Our safety plea

Traffic police today called on drivers to show them more respect, cool down the pace and follow the basic rules of the road in a bid to cut down the number of injuries and deaths caused by idiotic driving.

They are often the first on the scene of tragedies and daily have to face abuse from mad motorists racing to their destinations or caught up in the congestion as the island expands and develops like never before.

Waleed Abdulla from Hamad Town and Hassan Ali Hassan from Isa Town are on the frontline trying their best to keep the kingdom moving.

Mr Abdulla has been a traffic policeman for the last 28 years. He joined the service in 1979 as a young 17-year old. Today, after five promotions he holds the rank of Raes Araffa.

In comparison, Mr Hassan is a more recent recruit. The average time he spends on the road is nine hours.

Both of them enjoy their work and feel privileged to serve the community. Mr Hassan even rejected the offer of an office job as he prefers to work on the field and be closer to the action.

Mr Abdulla will soon get an option of early retirement but hopes to continue performing his duties until he retires at the age of 60, although life as a traffic policeman is not an easy one.

He said: "We have to deal with road rage, noise, pollution, anger and stress. However, you get used to it. It was very difficult at the start but you learn to cope with the moods of people, the long hours and extreme weather conditions and do our duty even during the fasting time at Ramadan."

The worst time, however, is coming face to face with serious accidents.

Mr Abdulla explained: "Although I am now used to dealing with accidents I always feel sad when people get badly hurt. At times we face four to five accidents a day. It is usually because children are not belted, people are talking on the mobile phone, drivers are speeding and lose control of their cars."

The memories of one incident in particular on the 16 December Road near Isa Town still haunt him.

A young driver careered into a lamppost in the early hours when the road was clear. His injuries were so severe that he eventually lost his leg. "This would never have happened if the driver was not speeding," the officer explained.

Both policemen agree that road accidents happen because drivers do not follow the simplest of traffic rules.

Mr Hassan said: "People do not drive in lanes; they swerve from the right to left without any warning; they jump red lights and are constantly speeding and braking.

"We often spot people eating while they are driving and forgetting that they are on the road.

"We have even seen people reading the newspaper while driving as well as seating children on their laps.

"When we warn the drivers they apologise ... but for some it can be too late."

Respect for traffic police has also become an issue in recent years. Mr Abdulla explained: "In the earlier days people used to co-operate with the traffic policeman. They had a high regard for us and would not dare to cross a police car - yet today's generation appear to want to speed and race along with the police car!"

Both officers often encounter people who shout at them because of traffic delays. They said: "The jams can be heavy and it makes some people mad but we are helpless to do anything about it. We cannot make cars and trucks disappear - all we can do is try and help move it along as best as we can."

Mr Hassan is responsible for keeping traffic moving at the Isa Town Gate roundabout. In his opinion, this and the Shaikh Salman roundabouts are two of the busiest in the country.

He said: "Isa Town Gate roundabout has five lanes. It leads to some 12 schools in the area, the traffic school, newspaper offices and two ministries. There are also residences near here which make the roundabout extremely busy. And the Shaikh Salman roundabout services all the traffic from Salmabad.

"But we are up for the challenge!"