Ahmad Khalifa's World

In my opinion, traffic in Cairo has reached extreme levels of stress that are unbearable. The issue is not only the time and effort wasted sitting in traffic, but also health and safety issues.

This is an attempt to brush up on the problem and see if something can be done.

This is a list of certain aspects of traffic that I think are worthy of some attention. Some of them are driver issues and others are authority/regulation issues.

• Enforcement Does it really exist? True enforcement of rules and regulations, not just the usual speed trap
• Non-Vehicle Users Pedestrians, Bicycles, Airplanes, Dogs, etc. All of those use the roads haphazardly. Of course, the sidewalks are not always pedestrian-friendly, so you can't just blame the pedestrians
• Aggressive Driving This seems to be the norm nowadays. Pushing through and cutting people off is on the driving manual.
• Seat Belts, Internal Safety, and Child Safety Little kid on daddy's lap while daddy is driving, is not only a distraction, but also a risk to the child. Not necessarily in case of accident, even in a sudden stop or hard swerve, the child could be hurt.
• Drowsy, Distracted, Impaired Driving I could argue that distracted driving causes more fender benders than any other cause
• Emergency Vehicles Firetrucks and Ambulances need more respect, and they need to respect the road more.
• New Drivers New drivers are rushed out to the road without proper testing and coaching
• Calming, Speed bumps Traffic calming techniques are often used in place of other methods. Instead of calming traffic down as a last resort, it's used as a first solution. Not to mention that they're abused in a way that makes some of them road hazards. Speed bumps that are not marked, or consecutive lines of cats eyes horizontally
• Speed Limits Slower is not always better. Appropriate speed limits need to be in place. Not too fast, not too slow. I believe there is a rule about setting the speed limit at the 85th percentile of drivers' speeds.
• Traffic Signs Inconsistent, unreliable, and incomprehensible.
• Parking Double, triple, quad parking. This is more of a municipality issue
• Transportation Systems An outdated and slow metro, overcrowded underground line and dangerous busses, these don't encourage people to use public transport, but encourage people to buy more cars
• Education I don't think that traffic is formally taught in Egypt. The licencing tests don't examine new drivers properly
• Environment There is a noticable change in climate. Smog can be seen easily over the certain busy areas. Cars, busses, and trucks with untuned engines that spew waste into the air.
• Vehicle Safety and Maintenance Cars without headlights, a capable breaking system, windshields, etc... No matter the state of a car, they're all allowed on the roads, even though there are rules about vehicle safety
• Traffic Impediment Traffic jams are too often created from nothing. Respect for the roads can go a long way in making our lives flow much easier
• Lane Conduct Lanes are not defined by the lines, but by how many cars can fit on the road
• Right-Of-Way No one knows whose right of way it is, and everyone claims it's theirs.
• Fines and Penalties I think fines and penalties should be instantanious. Drivers need to be alerted to fines more rapidly so that their conduct can be affected

Anyway, more to come in the future