Driving Blues in the UAE

after almost a month of waking up early for my lessons, i failed my first driving exam. after another month, i tried again and finally got my UAE driver's license. the feeling was like passing the bar exam! haha! ... and i've been driving here for almost a year since then...

here are the things i like about driving here:

1. there is much respect for zipper-scheme when the road narrows for whatever reason (accidents, road works, narrowing roads, etc). road-narrowing used to haunt me in manila coz other drivers can really exhaust your patience. if you happen to be beside jeepneys or taxis, they would scare you to death by inching so close to you! headache! and when changing lanes, i do not find it hard to sqeeze into the other lane. very giving.

2. right of way -- drivers assert their right of way, and other drivers respect it, more often than not, whether in intersections, round abouts and other parts of the road.

3. not a lot of pedestrians on the road... nor motorcycles... so you just focus on the road!

4. roads are smooth, hole-free and road paints are clear. they even have raod vacuum cleaners which i usually see at night! in manila, i can hardly drive for more than 60kph because of suprise potholes, pedestrians crossing, motorcycles on your left and right... so as they say, defensive driving is best imbibed in manila.

5. road signs, road paints and tourist spot signs are clear and are really followed. i specially appreciate the lane lines coz it really gives proper direction to all motorists.

6. car watching -- if you're a car enthusiast like my nephew Onat, oh, the UAE road would be heaven for you. just drive along and gawk at all the new cars, SUVs and what-have-you in the motoring world! or, if you're fortunate, you may even park right next to a Bentley, or a Hummer, or a Lexus... and get a few snapshots!

7. well-lit roads -- it's a good shift from our dark hi-ways! whether a major or minor road, everywhere there's light!

8. roundabouts -- sometimes i don't like them, but sometimes i do. depends on the traffic situation.

9. cool drivers -- with the exemption of some, i find the drivers generally cool (well, compared to the ones in manila, for that matter). i have not encountered any shoutings, nor dirty fingers, nor continuous honking. when there's an accident, the police arrives within minutes, and the insurance takes care of everything in a flash! we've had a couple of incidences, and claims are easy to get.

10. use of lanes (overtaking, average and slow-moving vehicle lanes) are usually followed

things i do not like:

1. the poor urban planning of dubai roads -- if you are looking for a place, and you missed a turn, you're dead! it is difficult to find your way back to where you got lost. this is where i am happy with the road system in abu dhabi-- grid and simple.

2. traffic -- in sharjah and in dubai! simply terrible. i read it is the worst in the mid east! i think it is because they lack bridges that connect the two parts of dubai (deira and bur dubai). bottle necks usually happen right at the foot of the bridges....

3. white boys - the road courtesy is tainted by some show-off white boys (locals) who drive careflesslym sporting their huge SUV cars! if sporting their gigantic cars is not enough for making their presence really felt, they make sure they take 2 parking slots for 1 car, or they put on those loud blasters or better yet, speeds up along the freeway!

4. politics on the dubai-sharjah road -- i do not know the whole story to this, but there was a road that connected dubai from sharjah which was closed because of politics--- and yeah, we all do suffer!!

5. SALIK toll fee! i don't believe that it reduced traffic in Sheik Zayed... but it's more i guess of people not having the Salik tags yet so they divert from Zayed to avoid the crazy penalty fees!