127 car pile up in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi never ceases to amaze me. In 2008, there was a 60+ car pile up, leaving 5 people dead, and over 300 people injured.

This time, there was a 127 car pile up last weekend in foggy conditions. Amazingly only 1 person passed away and 59 people injured. I heard that people were driving at 120km/h in visibility of 5m. How stupid, reckless and selfish can one be.

Because of that, they are going to reduce the speed limit to 140km/h - now it's officially 120km/h but one can go up to 159km/h without getting a fine (and I am guilty of doing that too). I think it's good that they're reducing it, but the problem is bigger than lowering the speed limits. It's because people are so uneducated about the dangers of reckless driving. I had a conversation with a local colleague who said that wearing seatbelts are unnecessary unless there's a cop nearby. He's educated, been to university - and these are the guys who have so much money that imposing fines for going above the limits isn't going to change anything.

This country has a long way to go when it comes to road safety.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/emergencies/major-car-pile-up-in-abu-dhabi-1.786418