The streets of Abu Dhabi are full of people from all corners of the earth. But despite our city’s cosmopolitan nature, there’s also a certifiable and clear dichotomy between people who respect pedestrians and those that don’t. For anyone that has attempted walking in the city, it’s clear the zebra crossing can sometimes be obsolete. Although intended to give people on foot the right of way, more often than not pedestrians will have to wait and rely on the kindness of drivers to give them priority.
Being a Lebanese-Canadian, I was somewhat prepared for the reality here. Canada taught me that the zebra crossing was irrevocably mine, whereas in Lebanon, you sometimes had to pre-announce your road crossing on public broadcast systems. I do sometimes fly into a rage when a car speeds past me on a zebra crossing with no apparent intention of slowing down. Even more aggravating are the drivers that speed up in the distance; to warn you lest you ruin their awesome track record that is their race home.
Sadly, it appears many people will just accept this situation once they have moved here but I do feel more pressure should be placed on pedestrians’ rights. Haven’t people been taught that the stripes on the asphalt signify their utter and undeniable right of safe passage?
What really irks me is when I see a driver zoom by despite there being a conglomeration of people waiting to cross. The situation is only compounded when this occurs in broad daylight, while people roast under a scorching sun because Mr. ‘I don’t want to move my foot to the brake pedal’ speeds by in the comfort of his air-conditioned vehicle. Being a driver myself, I have noticed a trend where only people that actually walk the city will take the comfort of fellow walkers into consideration.
For a short while I thought the lack of respect for the crossing stemmed from some confusion about its terminology or purpose. Maybe some poor drivers thought zebra crossings were intended for actual zebras.
However, there are two problems with that line of thinking. The first is that such special treatment seems very unfair to the other creatures in the animal kingdom. The second is that I actually dressed up in black and white stripes once to gauge the reaction of drivers. But nothing changed. If anything, it just made me blend in even more with the road, which caused the passing cars to speed up even more.
Sara is a Time Out Abu Dhabi section editor. She’s the one waving frantically at you in your rear-view mirror.
