It is impossible to be nice while driving in Dubai....?. Each nationality brings their own attitude to the road. I have been to almost all of the countries of the majority of the expatriates in Dubai and have witnessed the peculiar driving habits of that country. INDIA DRIVING VIDEO I'll list some of the STUPID tricks (used a few of them myself) and how to prevent them (if possible).
1. Pretend you are moving up your lane and then all of the sudden switch lane (use your blinker after the fact...like saying..oh by the way) and watch in your rear view mirror a pissed off face.....Prevent by driving bumper to bumper....this is dangerous because if the guy in front stops....boing.
2. Leave your left or right blinker always on....then go the other direction...I see this all of the time....sometimes we forget to remove our blinker. People do this to trick you into leaving more space so they can squeeze in. No way to prevent this. Just don't believe blinkers and be ready for anything.
3. The Push.... were one car just pulls in front hoping you will stop....this bluff is usually done by the rudest of drivers... note that their cars have multiple dents..... Prevent by looking mean to begin with or make sure you have an old beater and plenty of time for the police to give both of you a violation. At least you will feel good for that instant...but later you will feel sorry for that person one you get to know them and realize that they are just like you....trying to get to work on time.
4. Gestures....normally putting the hand out of the window indicating you want in...sometimes accompanied by a smile. Works great with women, but guys don't always get the same treatment. It helps to have a women in the car with you...ask her to smile and look at the other driver. Prevent by pretending not to see the gesture or have your girl friend/wife look at the other driver with scorn.
5. Emergency Flasher... I've seen people doing all sorts of stupid things.....the flasher means that they are more important, or have a greater right to get where they are going. Prevent by blinking your eyelids at the rate of the blinkers, then you don't see them.
6. Tail Gating...When you look into the rear view mirror and only see the eyes and nose of the driver behind you...they hope to intimidate you into disappearing or moving to the slow lane so they can pass. This is one of the most annoying things and is probably the main cause of accidents because there is no reaction time to avoid collision. Prevent...if during the day turn on your lights...this will cause your rear red lights to turn on..this looks like a brake light... the they may pull back....or....use some nice gesture or face arrangement to let them know you don't like that...or...give them the lane and if you're really pissed off ride their bumper...however the best thing is to give way and live longer..
7. Following the ambulance.... have you ever seen this? It almost looks like the whole tribe is going along with the sick guy in the ambulance.... Not recommended....to prevent this from happening...had to do...but when you give way to the ambulance be prepared for the long tail of cars behind..
8. Service Road/Parking Lot/Shoulder Surfing...this is where the driver will take almost any alternate parallel route to pass a few cars...normally they need to push their way back into traffic when the pop out. I love it when I see the police do this and even more when I see them give violations to unlucky motorists....Prevent....no way...just don't let them in.
9. Following another rude driver....this is where the ICE BREAKER pushes his/her way through traffic and another less aggressive but more intelligent person follows....I've seen this gang mentality where one driver does something stupid and other follow....seems to be safety in numbers.
10. Jumping the Queue...is where one really nasty rude driver pushes his/her way to the front of an off/on road passing the kilometer long queue. This usually slows all of the traffic as other drivers play chicken and you get a road block...this is why so many police are needed to physically watch drivers....I love it when they catch them....I have rarely done this...and have only done this when there was no queue but a blob of cars trying to push their way through.
11. Driving on the sidewalk....The big 4x4's that can go anywhere...and usually do go up curbs and jump the queue....This is very dangerous and damages the paving stones.. There is no prevention of this stupidity....only the police can stop it.
12. Making you own lane....this is where there is clearly x number of lanes determined by those what lane markers and somebody squeezes in between two cars making another lane....normally this is perpetrated by economy cars who think they almost have the same rights as a motorcycle. I've learned to hate ECHO, Carroll, Picanto as they carry some of the rudest and most thoughtless drivers...excluding SUV or course... Prevent by not leaving too much space between you and your neighboring lane.
13. Passing on the right....sometimes at high speed.....normally done when there is little traffic...these drivers don't signal and don't seem to care that their and the guy in front's life could be snuffed out....Prevention...NONE....Preservation....ALWAYS LOOK IN YOUR REAR VIEW MIRROR and EXPECT STUPIDITY....It's your life so don't assume other people will care about it.
14. Passing in between.... Yes like 13 above there are some drivers who think they know exactly what other people will or wont do...they zoom in between cars...many of the STUPID accidents are caused by these people.
