Survival the rule of the road in Cairo

CAIRO —  A cigarette in one hand, and the other reaching frequently for a cup of steaming tea or his cellphone, Mustafa Noureddin steers his battered Peugeot taxi through Cairo’s chaotic streets.

With a quick flick of the wrist and an insult, he dodges an overcrowded minibus. He brushes so close to a young woman crossing the street that her skirt catches on a passenger-side door handle and her perfume wafts into the car.

“Driving in Cairo is a lot like playing Atari,” the 42-year-old Noureddin says with a smile, referring to the popular 1980s video game system. “Here, you dodge cars, pedestrians, donkey carts, buses. You try to make it to the end without hitting someone, getting hit or getting a ticket.

“The difference, though: There’s no reset button. This is no game.”

The congestion on Egypt’s roads builds with the steady increase in the number of vehicles, with the distance between cars on the road easily measured in millimeters. The problem has become so bad that the government is kicking off an awareness campaign to supplement a relatively new and much-criticized traffic safety law.

In 2008, the country had 7,149 traffic fatalities, said Jaffar Hussain, the World Health Organization’s Cairo-based advisor for the 22-nation Eastern Mediterranean region. The figures, compiled from Egypt Health Ministry reports, show an increase of about 9% from 2007. Only Iran, with 22,981 fatalities, surpassed Egypt in the region

On a global scale, the region ranked second after Africa in terms of traffic fatalities.

The Egypt figure, however, does not include those kept by other ministries.

“There is no doubt in my mind . . . that these numbers may not reflect the real situation,” said Hussain. “They could easily be higher.”

More than urban gridlock, Cairo’s daily traffic mess offers a snapshot of much of what is wrong with the Arab world’s most-populous nation. It represents, motorists and officials say, a deadly intersection of poor planning, corruption and a population so discontented that even the threat of jail does little to discourage flouting the law.

Adding to the problem is that 95% of Egypt’s 78 million people live on just 5% of the land. As much as 25% of them, according to some estimates, live in the greater Cairo area.

“We need to imagine how do these people live in this area,” said Maj. Mourid Albert of the Ministry of Interior’s research department. “Pavements are turned into book stands, garages are turned into restaurants. . . . All this without really studying how it affects traffic.

“But the main problem . . . is the drivers and their lack of support for traffic rules.”

During a five-minute car ride in Cairo there is a parade of violations. Drivers cut sharply across multiple lanes to make turns. Seat belts are not used. Children bounce around on the front seat. Buses discharge passengers in the middle of the road. Red lights are ignored. Pedestrians cross where they please, dancing around one car and into the path of another.

The number of fatalities reflects the scope of the problem.

A 2008 report from the Cabinet’s statistical arm revealed that in 2006, there were 156.3 fatalities per 100,000 vehicles, compared with 72.6 in Turkey, 28.6 in Greece and 13.4 in Italy.

The surge in fatalities has paralleled an explosion in the number of vehicles, fueled by a 2004 cut in tariffs. Interior Ministry figures show that the number of vehicles has surged from about 167,000 in 1970 to more than 4.4 million last year.

Mideast investment bank Beltone Financial says that passenger car sales shot up from 55,471 in 2004 -- the year the tariff reduction went into effect -- to 198,800 in 2008.

Egyptian officials say the overwhelming majority of those killed are men -- the main breadwinners in a country where buying bread, let alone anything else, is an increasingly expensive proposition.

“These fatalities, how much do they cost the families? How much do they cost the country?” the Interior Ministry’s Col. Ayman El-Dabaa said in a recent European Union-Egypt seminar on road safety.

The Egyptian Cabinet report said insurance companies paid about $178 million in damage claims in 2007. But that number also is probably far below the real cost, as many accidents are settled without insurance claims being filed.

To combat the road dangers, the government last year enacted a new traffic code, which officials say is among the toughest in the world.

Driving the wrong way down a one-way street, for example, can net an immediate four-day jail sentence. Other violations carry fines of $200 or more -- a king’s ransom in a country where the World Bank estimates that 20% of the population lives under the poverty line of less than $2 per day.

But drivers like Noureddin, and dozens of others interviewed, see the law as unevenly implemented. The wealthy and the connected get a free pass while others, particularly taxi drivers, pay up.

“If they want to ease the congestion, then they should make sure everyone follows the law and that no one is above it,” he said. “But don’t ask me to follow something that the officials, themselves, aren’t following.”

Interior Ministry officials deny that anyone is given preferential treatment.

Another project was also recently launched to replace more than 35,000 old taxis. Officials hail the program as a way to help rid the capital of the polluting clunkers that often stall, further snarling traffic. But it has received a lukewarm welcome, with many drivers complaining that they now will have to shoulder monthly payments for a new car when they are already struggling to make ends meet.

Noureddin, who is married with four children, says he usually makes about $10 a day. On a really good day, maybe $20, he says.

“I graduated with a law degree, but can’t find a job that pays well in that field. Give me the opportunity to work in my field and I’ll follow the laws,” he said.

“Anyway, how do they expect anyone to be able to pay those kinds of fines?” he said.

Egyptian officials say that public participation is key to any effort to curb the growing problem.

Gen. Sheriff Gomma, assistant interior minister responsible for traffic matters, said the government is trying to raise driver safety awareness while also beefing up its ability to tackle the surging congestion on the streets.

The Interior Ministry has set up a 24-hour control room to monitor the roads, is increasingly using cameras and radar at intersections and will distribute portable electronic devices to officers that will replace written paper citations. The new PDAs, equipped with global positioning satellite systems, will also help officials pinpoint traffic accident patterns by recording the exact locations.

The ministry is launching an 18-month program that will regularly feature a road accident somewhere in the country, examining its effects and airing it on television to help raise public awareness.

“Egyptians are an emotional people. Every week, we will remind them of the dangers,” Gomma said. “When they see how the families are suffering, when they see the effect of this accident, it may help.”