[Lsab]

When our son was a toddler we were regularly chastised for strapping him ino his baby seat in the car. We were told he should be allowed to be free!!! In the Gulf the standard of driving is extremely bad but made worse because the roads are good and most of the cars are new. It is nothing to see, on a daily basis, women driving with their baby on their lap, children standing with their heads through the sunroof as their parents drive, and to see someone driving without being on their mobile is very rare. I don't really understand this mentality. It's as if people here - and in Egypt too I suppose - don't have the imagination to see what could happen. In the local paper yesterday, was the case of a mother who left her 18 month old in the charge of her 4 year old, (wheelchair bound) son. If that wasn't bad enough she left a pressure cooker on the stove. The baby was killed when he pulled it down on top of himself. His brother, who witnessed it and couldn't stop it, is traumatised. I know that's nothing to do with driving but illustrates the attitude.

I am NOT saying this is the attitude of all Arabs - my husband is more careful than I am, and believe me, that's saying something!!