Little things mean a lot

By Fayza Hassan
Every now and then, mega projects are launched to ease the flow of traffic in greater Cairo. One-way streets change direction; straight lines are detoured; new bridges sprout every year, raising incongruous arches over the Nile while other, perfectly serviceable bridges, are dismantled; beautiful old trees are uprooted and entire ancient quarters are razed regardless of the historical and architectural treasures they may be harbouring. All this activity takes place with the comfort of the citizens in mind we are told; yet the alleged beneficiaries of such grand enterprises, i.e. the motorists and pedestrians, are seeing no end to their miseries, and confusion increases with each new tentative. Is there no relief in sight? If we think of the future, with the large percentage of the population still below the age of 18, which means that soon they too will hit the road, the picture is bleak indeed.
Let us imagine for a minute however that, instead of building bridges or opening thoroughfares, we concentrated on a few simple amendments to the present situation. What if microbus drivers gave up behaving like the devils of the asphalt, weaving their merry way right, left and centre, risking everyone's life in the process of competing for each and every prospective client, and attempted to simply follow a straight line? They might even be instructed in the art of using agreed upon, clearly marked, bus stops at which passengers could wait, standing on the footpath, as opposed to running insanely in the middle of the road in their efforts to flag one of these passing meteors. The only place where I have seen such unruly conduct as practiced by our microbus drivers was in New Caledonia, quarter of a century ago, but then the capital Nouméa was only credited with half a million inhabitants and this type of transport offered door to door service, hardly the case in Cairo. Taxis could also be forced to stop loading and unloading their passengers right in the middle of busy streets.
And what would be wrong with devising stiff penalties for dangerous driving? Policing the unpardonable behaviour of irresponsible youngsters, who believe that the roads are part of their family estate, would bring a welcome relief. As a matter of fact, it could even save lives. Why don't we have Learner's permits? They are common practice all over the world. Young drivers should confine their antics to the suburbs instead of the Maadi Corniche and should be supervised by responsible adults.
Pedestrian crossings are sorely needed. It only takes some white paint and someone able to draw several straight lines. Not an impossible task. Maybe then foolhardy young men will no longer throw themselves in front of on coming vehicles and the elderly will not have to cross highways with their hands raised to the sky risking a mortal accident or a heart attack in the process.
Of course traffic lights in working order and positioned at strategic points would present a definite advantage, but let us just aim for small things. Thirty years ago, in Sydney, pedestrians were fined for jaywalking. That of course may be too much to ask, but couldn't we fine pedestrians who insist on walking on the street? The common excuse for not using the footpaths is that they are in a scandalous state of disrepair. True, but the roads are equally dotted with potholes, therefore the argument that people are safer walking among cars does not really hold water.
In many countries the roads are endowed at cross roads with signs indicating the right of way. Could we not adopt such a revolutionary idea? It might go some way in preventing the gridlocks plaguing our small squares and avoid the unpleasant and time-consuming encounters of a large number of cars coming from four directions at the same time. This problem is of course compounded by the presence of donkey and horse carts whose owners have decided to move a load of watermelon or oranges through the square, taking advantage of the traffic grinding to a standstill. Why on earth are these brave vendors allowed to ply their ware in downtown Cairo?
Bridges could be greatly improved by some rule giving motorists a chance to reach the lane towards which they are heading and which seems, for some obscure reason, to be situated at right angles with the oncoming traffic. Has anyone ever tried to cross the 15 of May Bridge coming from El-Nil Street and aiming for Bulaq? I do it on a daily basis. How do I go through the barrage of cars racing towards Zamalek? So far, the only way I have found to be relatively safe in order to perform this exploit of courage and daring is to press my hand on the horn trying to make it sound like a siren, close my eyes, and speed madly across. Driving is not an art invented by the Ancient Egyptians. It is an acquired skill. Its regulations cannot be improvised as we go along. No one was born with an instinctive knowledge of it, regardless of what a taxi driver once told me. It is time we applied ourselves to learn the basic rules.
Let us take heart however; with such a state of chaos, there is plenty of room for improvement. I think that we should, for the time being at least, forget the building of yet another mammoth bridge and introduce compulsive driving lessons followed by a comprehensive examination instead. Sick people often turn to the simple, tried and true remedies when all else fails. Why not emulate their example? We might be pleasantly surprised.
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