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Dear Stan, I have just read Marie-Claire's article and honestly it spoke to me on so many levels ... especially the anger part and believing when it is your time, it is your time.

When I had just entered my ninth month of pregnancy, I was innocently driving out to get a manicure at a very normal speed. I came up to the traffic police headquarters where they had removed a roundabout and there were some road works going on.

I went around the cones which were supposed to resemble a 'roundabout' and next thing I know, a speeding driver smacked into the side of my Lexus jeep and I just remember my car turning onto its side, the awful sound of it skidding across the road, and me thinking to myself 'hold on tight, get your head away from the window'.

I ended up hanging upside down as the jeep landed on its roof. An overwhelming sense of calm came over me when I realised I was alive and my thoughts immediately turned to staying calm for the baby's sake and calling my husband, who was at home, less than two minutes away, and luckily, we also live next door to my parents, and my father is a doctor.

Two wonderful young Bahraini guys helped me out the smashed window on my side and were horrified to see my big belly coming out of the car.

They helped me over to the side of the road and one went running to get me some water. I was so relieved to feel the baby kicking. Then this policeman shouts, yes SHOUTS at me 'should I call you an ambulance?' When I looked at him in total disbelief, he looked at me blankly and shouted again 'Do you want an ambulance, or not?'

I very calmly told the two young guys who helped me to tell him I was heavily pregnant and worried about my child, so if it wasn't already obvious, this was kind of an emergency!

Next thing I see my husband running across the road with my father and brother next to him. My father picked me up, put me in the car, without a word to anyone, and drove me to the hospital. In the confusion I never got the chance to thank the two young gentlemen for helping me in the way that they did.

The policeman was shouting at us that he had already called an ambulance and was actually annoyed at us for leaving. His behaviour was unbelievable! Then you look at a recent report in the GDN and senior police officers are talking about how the madness must stop ... it makes me so frustrated because I was upside down, nine months pregnant, at the entrance of their HQ, and it appeared none of them knew how to handle it properly.

Thankfully, despite my early contractions, my daughter (who is thankfully alive and well) hung in there until she was due and I only had a minor bump on my head.

The driver never apologised directly to me, or my family, and was not, I believe, adequately punished. I did not need my first experience in the delivery room to be an emergency one, with my brother, father and husband holding on to me (my poor mother was away and went through an immense amount of stress when she heard the news) waiting to hear the baby's heartbeat ... which when we did, we all let out a huge sigh of relief, and then I really lost it and broke down.

I am so thankful to the team at the BDF: my doctor who responded immediately to my call following the accident, and to the team of midwives who were with me in the delivery room.

I had to buy a brand new car (the one from the accident was brand new but was a write-off as the roof had caved in plus all the other damage) because his insurance didn't cover the full replacement cost of a new one.

Everyone kept saying it was a miracle that both my baby and I were fine ... but honestly, I'm still not ok.

A few weeks after the accident the enormity of what happened finally hit me - that I just felt like I had to make all these choices and sacrifices, while the driver went merrily on his way. I left work earlier than I had planned to as I was put under immediate precautionary leave following a two-day stay at the hospital, my family were all very affected by what had happened, I had to pay towards a new car although the one I had been driving was brand new, and I just felt the driver couldn't appreciate the consequences of his actions.

I can't be a passenger comfortably in anyone's car because I feel so out of control, the idea of anyone driving my daughter anywhere petrifies me.

I understand that when it is your time, it is your time but I'm sorry - your time could happen when you are lying in your bed peacefully - it does not have to be because an inconsiderate lunatic mowed you down.

Yes, death is always tragic, but it just seems so senseless when it involves someone else's recklessness.

There is a huge problem in Bahrain now whereby so few are prepared to take any ownership or responsibility for anything.

So many misdeeds are seen to go unpunished so why should anyone respect the law?

As a Bahraini it makes me so unbelievably sad when I see how much the situation has deteriorated over the years here - and when I read about a tragedy like the one that happened with the IKNS teacher, I just get so angry.

In my mind, maybe death wasn't avoidable, but he didn't have to die the way he did and I can't imagine what his family and friends are going through.

I hope articles like Marie-Claire's at least make someone think twice before they lean into the accelerator again.

Thanks Marie Claire.

D.A.

Bahrain.

(Name and address supplied)

Dear Stan,

With immense enthusiasm I have read Marie-Claire's article about death. It really made me wonder. Many questions came to my mind while I was devouring her lines.

I have lost quite a few of my friends. The only soothing salve to me was that there is a better life awaiting them after death, since this life is full of discrepancies, injustice and loads of intriguing issues.

Although I am a true believer in God Almighty, many a time such questions like yours pop in my relative mind.

It could be the answer, what we see as tragic now for a certain person could be a solution for problems to come to the people around him in the future.

As you said: 'Maybe ignorance truly is bliss'. Thanks for a triggering article.

Tarek A. Ghaffar,

Bahrain.