cuz it stays red for leas than 1 minute) then definitly they’ll bang our car very badly…. Now bein d richy rich citizens obviously d damage to their car dont matter to them… but who’s gonna pay for our cars???? We dont have that kind of money to lavish on other peoples faults ๐Ÿ™

& as far as d new traffic laws for EXPATS ONLY r concerned like deportation even for only overspeeding i dunno WHY…

I lost my 28yr old brother (who was preparing marriage next yr) in a car accident on gulf road..
Cause of Accident: A 19yr old citizen racing his Ferrari on d gulf road with his 2 biker friends.. boy lost balance.. car flipped over very high..hit d lamp post on d centre footpath n car fell right on top of d car (in which my brother was-passenger seat) on d opposite lane.. my bro died on spot is wut we were informed…

I dunno if I should thank Allah that d citizen also died.. but more than that I feel sorry for him.. n for his crying father who lost his only son.. still I do have sympathy for them cuz atleast I could offer my brother a proper burial.. but d boys father was down on his feet cryin that he couldn’t even find a piece of his only child completely turned into ashes in d burnt Ferrari…

whose fault was it.. d 19yr old for overspeedin early in d mornin durin public workin hours… or d father who thought of giftin a Ferrari to an innocent 19yr old… Children r not business dat once lost for showin-off will ever come back ๐Ÿ™

Sorry I got carried away.. dont mean any offence to any1… expats overspeedin shall instantly be deported… what abt citizens cuz of whose reckless drivin expats lose their families???

I am really sorry. that was heartbreaking to hear. I would not be so forgiving. good riddance to ferrari boy.

Can some one break this down for me ?

I can understand an overnight change of protocols in all government departments handling paper work

I can understand a green light of strictly suddenly applying the arm of low

Now isn’t traffic law a part of the Whole Kuwaiti LAW?! how come laws can be altered overnight without even being passed to the parliament to approve it ?

Is it morally ethically acceptable to apply such a ruthless law without exceptions ?

How about accumulated traffic violations score and after a certain threshold you get departed ?

Can’t someone’s good resume (first time violation) eases such a punishment ?

What if is someone had to over speed or cross a red light because of an emergency ? Saving someone’s life anyone ?

What if someone had to over speed or cross a red sign to avoid a traffic accident ?

What if I had to over speed or cross a red sign because an “angry Kuwaiti” does not like my careful driving, piggybacking me as he has much important things to do like saving planet earth ?

not saying don’t apply the law, but be freakin rational, life’s of families depends on people working here, and for some cases this isn’t fair at all, there should be exceptions..

if you got an emergency theres the flasher and the safety lanes. no need to pay attention to whose behind you when drivin just put some music and look ahead. or dont use the left lane too often simple

This law had been in place for a while and never really enforced. It’s always been deportable to cross a red light for instance.

It is clear that our government is moving to reduce the number of foreigners especially marginal ones with no work or qualifications or valid residency or even a driver’s license and on top of that run red lights! There are hoards of them especially from the subcontinent and Egypt. It’s about time. Good riddance.

No self-respecting country would accept people like that, not the US, not Canada, not Australia. Now our government has finally woken up and decided not here either. We’re not going to be the human garbage dump anymore. Rules are rules. Goodbye.

Funny how you compare this country with the likes of US, Canada, Australia. Make the comparison only when rules are applied equally to everyone, regardless of the color of the passport.

Countries like the US, Canada or Australia would not grant an illiterate Bangladeshi with no skills and no money entry visa in the first place. That’s why they don’t have our problem. The visa black market in Kuwait should first be quelled. Only then can we apply the rules equally to everyone who is here legally and by the book, foreigners or citizens.

Those Bangladeshis without skills fill your car up with gas, pick up your litter and deliver groceries to your car. You want a PHD holder to do that for you?

The ones who are here legally are not a problem no matter how uneducated they are. I am talking about the ones who come here on a bogus visa and are then thrown out on the streets eventually pursuing a life of crime, all while driving a car they bought for 100 KD without a license. And because they have nothing to lose they can easily run red lights exposing your life and mine to danger.

What do the US, Canada, or the UK do when they catch illegal aliens? Grant them citizenship? Deportation is the usual course of action which is what we’re doing here.

mark you mean those work are of low category? low value? no work is small, atleast they are not spreading hands to beg,, where as the highly educated get a bit of attitude which is useless,

Do you know what Canada does to people that speed more than 50 km/h. They fine them with $10,000 and impound their car for at least 7 days. Along with a possibility of suspending their license.

Moreover there is a more serious life long implication of receiving a fine. It impacts your insurance premiums. So you’re screwed both in the short and long run.

