A Palestinian cab driver decided to set himself and his car on fire after he got stopped earlier today by a policeman in Salim Salam. The driver apparently had a lot of pending fines and couldn’t pay any of them. The story was first shared on bintjbeil.org and most of the comments I read there were bashing the police officer and the system and I can’t really blame them.
I don’t blame them because the traffic law is not fair, not because the fines are high, but because it’s not being applied to everyone, because some people are using their wasta to cancel the fines, because police officers are still breaking the law instead of setting the right example. The idea from the new traffic law should be to help people become aware of the traffic law and care about their own safety, not just fine them and send the money elsewhere. The police officer who stopped the driver may be a decent cop but the problem is with the whole system.
The traffic law is not working and this 43 year old Palestinian driver is yet another victim of this corrupt system. A couple of months ago, another Lebanese taxi driver had a heart attack and died after being stopped by the police for traffic violations that he is unable to pay for.
Despite all that, I encourage everyone to respect the law and drive safely for their own sake and to avoid getting heavy and useless fines. If the roads are bad and the traffic law is not working, the least we can do is drive safely, set an example for others to follow and hope that one day everyone will do the same.
Sorry, Dude. This Guy obviously had donkey blood in him and obviously more financial and emotional problems than the traffic violation fines to set himself and his car on fire.
Being over 40, the guy probably never received an education on proper driving laws and I am not aware what the system to obtain a license today is. It is in this issue where the real problem lies within. “Education” on driving laws and passing or failing a driver’s license test.
I remember an episode on TV where drivers where randomly asked to identify road signs and they had absolutely no clue what they meant.
The worst of the bunch in this country are female drivers. They represent a real hazard on the road and wouldn’t pass a driver’s license test till the end of their days with their egos. Just yesterday I got out of my car at an intersection where a female driver crossed a red light into a blocked intersection preventing green light traffic to move forwards. There was a cop yelling at her to retreat whom she insulted telling him he did not know whom he is talking to in her beat up shit mobile.
In the UAE, lebanese almost never pass the driving license test on the first round which goes to show where the root of our problem lies within. Education.
To the commentator abovee, controk your nerves and takr an antidepressant , first of all one cant put all female drivers in one package , there are a looot of females driverd who drive well , unlike the savagar barbaric agressive males in this country , second i bet on deleting pple like you who put useless conments and third , the system in Leb is soooo unfaiir , theres no equality at all and pple shpuldvee started revolting against the system loooong time ago ,
Lina: probably better to focus on your grammar and punctuation.
I’d suggest you take some Xanax before you comment and learn how to write and spell before commenting.
Education. You know ?
Most taxi cabs, not owners and operators, need to be forced in this country.
this is what i learned when preparing for my driver’s license, thanks to the driving instructors:
1. take my phone out when i get in the car, check out my whatsapp messages and benefit from traffic to reply to my messages, send so jokes (to amuse my other friends stuck in traffic at rush hour and lift up the mood of other motorists). this way we can all laugh at jokes and forget about the stress of traffic.
2. make all your phone calls in the car so that you have more time to waste on facebook and youtube in the office.
3. use the rear view mirrors to make sure that my hair is well groomed and that i look professional before i arrive in the office in the morning.
4. don’t use the seat belt because it will wrinkle my shirt and that looks are more important than anything else.
5. wear sunglasses when driving to look serious to fellow motorists in case i bump (figuratively or literately) into colleagues or my boss in traffic. wear sunglasses at night too. also, when wearing sunglasses, i can look at female drivers and their cleavage without them noticing according to one of the driving instructors.
6. traffic lights add a really nice touch of colours to our city, specially at christmas time (red and green are christmas colours after all).
7.the booklet we are given with the lebanese traffic code should be used it to fire up the bbq or the fireplace in winter and invite some friends over some castana. i can also use it to light the charcoal i need for the arguileh
8. it’s totally ok to park in the middle of the road if you need to be somewhere (the bank, the furn, a coffeshop or anywhere else) because now that you can drive, walking is a disgrace and you should try to avoid it at all costs.
9. valets are some of the most trustworthy people and you could even trust them with your kids.
10. take shortcuts and streets counter traffic to ease congestion. when against traffic in a street, drive as fast as you can before a car arrives in the correct direction.
bonus: driving is fun. people are too serious and stuck up about driving and traffic laws. the casualties we hear about are all conspiracy theories
Wouldn’t be nice if we reach out to this man and maybe help him a little/ do a fundraising or so to at least help him economically?