It’s not only about you

In the Driver’s Seat.

Being in the driver’s seat isn’t a less important nor crucial than holding a scalpel in an operating room, or a rifle on boarders.

The first thing I was taught in my driving lessons was that in almost all situations, a person is responsible for their own actions only. While in driving, you are responsible for not only your action and decisions, but also for everyone’s around you. You can be an excellent driver, but you can still be in an accident because of someone else’s mistake. The most differentiating factor in this case, is your own speed; when you get in an accident while driving at 5 miles, 10 … 100! That’s what makes the difference in circumstances.

In each country, different regulatory organizations are responsible for defining the traffic regulations, and none of these regulations is decided out of spite or for no logical reason. It’s a scientific combination of physical, biological and psychological studies and experiments. They are all set to protect our, and others safety. Even if some of these rules might seem irrational to us, we need to understand that they are perfectly rational to others.

The stronger these rules and their application is, and the harder it is to be granted a driving licence, the safer and reassuring our driving experience will be. Out of my own experience, being born, raised and taught in Egypt, were kids at school have access to their parents’ cars, and driving under substance, or even while consuming drugs and alcohol is not an odd story. I’ve frequently seen major accidents that changed peoples’ lives forever; Mine as well. As in 2008, I lost my best friend to car accident when he was only 21 years old.

Seeing how his loss affected his family, friends and myself resulted in me being phobic to speeding cars or the sound of strong breaks.

It took me years of being afraid to drive on highways, and panicking every time I hear the screeching sound of breaks down the street. Going through the worst scenarios in my head if I am waiting for someone and they don’t pick up their phone or their battery dies on the road.

All because I know that there is no guarantee that anyone is safe on our roads; whether by speeding, cars racing on residential roads, truck drivers on drugs, and no law of supervision of who is driving how and where.

In 2019, I got a job opportunity in the UAE, and it was my first time to live away from home. On the first month of my arrival, I rented a car to be able to move around and discover the place till I learn the roads and the public transportation routes and system. And, on that first month I got a fine of 600 AED (equivalent to $165) for speeding just an extra 3 miles over the speed limit.

As much as I was sad to pay such fine when I am still at the beginning of my stay and I was still short on money, I felt safe and relieved about walking on those streets. Later on, I learned that in order for a resident to get driving license, it might be one of the most expensive and hard procedures in the UAE; where you have to attend theoretical and practical classes, take all different kinds of tests, and you could fail and retake all the classes all over again for a mistake as simple as touching the parking spot line while parking. And of course, my fellow Egyptians where the most failing nationality in the roads and transportation authority in the UAE.

Although this all might seem a normal procedure anywhere in the world. To take driving classes and tests and might fail the license test once or twice or more, but this is all brand new to me. Where in Egypt you get your driving license issued while sleeping at home, and you just go get your picture taking for the license.

Seeing the extreme of both worlds enlightened me. And the effect of both systems reflected highly on my sense of security, mental health and trust.

And what started to be ways to avoid being fined; like not using my phone while driving, wearing my seatbelt and following the traffic lights and speed limits, became habits that I can not even imagine driving in a place without them.

If everyone just thought of their vehicle as a loaded gun, pointed at their heads, their loved ones’ or a complete stranger on the street, and driving recklessly is as risky as shooting bullets randomly in the air, waiting for someone to get killed by your hands, I think we can all feel safe and secure and trust our fellow drivers to care for our safety as much as their own.