Stop breaking the law. If you don’t like the laws of the country. Expats are here to take advantage of the situation. Especially making money without paying taxes. Most Arab expats that are hired are not even qualified to do the job but are hired because they speak Arabic and are cheap in terms of salary.

Kuwaiti Citizens will not get deported as this is their country. You’re a guest here so respect the law.

The biggest people I see in Kuwait that feel free to break the law are the Arab Expats. Just look at them on the gulf road sitting and barbecuing. What’s funny is these are the same people you see in Canada who break the law. They have no respect for the law wherever they go. They come Canada and find schemes such as Bankruptcy laws and how to make money from creating an intended failed business or take out a large loan and run to back to the Middle East. Of course most of these people are also on disability and take care of all the social benefits we have in Canada. P.S. I am a real Canadian that pays taxes so you guys can enjoy pulling your stunts.

Also Kuwaitis are breaking traffic laws in Europe and wherever they go, but they don’t get deported. They pay a ticket fine and their cars are impounded. Blaming everything on Expats and just being blindfolded

Ms Canadian that’s paying taxes, i think you are living in a different planet. The country u are referencing stands light years ahead in human value. for instance, they don’t give the upper hand to law enforcement in a so vague law whereby they can terminate someone life and career of a red light. this has nothing to do with respect, its about human values and not a damn slave camp! Yes, the difference between a slave and a normal citizen is the basic rights and protection by the law, not stripping u from it with ambiguous laws.

For a person proud of paying taxes i think u have failed in understanding the essence of being a citizen in a civilized country.

The thing Buzz is that if an expat gets deported they will have to search for another job somewhere else. They will eventually settle either in their country or in another country, with a job that pays a little less, or they might get lucky and get a much better job and their Kuwait experience will be from the past..
But for you Buzz (I suppose that you’re a citizen) you’re stuck in this country. The law is specifically unjust towards expats this time, but might turn to be unjust against you another time as long as the same principals are applied (random decisions).

those so called b1tching oppressed expats dont even read the damn newspapers lol. have you read about the 2 girls who got run over buy a mini bus who crossed a red light? i see no harm in deporting these people

Funny how you missed the part mentioning where Kuwaiti should be jailed for human trafficking Bangladeshis since they provide akama taking huge amount of money !
Rules are rules which gets bent when it comes to you people !

And Canadians police aren’t so rude while talking to illegal immigrants, can we follow this manner of well behaving to !

Another issue Buzz, is that you are the very people that dumped 10,000 of illegals in the streets of Kuwait that has caused the chaos on the roads, the high crime rate and because this ministry who made this legislation has not been doing their job we/you are all suffering. Yes, it is time to clean up the country, but maybe Kuwait should start hiring people legally with some proven qualifications instead of hiring people based on RACE.

if you get rid of all the marginal workers what do you think the people hired as retail sales job, working in laundries and bakala will be engineers and graduates. who will work for such jobs, imagine a engineer brooming kuwait streets coz kuwait does not need marginal workers.

Is anyone here aware personally of someone who deported in last 4-5 days for crossing red light? Why the ministry doesnโ€™t send awareness sms to all telling them that expats who cross Red light will be deported?
My sister just returned from Canada on Saturday night and today morning in the mist of headache and jet lag she crossed a yellow light but was stopped by a officer and received a ticket which written on it โ€œ crossed red lightโ€. Does it mean that she will be deported later?

i know someone who is getting deported as we speak and older man in his 40s with a fam here n a proper job all he did was made a wrong u turn!!

They’ll be on my FLYDUBAI flight to Dubai! One time the prisoners started smoking on the flight and FLYDUBAI went nuts.

True to who ever said Kuwait is lowering expats.

and to who ever said US and Canada and many other countries doesn’t have what Kuwait have, needs really see the world with his eyes, do your really thin United states of America is better than Kuwait ? Many states in u.s.a is far worse than Kuwait, you talk of people coming to Kuwait illegal and bogus visa this happens to ALL countries….

Stop Watching T.V and live Reality.

End of line Those who pass the speed limit are wrong, those who pass red lights are wrong no matter what country they are from.

You only go over speed limit if its an emergency and you do that on the emergency lane ?

if Kuwait is deporting people for crossing a red light, then they should also do something for the Kuwaiti also that will effect their lifes also, to teach everyone a lesson.

First Teach your people to respect all the laws and put full force laws upon then when you do that the expats will be scared to do so..

in the end I wanna be the very best Like no one ever was To catch them is my real test To train them is my cause POKEMON Gotta catch em all !

Lyrics from

The deportation of legal residents for running a red light is not true, it’s media sensationalism. However, you can go to jail for running a red light, citizen or foreigner.

