Having lived here for 18 years, I cant tell you the number of times I almost got run over myself (my brother was run over on a zebra crossing in 1994), or the number of freinds that have been injured or lost to belligerent drivers.
It is a sad, morbid state of affairs and the conflation of the local ego viz their country and others only reinforces this kind of behavior.
Tips on driving here:
Try to set an example, You cannot imagine how beneficial this is. I have turned some of the worst Schumacher wannabes into gleaming examples of safe driving! :)
Strap your children in safety seats/belts
ALWAYS wear a seatbelt! Even if its just for a trip to the mart a minute down the road from you. This will reinforce point 1.
Don't speed excessively
USE YOUR INDICATOR
Be Courteous (too often have I seen ex-patriots fall into the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" mentality). Ive seen soccer moms skidding/swirving a turn on two wheels on Al-Nasr.. it is THAT BAD!
And... Don't Drink and Drive.. Hard to believe in a Muslim country.. but I tell you, this one is a silent epidemic just waiting to explode. I remember going to the Diplomatic club and seeing a CID official allowing a completely wasted (not to mention utterly belligerent) corpse of man get into his car, with a beer he WAS allowed to take home with him (SHOCK?)
I remember in the 80's and early 90's, Q-TV ran daily public notices on Safe driving and prudent conduct on the road, complete with catchy slogans and flashy videos and all! They taught me alot actually and I wish that they somehow reimplemented this (though its difficult when Qtv has a viewer share of like 0.00000001%).
Don't let one man's dream become another's nightmare
Having lived here for 18 years, I cant tell you the number of times I almost got run over myself (my brother was run over on a zebra crossing in 1994), or the number of freinds that have been injured or lost to belligerent drivers.
It is a sad, morbid state of affairs and the conflation of the local ego viz their country and others only reinforces this kind of behavior.
Tips on driving here:
Try to set an example, You cannot imagine how beneficial this is. I have turned some of the worst Schumacher wannabes into gleaming examples of safe driving! :)
Strap your children in safety seats/belts
ALWAYS wear a seatbelt! Even if its just for a trip to the mart a minute down the road from you. This will reinforce point 1.
Don't speed excessively
USE YOUR INDICATOR
Be Courteous (too often have I seen ex-patriots fall into the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" mentality). Ive seen soccer moms skidding/swirving a turn on two wheels on Al-Nasr.. it is THAT BAD!
And... Don't Drink and Drive.. Hard to believe in a Muslim country.. but I tell you, this one is a silent epidemic just waiting to explode. I remember going to the Diplomatic club and seeing a CID official allowing a completely wasted (not to mention utterly belligerent) corpse of man get into his car, with a beer he WAS allowed to take home with him (SHOCK?)
I remember in the 80's and early 90's, Q-TV ran daily public notices on Safe driving and prudent conduct on the road, complete with catchy slogans and flashy videos and all! They taught me alot actually and I wish that they somehow reimplemented this (though its difficult when Qtv has a viewer share of like 0.00000001%).
Don't let one man's dream become another's nightmare