Last year I posted about how Traffic Department’s instagram account @traffic_kw was very active and constantly posting videos of car chases and before and after videos of cars that had violated laws and then after they were caught. Over the weekend the Traffic Department posted a video of a tragic incident that took place last Sunday when one of their officers was killed by a reckless driver.
The video is in Arabic but with English subtitles and you can watch it above. It’s pretty sad and makes you aware that the roads aren’t just unsafe for us, but also the cops. A week earlier another police officer was lucky to escape injury when a speeding car hit his parked car. The video of that incident along with the officer recounting his experience can be seen below. We really need to try and figure out how to make our roads safer because it’s not gonna get better by itself.
9 replies on “This is What Happened on Sunday”
So sad. May his soul Rest In Peace.
I hope the reckless driver gets the harshest punishment for this.
Police should start posting videos of policemen texting while driving. rarely you see a policeman not texting while driving.
Peter – two wrongs don’t make a right but surely this isn’t the time or the place?
I’m not in Kuwait any more unfortunately – but I have to say that when I was there the policeman were always wonderful to me and my family. Many times did we pull over because one of our kids had undid their seat belt or was vomiting in the back and every time they were lovely, provided a shield for us, helped us……..
Even when I was leaving and got stopped at checkpoints and explained that I was leaving for good hence no civil ID to show them – they were always so nice. One even said “we will miss you. Come back soon please” even though he didn’t know me.
Our experience in Kuwait was not good overall, but the police were always lovely and they don’t deserve this.
Take away what they want you to take away – that the driving HAS to improve not that policeman sometimes text behind the wheel. Living elsewhere as I do now in a major city – only serves to highlight even more how bad the driving was in Kuwait.
the person who ran over the cop was declared as mentally unstable !!
If you are talking about the incident that happened couple of days ago, The driver was under the influence of drugs, he was not declared mentally unstable.
So, I’ve been bumped at high speed, almost side-swiped, followed at high speed…
Every morning on the 5th RR there are cars driving in excess of 140k, some weaving in and out of traffic, some in the far left lane, many speeding right by the MOI parked patrols
The 30 and 40 in the south are free for alls.
Some of it is a lack of driver training, some of it is entitlement, some of it is knowing nothing will happen.
Violation of traffic laws and boorish behavior are so rampant, there are plenty of opportunities to pull people over and make examples of them.
So…why doesn’t this happen?
Get rid of insurance that cost 20kd a year to drive a car, increase fines and properly execute a point system for driver license. Also, you should have multiple steps to getting a full license. Here in Canada it takes two years and 3 licenses until you have your full drivers license.
If you get caught speeding or have accidents your insurance can go up as high as 600 dollars a month. There are people driving around cars that are worth less than the insurance they pay. 4 cousins of mine died in Kuwait due to recklessness. All weren’t wearing seat belts and all were speeding.
I’ll add a few to this list:
– Don’t hire a domestic to be a gardener and then make them your driver. It’s a thing. Those are they guys driving 60 on a ring road in the middle lane. It’s because they don’t have a license or experience driving.
– Don’t allow the KDD guy to sell his goods in a traffic circle. Need your ice cream? You can wait.
– Don’t let people use the traffic circles as cell phone waiting areas. Gotta make/take a call? It can wait.
– Hands-free cell use. Holding that thing to your face with the speaker on isn’t “hands free”.
– Lane holding, or driving on the stripe. This is either because you’re on your cell, you’re drunk, or you’re an entitled asshole. Or all three.
– Tailgating. This is dangerous at any speed. Just because you want to drive 140 in the left lane doesn’t mean you get to flash everyone out of your way in dense traffic.
– Swooping into an exit lane AFTER the last minute. Want to bump your way in? Tough. Go down the road and try again. The Avenues will still be there.
– PUT THE KIDS IN A GODDAMN CARSEAT AND NOT YOUR GODDAMN LAP!!! Not only is it dangerous as fuck, it’s a distraction when kids are using the center console like a mobile Trampo park. (Mama, your fat gut is only gonna squash junior’s head into the dashboard that much harder.)
I can probably think of a hundred more. Unfortunately, like everything else here, driving involves pesky rules that most don’t follow out of arrogant entitlement or ignorance.
RIP.. Officer Al Enzi . Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family
I thought I d leave a comment in line to what John, Peter, 3azeez and Bader all commented earlier .. but I realized there isn’t any point to it.. All had valid points and made sense
But this is the same shit that’s been happening since the very beginning . Nothing was done then , Nothing is being done now, Nothing will be down in the future. Another entitled prick will be declared mentally unstable and be let off in six months so that he can get back into his car and kill somebody else in the future. Its not like you can deport him right??