Between 2006 and 2011, there was over ONE MILLION increase in population all from residence, the number is too great to be ignored as resources of country cannot handle the explode number of increase, it is a strict measurement indeed, but to reduce the numbers is essential for many reasons one of them is the costs that it impact on country resources and it affect on it’s population.

Why you think there was problem with electricity and powerplant were making Tarsheed to reduce usage of electricity and water, and still we have the problem.

Kuwait uses it’s own oil to power the powerplant, and it’s constant use to heat the water and use the turbine to generate energy, and that’s one of their resources, others is police force not being enough for the massive increase of population, or how poor hospital functions due to massive number of sick people (in which you be extremely sick and there is huge line, and ur BP is 220/120, they reduce some of meds quality to be able to provide more meds for people.

I haven’t even started of School, and why MOE needs more teachers, to cover up the increase number of students.

How about the impact that it has on workers, either doctor, police officer, firemen, and government workers.

The country does not have enough resources to co-op with the sudden change, maybe after 10 years with control of residence it’ll be better. with only extra 250 thousand increase, the development cannot grow fast.

the reduce of number will make the traffic less, better treatment, better security, better meds.

However it’s not bad, it’s not like they can’t work else where in Arabic Gulf country, they can, and it’s new experience they can enjoy if it works well for them.

That is extremely offensive to expats, and they keep adding ridiculous rules. Atleast the should have shame, a Kuwaiti can get a wasta’a an expat is treated like a peasant is that we have came into?

We are a democrat people for goodness sakes! Not a Fascist due to these rules.

retarded rules! 90% of accidents and speeding incidents are done by locals. why not teach them how to drive first?

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! They should deport expats who drive slow..they are one of the main reason of traffic congestion.

if people act like animals or lower like animals i say we start deporting anyone that does something reckless or endanger people lives, may it be a foreigner and NON – foreigner, EVERYONE MUST RESPECT THE COUNTRY THEY ARE IN AS WELL THE LAWS!

But deporting someone for crossing red light twice is simply draconian. People can break red signal(during yellow sign) by mistake once or twice a year.
This law is clearly to encourage even legal expats to leave kuwait.
Your statement on ” respect the country they are and laws” —- I agree with it only for other laws of kuwait …but not this deportation because This LAW itself is not by any standard Respectable !!For people caught consuming alcohol and committing accident -yes i believe they can be deported …but not for red signal !

NO matter how fast that EXTRA huge hunk of metal is hurtling at you in the rear with headlights blazing – YOU IN YOUR 1000 CC KOREAN CAR WILL STILL STOP AT THAT RED LIGHT.

ONE THING IS ASSURED – COFFIN OR AN ECONOMY TICKET TO BACK HOME.

im kuwaiti and i used to drive a sunny lol i wouldnt pass a redlight for no one. if youre not up for it then risk deportation

Ironically the only accidents I’ve ever gotten into so far were expats hitting me because I stopped at a red light

a husband’s friend did that, one Ramadan day (around 4pm). mazda 626 vs h2. mazda exploded, burnt the husband, killed immediately. wife survived for approx a week, then died. they left 3 small children.

so yeah, i’d take that free economy ticket anytime.

Well, it sucks to get your license taken away, I should know, I refused to sign the ticket because it was written in Arabic and I know I didn’t commit all the stuff on that ticket, I put my Kuwaiti hubby on the phone to tell him I was not signing so just give me the ticket and let me go, instead he got pissed took my license and didn’t give me a ticket! My hubby had to go to every traffic department trying to find the license. In the end it got taken away because of all the crap he wrote on the ticket. Be WARNED! If you don’t read Arabic they will add all kinds of violations to it and there’s nothing you can do about it and I was warned that if I getinto any more trouble my license will be taken away permanently. Now that I have my license I try to drive the speed limit and everyone still tries to run me over, it’s a no-win situation here.

with all due respect but if you are married to a local and live in a country with Arabic being the official language and if you have been nationalised because of marriage (just an assumption forgive menif am wrong) then the least you should do is learn the language. Most contries that nationalise foreigners require a history exam and a langague proficiency test. You’re lucky that MPs weren’t smart enough when they enacted the law:)

FYI I’m not “nationalized” and I do speak Arabic but I don’t read Arabic and Arabic hand writing is hard even if you can read Arabic, so don’t “assume” foreign women married to Kuwaiti men are all the same. I’m American so I don’t need to have citizenship to live here so no reason to bash me. 010

I was not bashing and yes I did say ” I assume” followed by “and FORGIVE me if am wrong.” But fact remains many foreigners married to locals do get the citizenship.

if no expat bothers to give a damn and take an insight into how kuwaiti laws or people work, then its your damn fault i have tons of foreign friends who adapted and know how to deal with kuwaitis. i live in australia and if i dont adapt ill end up an outcast! stop the freakin moaning and learn somethin about the damn country

Lets be more specific here, we are talking about Driving.

