“Lebanon Debate”
After the roads of Tripoli turned into open spaces for chaos, the lives of citizens became threatened at every moment, in light of driving against the traffic, excessive speed, random stopping, and ignoring the signs and rules that were originally established to protect drivers and pedestrians.
These violations are no longer just limited violations that can be overlooked, but rather have become a daily scene that imposes itself at the city’s entrances and on its main and secondary roads, where some drivers act as if the road is private property, without caring about the danger they may cause or the lives that may be lost as a result of a moment of recklessness.
Driving against the flow of traffic not only means violating the direction of the road, but also puts drivers in front of vehicles that appear suddenly and from an unexpected direction, which reduces the ability to avoid a collision and turns any simple mistake into an accident with potentially tragic consequences.
The danger increases at entrances and intersections that witness heavy traffic, as one vehicle traveling in the opposite direction is enough to disrupt the entire traffic, endanger cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians, in addition to causing stifling congestion that may hinder the arrival of ambulances and fire engines in emergency cases.
Traffic violations in Tripoli are inseparable from a broader scene of chaos, which begins with driving in the opposite direction and does not end with double parking, closing lanes and intersections, speeding between residential neighborhoods, exceeding signals, using sidewalks as parking lots, and leaving vehicles in places that obstruct people’s movement.
As for the pedestrians, they are the weakest link in this chaos. The sidewalks that were supposed to protect them have in many locations turned into parking lots or occupied spaces, forcing them to walk between cars, while the elderly, children, and people with special needs face additional difficulty in crossing the roads safely.
In this context, it was revealed Founder of the “City Guards”, Muhammad Shouk, said: Arrest reports were issued against all violating drivers who were driving against the traffic at the Western Belt crossing, at the entrance to the port towards Central, in a step aimed at stopping one of the most serious violations that threaten the safety of passers-by at this vital point.
The city needs to restore its roads from chaos, and measures that restore the citizen’s right to drive, walk, and cross safely.
Between a violation that the perpetrator sees as minor, and an accident that may occur within seconds, people’s lives remain the price. Therefore, any behavior that turns the streets of Tripoli into an open danger cannot be tolerated, because controlling the road is not a luxury, but rather a responsibility that begins with the law and ends with protecting lives.
