23 November 2008

Civil Defence cars Dubai style :-)


I was on my way to Abu Dhabi from Dubai one day. The highway between the towns is a nice 4 lane road in each direction so it is not uncommon that cars drive fast. In UAE you better learn fast that its very important to look in the rear view mirror or you might end up with a Ferrari or Lambourghini in the back of your car. People coming fast normally flash their headlights repeatedly and it would be unwise not to move a side as who knows if the breaks really work that good. UAE has the highest number of fatal road accidents per capita in the whole world.

As I was speeding along I saw a car not flashing lights but having the blue light flashing ontop. I have seen that many times but not from a low yellow car moving as fast as this one was coming. I was driving probably around 180 Km/h and this car was approaching me very fast so I knew it had to do something between 250 - 300 km/h.

The car passed and I could not quite figure out what it was. It looked like a Corvette but never had I seen a Civil Defence Corvette.

It vanished infront of me as fast as it had caught up. I told some friends but they could not believe it either. About a month later we went to the Dubai Airshow and to our amazement the Corvette was there. So it had not been a mirage in the desert :-)


The car does 0 - 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. Has a top speed of 320 km/h with 512hp in a 7 liter V8. (unless they have asked for a special tuned version which would not be unlikely as the normal Z06 dont have a spolier in the back)

They will for sure get very fast to a fire or accident but knowing that the only rescue equipment it has is the bumpers and a 5 liter fire extingisher there aint much they can do once on the scene..

It should also be noted that most times when there is a fire in Dubai it means a building is burned down to the ground as there is little chance of actually being able to extinguish the fires. I have seen labourcamps, shoppingmalls, warehouses burn on many occasions. Fire-department simply too late, too little.

1 comment:

Peter said...

It is going to be funny to see this car stuck in traffic. And to see the building still burns down. ;-)

My travels as % of the globe