Regardless, whether you were a foreigner or citizen, the way you earn the driving license in Kuwait is simply shit.

All you have to do is learn 10 traffic signs, voila, mabrok you got your driving license.

In the UK, you have to study one thick ass book to learn about, how far you should be behind a car, hazard situations, emergency breaks, and the SPEED LIMIT WHEN DRIVING IN A NEIGHBORHOOD.

Basically majority drivers in here, dont give a crap about the most simple protocol in driving when maneuvering, which is called MSM, which means, mirror, signal, maneuver.

If they dont give a crap about MSM, people here dont give a crap about driving past a redlight.

Change the fuckin driving tests, and make them harder.

cheers

I see your MSM and I raise you FLNB:

FLNB = Four Laner No Brainer – speeding on the lef most lane, cross over four lanes of traffic to make the exit on the right hand side without a signal, or even a glance at the wing mirrors.

how far you should be behind a car = 2 inches
hazard situations = perform ‘donuts’ in the road when it rains
emergency breaks = used for power turns
SPEED LIMIT WHEN DRIVING IN A NEIGHBORHOOD = same as the adjacent highway

Sometimes I burn an orange light just so i don’t get rear ended by the driver behind me speeding to get through the light last minute. Tough choices.

The single biggest demographic increase has been Egyptians (over 750,000K in Kuwait now).

Most (not all) dont follow rules, a good percentage drive without a licence regulations, no insurance, and the biggest foreign demographic in local crimes(MOI stated so).

Many are unskilled and bring little value to the country. They keep pouring in because of the ‘Arab Spring.’

Most expats caught speeding or driving without a licence arent Indians, Lebanese, Westerners or Syrians, they are Egyptians according to a MOI source.

Crime links:

https://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/154602/reftab/116/t/Egyptians-top-crime-ratings-in-Kuwait-Indians-3rd–Bangladeshis-4th/Default.aspx

https://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/12/24/one-crime-every-30-minutes-in-kuwait-killing-of-dentist-spotlights-alarming-rise-in-crime-rate-daily/

There should be caps on certain nationalities entering Kuwait.

The government couldnt find a good idea to resolve the traffic and blame it on expats. They couldnt control the number of expats because they keep on issuing visas because our money is their bread and butter. Where do they get their salaries from… From our money (expats) from our hard earned money paying for our residence, family residence, traffic violations, government work and etc… Then after all these years that kuwait is developing they shooo us away, they shooo us in a way that turns our lives our childrens lives in mystery. God forbid and blessed those souls who had taken away most of expatriates dreams.

In my building there is an expat family that consists of 4daughters, father and mother. They have FIVE 5 cars!!! Why cant the government come up with a system to limit number of cars within 1 family.

Yesterday near to Fanar main gate ( Salim Mubarak Str. ) They started pulling over all the taxi’s – cheap cars !! … what does that leave an impression for new visitors coming to Kuwait ?

1. why there is always comparison to uk usa austratlia or canada, there are more law efficient countries than them

2. Not all kuwaities are roughriders or not all expats are decent law abiding drivers.. it all depends on the person sitting behind the wheel , if he is a expat or citizen, he has to drive with sense why there is a separate section for western expats and eastern expats ,, expats are just expats

3. what i see is a chain of actions , one problem creating other. In time if road extensions,bridges, and other solutions would have applied than this traffic congestion would have been less than now. I live off the 5th ring road , i daily witness , kuwaity, expats (all) honking horns, pushing in the lanes, just to reach faster ,by 7 am the road is jam packed, because, cars are more and the road size is same . (metro would be a very big solution)

4. mentioned by someone, if you drive safely by 100 speed the big car behind you flashes lights, honk the horn, so that you speed up and his car can take off flight i guess, so what u do? u need a few seconds to check the mirror change the lane and let him pass by, but does he have that much patience?? nope….if you are few meters away from signal and any second it will fall yellow, so u try to pace down and adjust to stop but the guy behind u , flashes lights and horns , but he has to stop becos of u , and than he comes next to you car and yells at u,showing the impatience ,,becos he could not pass the signal

5. why all of a sudden so many road projects all around going on same time , example shuwaikh, 5th ring road, sabah hospital area, which in result creates traffic jams, while this road projects are going on, why is the govt. not planning a metro also with that to accommodate in future,

