Randon Dubai 1

"You People" I was recently involved in a fender bender on my way home from school one evening. I had stayed late to work out a bit and then play in the weekly floor hockey game. The FH was so much fun and I was debating whether or not to play the last game or just head home. I opted to head home and on the way I was involved in the accident. (I guess I should have stayed!). I pulled out on a main street as I’ve done a thousand times, careful to see that no cars were close in the lane that I needed to get into as I have to make a quick U-turn to head in the opposite direction to go home. For those not in the Middle East, it is very seldom that one can make a left hand turn in this country. You have to use U-turn spots or round-abouts. I had plenty of room as I pulled out and got over into the lane I needed to be in. I didn’t account for the SUV that was flying down the road like a ‘bat out of hell!’ He was on me before I knew it, and as I gunned my engine and attempted to dart back over into the right lane, the SUV’s front right headlight area crunched into my left taillight area. I kept driving until I got to a side street to pull over and as I got out of the car, I saw that the person who hit me (from behind) was a local Emirati. My first thought was, “Uh Oh!” For those of us who are used to driving in the non-Middle Eastern world, this means nothing because unless there are usual circumstances, the person that hits a car from behind is usually at fault. Well, not here if that person is a local! There is a food chain here and Emiratis are at the top in almost all cases…even for the most heinous of crimes locals are not prosecuted/blamed/charged as others in the country. Unfortunately, as a white Westerner I fall somewhat under them but am above most Asians, Africans, and probably all service workers, so if they would have hit me………..? The local was a young guy and got out of the car saying how people don’t always pay attention while they are driving. I didn’t know if he was referring to me or him! Then he proceeded to tell me not to worry, “You people always have the insurance to…fix your car, fix my car!” When the police got there, he spoke to them in Arabic, they never asked me anything, and wrote me out the traffic ticket and ‘pink’ insurance slip which means ‘you’re at fault and you pay.’ I mentioned that the guy was speeding (his English wasn’t very good, but better than my Arabic) and he said, maybe but that he didn’t see it. I said there were no skid marks, no attempt to slow down, etc but again he said he’d not seen the accident and that it was my fault, but not to worry….the insurance will take care of everything. Three funny things did happen: 1) As we waited for the police, the young Emirati in a nice, clean, WHITE dishdasha tried to knock his bumper off. He did this mostly with several stomps of his sandal (I helped a bit). He had to finish it off by loosing up something with a wrench and this was funny as he was trying to do so by reaching up under the car without getting his outfit dirty! I had to chuckle to myself. I knew I was about to get ‘f’ed in this, so at least I had this little moment! 2) On impact I got jerked up and then back and my neck seemed a little stiff when I got out of the car. I think this was just because of not sleeping well, playing floor hockey, etc so I moved it around to crack my neck and after two pops, it really felt good! I think the wreck gave me ‘reverse whiplash’ if that’s possible! 3) I have to say, that even though I got screwed, the Emirati and policemen were really nice. I guess the local was glad that I wasn’t hurt. After getting the ticket and pink slip, I wished the policeman a “Ramadam Kareem” and he kind of chuckled. It’s the holy month of Ramadan after all, so Muslims are celebrating after sundown. No need to leave the scene in a huff for me. And he had to work while others are eating and celebrating…..and he did get to the accident site fast which usually isn’t the case.

Next up was a visit to the insurance company, which took a week since they are on Ramadan hours and were only open from 9-2:30 (must be nice!) They gave me a choice of what garage to leave my car with and wait for the adjuster to OK the repairs. As the garage guy looked at the damage and took pictures, he asked how in the world I had gotten the pink slip. I said that I’d gotten hit by a local, and he went “Oh, that’s why!” As I write this, my car is in the garage and might take weeks to repair.

After twice ordering the wrong bumper, I finally called and said I was coming to get the car until the correct parts were in. They tried to stall and I just insisted that I’d be there by 5:00 and I was driving it off the lot. When I got there it was practically finished except for the messed up trunk. After another week, they called with the correct part they needed, I took it back in and had it back in two days.

And then the nightmare of re-registration, paying fines, and impending impoundment started….but that’s another story!