Driving in the United Arab Emirates

Saturday, October 25^th, 2014

Post by Adam

There are a few things that you should know about driving in the United Arab Emirates. First, different areas of the country have really different urban planning. In Abu Dhabi, everything is on an east-west, north-south grid, sort of like Manhattan or Toronto. This is very easy.  Things start to get a little less clear is in Al Ain, where Kim and I live. In Al Ain, everything is on a grid, only almost all of the intersections are roundabouts.  Here are satellite photos of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, respectively; you can also see how Al Ain is an oasis town, since it has more green spaces.

 

 

I’m sure many of you out there have driven in roundabouts, and I, for one, am a big fan of them. They really cut down on waiting in traffic. That being said, Emiratis can be a crazy bunch, who don’t necessarily follow the proper procedure. Imagine driving along at a good clip and reaching a traffic jam at a roundabout. You think to yourself, “Gee, I hope no one got in an accident”, only to find two ginormous white Nissan Patrols (the Emirati national vehicle) parked with two kandoora-clad gentlemen chatting as if they were in a Starbucks! They will just park in the middle of an intersection and sit there, no matter how busy the traffic is.

Perhaps even more dangerous than Emiratis when they are parked, Emiratis drive like maniacs! They drive more or less as fast as they want, and they have large SUVs, which makes them even more intimidating. One thing that they love to do is drive really fast behind you, flash their lights at you, and just assume that you will get over in time. They WILL NOT slow down, so move over or die! Here’s a video as evidence. Note: I drive pretty fast (140 when the limit is 120).

 Even when there are designated parking spots, the Emiratis have their own special way of doing things. For example:

In the UAE, the more "important" you are, the smaller the number on your license plate. This Nissan Patrol has five digits, so he must not be that important. We’ve heard of someone seeing the license plate number 5. That must have been the Sheik!

One of the benefits of driving in the UAE is the wonderful opportunity to see all manner of cargo in the back of trucks—date palms, camels, Indian workers, sheep—you name it, I’ve seen it!

Another thing that is less than enjoyable is trying to navigate in a country with no system of addresses. Unless you area a compendium of locations in the UAE, there is a high probability that you will drive around town for an hour or more looking for a store or bureaucratic office. Here is a conversation between a poor, witless Westerner and a local:

“Hello Sir, Asalam alaykum. Could you tell me where the post office is?”

“Town Center.”

“Yes, could you tell me where in Town Center?”

“By the commercial bank.”

“And where is the commercial bank?”

“Commercial bank is near the souq.”

“And the souq is where?”

“By the post office.”

You kindly thank the man, and continue driving for another hour looking for the post office, only to give up, go home, and try again tomorrow.  That’s right, in order to know where a place is, you must know all of the locations around it. And, let’s be honest, if you know Homes R Us is at Jabal roundabout, you know the bookshop is too. One shouldn’t complain too much, though, gas comes out to about a dollar a gallon, so you can afford to waste it here driving around looking for stuff. Plus, gas stations here are full service!

Also, don’t think you are going to be clever and buy a GPS. First of all, two-thirds of this country is less than 2 years old, so your GPS is outdated before you even turn it on. Second, there are no street addresses, so if you want to find a place, you must drive around (see above), find the place, then peg it as a new location, at which point you already know where it is and no longer need a GPS. Third, if you are unlucky like us, you buy a GPS that is in Arabic. It has an English interface, but you will need to spend an hour pushing random buttons to find it.

Not to sound like an old man who is ornery because he had to wait 50 minutes for his pastrami sandwich, but this is not a very logical aspect of life in the UAE, and it feels good to rant about it from time to time! This is one of the many joys of getting to know a new country. In the heat of the moment it can be frustrating, but all in all it is not so bad. But if you should ever find yourself over here for a visit, let me give you some advice—take a cab!