6. five years back i was drving a 8 cylinder caprice, and was new behind the steering wheel, out of my senses, got many tickets, and even had to deposite my license for 2 months as punishment. i paid more than 250 kd. but that brought my senses on normal level. since than i have learned and till now no more penalties

7. Deporting the expats is not the solution. but its the govts temp solution to ease at the initial stage they are eager to solve the giant problem but their way is wrong. how much penalty is paid by the expats let the citizens also pay. becos expat you can depot ,, where will the citizen go? there is a saying, TODAYS SOLUTION CAN BE TOMMOROWS PROBLEM

8. punish the culprit for the reckless driving, be it citizen or any expat ,take the car and license for 2-3 months from that person so that he learn a lesson (as i learned) no wasta , increase the penalty fees , make the procedures to get license more hard and strict, have more patrolling police on the road, have good planning to expand road network, having so many nationalities here, have traffic awareness campaign in unity of citizens , all expats, and police dept on regular basis. just sending msgs on mobile will not work. need training on both side, expats – citizens and the police also. the police need to be trained not to be rude or rough in talk, their good approach to the public will surely make and effect

9. the way to reduce illegal drivers from the road is just depot them when caught? last few days there are lots of campaign where illegal workers , or diff nationalities are caught, they will be surely deported. but what about the person who sold them that visa or ekama? to clap ,, two hands are required. expats want to enter Kuwait on cheap ways, and they provide that cheap way, to stop the illegals to come in, first is to close files of all those who trade visa, once that is done no more new unskilled labor entering, and have enough time to swipe out the remaining ones. and ya wasta need to swipe out first, ( is it possible?)

10. someone in the discussion mentioned about system,, there is a need of a system change, from grassroot level.. traffic congestion or accidents is just one part of a gigantic problem

11 rite now there is no such channel where expats can go to the govt and tell their suggestion related to daily problems they face, if. we voice out only on the blogs but why cant the authority or govt . the expat community and citizens come to a same forum or platform where things can be addressed instead of such hush rush solutions?

12 lot of things are going on assumptions , that if we do this way it might solve the problem, if they do this or do that,, nothing specific

Xandra, i did not i had to write for your entertainment
,,,,
let me know your likes in reading, i will take care of it next time

Not long ago, I jumped a red light (by mistake, maybe I was thinking a lot). Worst still, I was involved in a head on collision with another car. All good, no one was hurt but the cars. I was lucky enough to get away with the other party (Who I hit); fortunately he is my college driving a company car with full insurance.
But…I did break the law by jumping a red light. I am bound to be punished. Actually I should be. And I was. On day I get a call from the Ministry of Justice to report to them and pay a KD200 as bail or go to jail for 2 months. Of course I opted for the 1st option. Doesnโ€™t end here. I get a date for a hearing at the traffic court for the final verdict to be passed. Fair enough. However, the guys at the court made me feel as if I have committed the worst crime on this land, and could be deported for this. I was shaken, but not stirred. Took some good advice from my knowledgeable friends, and appeared in the court on the given date. Met the honorable Judge, who was extremely welcoming and polite, who asked me what happened and all that. I told him it was my mistake I am usually a careful person but I slipped this one time. He heard everything I said carefully and said, โ€œOKโ€, and told me that he will pass a judgment in a while and Iโ€™ll know what it is. Though he told me not to worry (He did say this). Itโ€™ll only be a fine that I have to pay. Which I promptly did when asked to (KD 100). Even Got My KD 200 back. The whole experience though a bit taxing, wasnโ€™t too bad for an expat (Indian), as every single person I came across, right from the cop at the accident scene to the guys in the police station, OK the guys it he court were a bit intimidating, and I can understand that (Even happens back in my country), to the Judge and his steno were always willing to help and were polite till the end. OK Iโ€™ve said a lot now.
Moral of the story,
– If itโ€™s a law, u better respect and follow it.
– If you break it, be ready to pay the penalty.
– Be honest and accept your mistake if it is.
Guys No one is going to be deported randomly because of a traffic violation. No country or government is ideal or perfect. And Kuwait is no exception.
Just be careful out there.

So true.. I think that the media exaggerates things sometimes. There are a lots of reasonable and responsible officials here, and I suppose that eventually no good person will be treated unjustly.

simple… just go with the flow.
never mind any other laws they want to impose..
If it bites you in the ass, just think of one thing..
SHIT HAPPENS! LOL

Frankly I don’t see it as an expat issue at all. I’ve probably been almost run over by more Kuwaitis than expats!! THis is an issue of law, not of citizenship or visa. The main reason the Kuwait government chose to do this this way is because, like every other government problem here, they are so inept that they can only throw dynamite at every issue. Start deporting expats Kuwait! I’m leaving here in a month or so anyway and will enjoy watching you clean your own shit, pump your own gas, care for your own kids, carry your own groceries, and any number of other things that expats do for you. It should be a good show!!

