Taxi drivers see red

Tough attitudes towards Abu Dhabi’s cabbies who go run traffic lights will help make the roads safer.

Abu Dhabi taxi drivers face stiff penalties for running yellow lights. Jaime Puebla / The National

When taxi drivers approach traffic lights in Abu Dhabi, they do so with the knowledge that on any given day, an average of up to five of their colleagues will lose their jobs because they drove through lights that had changed to yellow or even red. This zero-tolerance policy by TransAD, the taxi regulatory authority, might seem a little harsh because it targets cabbies but not other drivers.

But, as The National reported yesterday, there is some justification because taxi drivers are carrying passengers who have a reasonable expectation that they will be conveyed safely to their destinations. These drivers are professionals and so they are held to a higher standard – one that will hopefully influence and improve other roadusers' performance.

One can still have some sympathy for taxi drivers. Such is the generally lax attitude towards traffic lights that ordinary drivers regularly go through intersections as the lights turn red. This puts taxi drivers in the invidious position where they fear for their jobs if they do not stop as the lights turn yellow but have to balance that against the risk of being rear-ended by other drivers. This dilemma could be resolved by more red light cameras so that all drivers face consequences if they fail to stop. In this way, Abu Dhabi’s roads will slowly become safer for everyone.