Peer pressure and too much free time are the primary causes of reckless driving among young people in Qatar, a study by the Alaween Social Rehabilitation Center and the Traffic Department has found.

And the primary culprits of said driving are young Qatari men, according to the study, which interviewed some 1,000 young people between 14 and 30 years old, 57 percent of them nationals and 42 percent expats.

Gulf Times reports:

“Young people go for stunt driving when they are either very disappointed or very happy. They want to vent their anger or to celebrate their happiness. Stunt driving is generally practised in the presence of an encouraging audience, among peers, or after watching action movies,” (Alaween chairperson Dr. Kaltham Ali al-Ghanim said).

According to the researchers, young Qatari men are more attracted to such risky shows (19.6 percent) compared to non-Qataris (6.4 percent)…

It was (also) found that young Qataris were more subject to meet with road accidents than their expatriate peers.

Recommendations to tackle the problem included encouraging young people to use their free time constructively and educating them about road safety.

Parents should also play a role by not allowing their children to get behind the wheel before reaching the legal driving age of 18, researchers said.

Just this week, an unlicensed student struck and injured another student with his car while pulling out of school, Al Arab reports.

Meanwhile, the Traffic Department is considering introducing a graduated licensing system. That would require a motorist to first be issued a learner’s permit, then a temporary one and finally a permanent driver’s license, the Peninsula reports.

Thoughts?

PS Here’s a short video we ran last year of a national driving on two wheels, which gets quite interesting about a minute in:

Credit: Photo by Xavier Bouchevreau