..but the expat lane will only ever travel at 80kph in a 120kph zone, with the middle lane reserved for terrified Corolla drivers doing 60kph.

I like the bit at the top where it states “Please note the new traffic law-penalties are serious”.

What? In the past they were just for fun?

No wonder it’s like the wild-west on the roads.

I say the ones complaining here about the law are guilty of speeding, passing red lights, zigzagging, driving crazy fast like they don’t know break exists, non-giving way to pedestrians as if time would ran out on them, bossy type of parking anywhere like they own the streets and so on.
Your happy wrong doing days are over now!
stop being cocky, obey the law of traffic or off you all go!
OBEY…then live a happy life in Kuwait! Period.

Hello,
I have had my american license for over 3 years now and im going to GUST next year. I Know how to drive and i dont have a kuwaiti license Though. Would i get deported if i dont have my license the first few months of university?

You are only allowed to drive with international license if on visit visa. Otherwise its a traffic violation and its up to the cop’s decision (or mood) what happens if caught.

I am an expat yet I agree that at least the MOI is doing something to solve the problem of traffic jam and over population,but one thing every expat in Kuwait has been here on the sponsorship of a Kuwaiti who is making money out of him, why not search for those who are dealing with visa and punish them too

That Matt is the bottom-line statement of this entire post.”It will undoubtedly be built by the same guys that build Bangladeshi shopping malls.” That, my friend said it all.

Yes that’s right. Take it out on the expats. They’re to balme for all Kuwait’s woes and traffic problems. These expats have too many cars, too many chauffeurs, too many cooks and maids. Each expat family owns at least 4 cars and they’re the ones causing the traffic jams. These expats feel so good and secure that they “flout” all trafffic rules and comit all sorts of violations because they think they can get away with it. It is all their fault. That will teach them. Let’s raise the price of gasoline for expats only. Let’s segregate hospitals’ working hours: Kuwaitis get attended to in the mornings and expats in the afternoons. Let’s deport 100,000 expats per year…yeah, that’s right..that’ll teach them. Only then can Kuwait catch up with the development in the rest of the GCC.
The above is sarcasm… (quote)

Soon the percentage of the front back accidents will increase rapidly in the traffic intersection because of the sudden stop of an expat (front car) and the speed of a citizen (back car).
Any body know why ??????????????

personally – i believe that speeding is partially the problem – while bad driving is the rest…

i wish people would just have their licenses taken away – wouldn’t that be better than deporting people?

and old old old cars that move like insects on some kind of sedatives! should be banned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My father has been in Kuwait since 1966,it is his country who spend most of his life there, his stay is even older than the man who will take the action against him, can you imagin the feeling of a man who served a country for 44 years, that he will be kicked out due to a traffic citation which could happened accedently!!!!! is that fair???

Not all cops are bad and have an agenda to get rid of the expatriate community. Yes I admit some of the younger ones from the new generations do look at expatriates as a pain in the ass but not all of them.

From my personal experience .. I got rear ended at a traffic light by a lady driving a Tahoe 2 weeks ago. The traffic light I was at turned green and about 6 cars ahead of me passed when the lights turned yellow and I obviously because of all the madness and changes in the law lately slowed down and stopped at the red light. Why take a chance right ?? And bang lo behold I got run into by this woman in the Tahoe. What was she doing??? according to her she was just checking her lipstick and hair in the rear view and didn’t see me stop. When the cop showed up; he asked her first what happened.. And surprisingly with full on flirt and smiles and peek a boo eyes she was truthfully told him that she took her eyes off the road but only for a few minutes to check her make up in the rear view mirror also that she had a really important meeting to get to,didn’t want to be late and didn’t really expect me to stop. But then she had the gall and audacity to blame me and tell the cop why did I not cross the yellow light when I had the chance and move on?? It wasn’t like I was crossing a red light. Told the cop I could have and should have crossed the yellow light and there wouldn’t have been a problem. Luckily for me the cop was a senior gentleman who probably has been on the job a really long time and sided with me. Simply told the woman the law is simple she hit me from the back plus she was not paying attention which she admitted freely to him so it was her fault and that she as well as I would have to follow him to the local area police station to fill out a report. Next thing I know is the lady goes berserk telling the cop that he doesn’t know who she is ,that her father is a big wig in the ministry and that he would be sorry. She screamed the ana Kuwaiti and hua hindi line yet he was taking my side. When he corrected her and told her that it wasn’t that and that the law was same for everyone and also that I wasn’t an Indian but a US national and showed her my ID she quieted down a little but only for a sec. He tried to calm her down but she just wouldn’t listen. Damnn.. all she had to do was accept it and move on, both our cars were insured, the damage was not severe, just a broken tail light and a dent..what was her issue?? In the end a process that would have taken 30 minutes max to resolve ended up being dragged over 4 hours with half of the lady’s family ending up at the police station to give me threatening looks and to shout at the investigating officer. 3 or 4 men from her group actually walked over to me and asked me hindi ???? And I just smiled and shook my head. They all thought because I looked Indian they could terrify me into submission but once word got out that that I was an American the max I got was the stink eye. In the end the investigating officer asked me if I would like to file a case or to redeem compensation for damages from the lady.. I just told him look all I wanted was the paper work for my insurance company so that I could go home. Simple. Kaalas..

