Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes: When Will the Ethics of Driving Return to the Street

Sally was used to driving her car, equipped for people of determination and special abilities – with a sticker on its glass indicating this – every day from her home in Nasr City to her workplace in the Mawqaf El-Asher area in Cairo.

But she could not adapt to the noise, the din and the chaos of the driving of vehicles and motorcycles in the streets she passes through on her journey to and from home, despite turning to the family doctor for treatment of the headaches and tension that afflict her daily.

She says that she had previously used the available transport (the microbus) to go to work instead of her car, when she saw with her own eyes a collision between the microbus she was riding in and a tuk-tuk that was racing one of the “pilots” (a delivery motorcyclist) riding against the traffic, which resulted in the latter’s death.

In another scene she witnessed a brawl after a clash between the microbus and tuk-tuk drivers, in which many drivers of the blue minibuses also took part, because of the accident and the resulting blocking of the road and their being stopped, and their eager efforts to get their vehicles through so as to save time and increase the number of trips, paying no attention to the accident or the deceased; this affected her physical and psychological health, leading her to undergo treatment for more than a month and to refuse to repeat the experience of using these means of transport under any circumstances.

She continues that her journey there and back is a daily journey of death, and at the very least a journey of noise and visual pollution, psychological exhaustion and fear for her life and the lives of the passengers in the various vehicles and of those crossing the road, because of the circus of dangerous driving in which many drivers take part.

The danger of driving is due to the absence of ethics, taste and art among many categories of drivers of vehicles and motorcycles of different kinds, which can be limited to several main types known to the man in the street, namely (the delivery “pilots” – show-off motorcyclists – tuk-tuk drivers – microbus drivers – blue minibus drivers), in addition to the dangerous driving of some young people of both sexes, in addition to those who use the phone while driving?

The “pilots” (delivery riders) take the opposite lane in most streets of Cairo, whether it is an expressway or a main axis, or a slow or side road, as the easiest and fastest way to deliver orders to various places; add to that the motorcyclists and their dangerous stunts in the streets and squares and in wedding processions.

And the tuk-tuk comes at us from every direction, moving randomly without regard for the laws, without fear or deterrence.

We also see the drivers of the blue minibuses and microbuses showing off, competing and racing, relying on speed and horns to reach their stops before others so as to fill their seats quickly.

They use the horn continuously and annoyingly without justification, which makes this style of driving unsafe for private car drivers of both sexes and for people with special abilities; and if any citizen objects to the style of driving, they may insult him in two ways: the first through certain patterns of sound made with the horn that translate into insults and abuse, and the second through contempt or deliberate indifference that departs from moral and social principles and values.

The acts, conduct and behaviour of these categories of vehicle drivers violate the law, customs, values and morals and lead to indiscipline in the street, which terrifies citizens while they are driving their cars or crossing the road.

It is a decline in the taste, art and ethics that drivers of vehicles and means of transport of all kinds should display; add to that the sound of songs coming from some of these vehicles mixed with the smell of drugs, and the various crimes that result from this.

When will commitment to the driving slogan “taste, art and ethics” return?

The state spares no effort in supporting the police and traffic forces, and is working to complete the camera system and the electronic link between the cameras to detect and analyse violations and uncover crimes that may occur on the roads, while providing modern and varied means of transport instead of the tuk-tuk, and studies are being conducted on the possibility of replacing the tuk-tuk with electric vehicles.

Until these systems and the replacement are completed, we call on the legislator to toughen the penalties more and more for the acts and behaviour of the offending drivers of these vehicles and motorcycles, doubling the fines, charging impound fees and suspending the licences of both drivers and vehicles, so as to achieve general and specific deterrence, while broadcasting programmes to raise awareness of the commitment to good manners, taste and full respect for citizens and the elderly, until full discipline returns to the street and the rule of law is imposed.