Comments on: Saudi Arabia: Fueling Riyadh Road Rage

By: American Bedu

American Bedu — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:41:01 +0000

Sheikh,

Welcome!

To begin with, I believe that it is guys involved in robberies and street crime as the women are prohibited from more freedom of movement. And on a deeper level, I also think that there are not enough outlets and opportunities for the youth; hence the desire/trend or whatever you wish to call it, to do such things as drifting, drag racing, etc. I agree that many are lacking attention, guidance and discipline from their parents.

By: Sheikh

Sheikh — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:27:48 +0000

Dear All,

Why in every street robbery and other street crimes only Saudi guys are involved?

Why do the Saudi guys have to do all these acts?

What is the new generation of Saudi youth lacking… for sure they are lacking attention, education and guidance from their parents..

By: delhi4cats

delhi4cats — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:38:56 +0000

You remind me VK of a project I did while working in Pakistan. It was to produce a documentary on the impact of teens and joy-riding where we started out with a scene of young teens driving recklessly in a car enjoying themselves. The scene fades to blackness but the audio continues with the sounds of a crash, crying, chaos and sirens. It then reopens to a funeral which segues to interviews with victims who have been in crashes and survived but now handicapped, the mothers, fathers and family members of those who lost loved ones in senseless crashes are interviewed, as are the peers of these youth. The police and medical staff are interviewed as well and statistics on the number of incidents are reported. I’ll stop here but I believe you get the gist. Now my question is, would such a documentary work at all in KSA?

By: Viking Daughter

Viking Daughter — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:57:25 +0000

Excuse typos, I ran out of my favorite Starbucks coffee last night, and the orange/lemon herb tea did not give me my requisite caffeine rush.

Oh, noted the flicker photos, very nice!

By: Viking Daughter

Viking Daughter — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:55:36 +0000

It’s the same in Kuwait, and I cannot get used to it. I’ve analzyed with a couple friends.

1. The system here tends to frustrate people, added with tempatures that sky rocket. That can lead to road rage.

2. Where are the police? Definitely not enough, and if you’re a ”somebody” then you get off with a slight warning.

3. A simple high school required drving program would help. Show the kids gory films of babies who die from these accidents, while implementing the correct driving rules. A mandatory program for one year.

I had a Kuwaiti man get out of his car, and literally scream in my face for beeping at him for blocking the street. He cussed at me so badly (and told me to go home) I got scared. I don’t like confrontations, so I ignore a lot of bad driving.

I’ve learned to pray a lot while driving.

By: delhi4cats

delhi4cats — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:41:53 +0000

Thankfully shootings are not common with road rage as one hears about in the States and elsewhere. It seems here we just have over-aggressive youth with too many energy and not enough outlets to expend it on.

By: TandJ

TandJ — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:12:24 +0000

Here in LA you get shot at on the freeway.
Are shootings common the road over there?

By: delhi4cats

delhi4cats — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:55:05 +0000

Hi Shameema and welcome! I appreciate your comments and hope to hear more from you.

Yes; I find that when I have shared certain aspects of Saudi life, they turn out to be pretty universal.

By: Shameema in OZ

Shameema in OZ — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:40:55 +0000

The scene you describe is not that unfamiliar. It reminds me of the young people here in Australia. Young people from all walks of life and all backgrounds who behave so obnoxioulsy and think that their ‘thuggish” behaviour is cool.

The issues at play are so numerous and is a worldwide affliction I believe. It’s the respect and the discipline and moral decay that is taking over and propogated by the TV, movies, internet, media, advertising. In this respect the world has become so small that young people all over the world are fed it to a certain degree.

Saudi in US- I cannot agree more that the minute we see rudeness and such arrogance and bad behaviour that we should point it out and let the perpetrator know it is unacceptable. If everyone did that, I think we would see real change.

Im very new to your blog Carol and Im truly fascinated by like in the Kingdom and how different it is to living in Australia but also the similarities. It highlights for me that people no matter where they from are still the same.

By: delhi4cats

delhi4cats — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:54:38 +0000

good points Saudi in US. The gangs that I am aware of here seem to be like Bangladeshi gangs and more in the Batha area of Riyadh.