In the States we would have exchanged insurance and contact information on the street and moved on. Here its a full on Soap Opera. Even the cop who brought us to the station apologized to me and said sorry for all the drama.. Some cops… the educated senior long timers are quite aware that not all traffic issues are expatriate related. Its just politics and they know it.. They just cant do much about it. Best they can do is be fair as possible and take shit from their own. Rest assured though if you are an expatriate and you break the law they will throw the book at you and throw away the key ๐Ÿ™‚

And Ladies ๐Ÿ˜‰

Rear view mirrors are not vanity mirrors for checking your hair and make up. So keep your eyes on the road and the cars ahead of you.

A yellow light does not mean take a chance,throw the dice rush,go through and hope it doesnt turn red when you pass through.. It means be cautious, slow down and frigging STOP when the Damnn light turn RED

and what do you mean by this line? “law was same for everyone and also that I wasnโ€™t an Indian but a US national and showed her my ID she quieted down a little but only for a sec”… that we should be afraid of you being a US national? I will not quiet down for you if I am right! and now way I will raise my voice if I am wrong! not all Kuwaiti are like her! LOL

oh for crying out loud.. point is that she was wrong, and her family would have felt more entitled to harass him if he held an indian passport. dont tell me it doesnt happen..

again,..you have this problem with many have. clearly it shows your ego/arrogance overcomes your thinking process. Kuwait is a place with many good citizens, but for some people like you who are accustomed to this strange “ana kuwaiti” behaviour, once you leave the borders of kuwait you will find it a nightmare to cope up with fairness and equality.

Wow, what a experience. You are right,there are quiet some Kuwaiti police who are good and perform their duty very well. I think the one’s who misbehave are those who are not trained properly or have a bad family bringing in their childhood.Parents are responsible partly for their behaviour.
Even if you were a Indian passport holder, i dont think they can do a damn shit by threatning you.You were with a Police officer who was fair and just. The lady’s family approaching you and asking hindi itself shows how dumb and egoistic family members they must have been.Despite knowing it was the lady’s mistake they chose to behave arrogantly with you, it shows how degraded some people are.

Yup hua hindi Kaalas….. Good thing ana amriqi yani mu kaalas..lol. Sifara maal ana very strong with very big stick.. not so easy kaalas .. lol.

HUM JAB APNI PE AAJATE HAI TO KISI KE BAAP SE NAI DARTE, AUR HUMHE KISI KE SAHARE KI JARURAT NAI HAI,,, FELT GOOD TO SAY THAT IN HINDI,,, MEANS,,, WHEN IT COMES TO THE DO OR DIE KINDA SITUATION WE DONT FEAR TO ANY BODY AND WE DONT NEED HELP FROM ANYONE ,,, HABIBI, HINDI ABADAN MU KHALAS

One thing I always wished the Traffic lights here had are timers on top or at least the blinkers before it changes color…This is there in so many countries and I truly believe this would be very helpful for a driver to take a decision…My Two Cents!

My questions are..

1. Instead of blaming each other, y not take steps to reduce traffic congestion?

2. Doesnt the Kuwaities (atleast) want to drive peacefully in their own country?

3. Doesnt the people in charge know that the crazy traffic and road rage is taking a toll on many other things and will cause a huge financial burden on the state? eg: Low productivity, Health care, pollution, morality?

4. When will they realize quick-fix and populist solutions will only take you a step backward and for any real progress you have to invest in infrastructure, and impartial implementation of laws?

The thing is, im obviously an expat, comparatively new to Kuwait, lives alone, doesn’t yet have a car. So i belong to a major demographic group in the population of kuwait. Everyone in this category, im sure, aspires to own a car and as soon as possible. Owning a car in Kuwait is, as far as i understand not very difficult. So can you imagine the number of cars being added everyday? The thing is, we have no choice. I would not get into a public transportation bus. Buses are cheap but are horrendously filthy and unreliable + i wouldnt know which bus to take because guess what, there are no reliable maps available, or markings on the bus-stop and notoriously anti-user. Taking a cab in Kuwait is worse. Its like a lottery. One day you might get a cab which is clean and the driver drives carefully. Next day the car smells and the driver thinks he’s maldonaldo. So what will i do? with my moderate means, i will get that 100kd car. And drive like that insect on sedatives because im frikkin scared.

So now will you go ahead and build us a subway system? Atleast you will have me out of your hair..

yes Xandra its exactly as Mr.gigo paul george said.. chances are had I been Indian and the cop from a different generation; he may have fallen for her charms and would have tried to cover up for the lady by trying to intimidate me into succumbing into accepting a false charge.

The facts being a) She rear ended me not the other way around, b) Admitting that the she was not paying attention & Finally c) Me being an American and being on the right side of the law did have its own weight.

The Indian Embassy is quite famous and well known if not notorious for closing their eyes and ears when it comes to legal matters especially related to small offenses.They tend most of the time to wear blinkers and rose tinted glasses;They never involve themselves with their citizens legal problems on any
occasion unless they have an agenda and can achieve something politically out of it. Not even if their citizens are on the right side of the law and have done nothing wrong.

The US embassy however is well known to get actively involved when their citizens are involved in any legal or criminal case. If the citizen is wrong then they tell them they are wrong, in trouble and to be prepared for the worst. However they do not abandon them to their own fate to rot away in a jail cell but do their best to arrange the best legal aid to help them out with a good defense lawyer. At least they make sure that even if he is convicted of a crime they make sure that every legal avenue is exhausted to either reduce sentence or to make sure they are treated fairly in prison.If he is in the right the same happens only difference is they go one step ahead. That is they go after and sue the bastards who have falsely accused them and slapped false charges against their citizens and 8 times out of 10 they win. Most cops and ministry officials know this that is why they tend to be less heavy handed with an US citizen especially when they know the guy has not committed a crime or anything illegal.

So no you do not have to fear me because of my nationality just be wary that we don’t scare as easy or get easily intimidated like our Indian brothers from the sub continent.

agree to ur embassy statement , but that does not make us weak, legally may be , but guts ,, in our language we say , jigra ,, that we are born with
ask the punjabi .. they are having the biggest jigar in india, as said why fear when sardar is here

One of colleagues a proud Indian Punjabi Sikh man just read my earlier comment and said we don’t scare so easy either.. told me to write the below line but didn’t explain the meaning said if Indian brethren on this blog would know its meaning and get back to me ๐Ÿ˜‰

so here it is “zada hak ithe rak”

Forgive my spelling but that’s how it sounds when he says it and oh yeah if it helps he was pumping his fist in the air when he said it. LOL

“It is pointless to try to argue based on ethics/morality as this measure is a crowd pleaser targeted to the local population”.

LOL wuts dis dude upto seriously?? ๐Ÿ˜€ admit it.. actually an INDIAN who has then taken American citizenship!! its so obvious from ur emphasized speech… certainly no american looks like an Indian so much dat even if born in America (who gets citizenship by birth) dat Indian will no way grow up to look like an Indian ๐Ÿ˜€ hahahah now dun pretend not to know d meanin of wut u qouted, its obvious it waznt a sardar sayin dat. to u mate… while somethin makes me giggle dat u probably were singin d while song yellin it out while quotin dat line here —

Saaddaaaaaa haqq! Ittheyyyyyyy rakhhh!!!!!!!

Well thanx anyways.. u did succeed in changin dis depressive topic n bringin atleast a smile on an expat’s face… see das us expats.. a solution mite fail to make us smile but… ‘Sadda haqq itthey rakh’ will NEVER fail ๐Ÿ™‚ Gbu fren…

i think we should understand that both locals and expats commit traffic violations and steps need to be taken to control the situation. But in no circumstance is it acceptable to deport anyone for say crossing a red signal once or twice.People might sometimes find it difficult to stop at the orange light even if they are at a speed of 80 or under. I say Deportation is unacceptable and extreme because no country in the world has implemented this system.If it was effective & humane i am sure western countries would have implemented it for sure,but i dont see one western or devoloped nation have such a inhumane law.

If Kuwait wants to reduce the number incoming migrants (which it has every right to) they can stop New work visa’s or put a limit to it….Why use Foolish means to reach your goals. This law of deporting traffic violations will further Taint Kuwait’s image in international view…this is where all the oil money is not helping at all.I wish good for kuwait as i do for any other country, but seriously human rights have not improved much here.

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