15. Flashing High Beams....Means ... Outamyway....you're going too slow...that is you are going the speed limit and they aren't.....Want to really get pissed off....at night you get the flash and you move thinking that somebody important in a big MERC or Landcruiser wants by...instead its an ECHO....Prevent...BE CAREFUL....if you don't change lanes fast enough they may try to pass on the right left or middle and that's a recipe for disaster....I prefer to give way when I can but sometimes SOME PEOPLE are really STUPID. You will have a hundred car in front of you and some jerk is flashing you....I can never really figure that one out...but many times you will see it's the ECHO again.
16. HONK HONK....you are at a RED light and before it changes to GREEN some idiot is honking because he/she is more ready than you and doesn't trust that you are not actually sleeping. Getting even....don't move when the light turns green and then when they try to pass then you speed up....BE CAREFUL....some people want to GET EVEN with your GET EVEN....so its better to just be normal and consider the source.
17. PECKING ORDER.....If you have a three digit license plate and drive a luxury car it gives you more rights...and people actually give way....out of fear or respect who knows...I'm even guilty....you don't know who may be there? I've seen three digit plates on junkers....don't know how that happened. Next are any digits and LUXURY CAR with no way to see in because they've got 100% tinting. Of course smart people will assume that who ever in the car is important, but usually they are no more important than the guy driving the ECHO. Next is the nationality. If you are local dressed in national attire you get more consideration than others. If you are dressed in a suit are white or blond. Unfortunately at the bottom of the totem pole are non-whites - they get no respect. Next is nationality....if you can guess....if you are European, Arab you get some consideration last in the order are South Asians... who incidentally represent about 99% of the expatriates. Oh I forgot....if you are a women you can almost get away with anything. I think the best is expensive car with a three digit plate abaya attire next would be a sumptuous blond in a sports car. There is also the MEAN LOOKING TOUGH GUY possibility...usually somebody who looks like they could snuff you out for looking at them in the wrong way.
17. Nothing to loose....driving behavior is influenced by attitude. A mean tough guy driving a beater can usually win out on the PUSH in tactic. BIG TRUCKS...that pretend they don't see you and usually don't. Sometimes people know that they will have the advantage and this affects their attitude. Hey I'm local so I can do this or I work for the police so no use in complaining I will win or I''m a woman so you have to let me in.
18. Professional Driver....These guys are on the road 24x7 Taxi drivers, buses trucks...and they have an attitude usually against all other drivers..they are even rude to themselves. Frankly if you are not a rude taxi driver you wont make your quota. I hate to say it but when I see a taxi at the side of the road with a fender bender waiting for the police...I chuckle with delight...only to feel a little bit later sorry of gloating on somebody Else's misfortune.
So where does that leave us?
I think that a good portion of the traffic problems can be eased up by people just respecting the rules and applying a little bit of civility. Let's try to smile and give way. Some more ideas on reducing traffic congestion.
1. Reduce the speed limit to 5km per hour, that way people will never be aware of any traffic jam because even at 4am you will be traveling the same speed.
2. Even/Odd....Only even number plates can drive one day and odd the next. This will half the traffic on the road. Rich people will have of course two cars and cheating people will have two plates and stupid people wont know what is even or odd.
3. Nationality...One day no South Asians, one day no Arabs, one day no westerners....this will mean that on at least one day a week there will be no cars....
4. Color....one day no red, no black, no white etc.....this will be easy for police to identify offenders but will encourage people to buy pink cars and crafty people to use color film but STUPID people wont know what red is...but there is also the problem of color blind people...oops.
5. Car Model....ECHO only day.....SUV day.....Luxury car day...Toyota day... the traffic on Toyota day will still be tough and ECHO day so many accidents....
6. One way....from 8am to 4pm all traffic goes one direction and from 4:01pm to 8pm (and so forth) the traffic goes the other way. Like this Sharjah will empty by 11am and refill by 8pm. Just make sure you don't forget your keys...no going back...!
7. Add lanes....remove all sidewalks and remark roads with 2m lanes instead of 3m lanes, this way there will be many additional lanes....this is just about what it is anyway so why not do it!
8. All seats loaded.... make it mandatory for every seat in a car to carry passengers... this will encourage mannequin sales, more friends, unauthorized taxis or frustrated people like me who drive solo.
9. Pick Up....make it mandatory to pick up people who want a ride as they flag you down...I might even park my car if I knew that I could get to work faster and not have to find parking. Only the taxi companies would object...and of course everybody else...because what about people who don't wash?
10.Downsize...make it mandatory to drive ECHOs let each lane of traffic be 1.5m wide...predent the car before giving it to the customer so they don't feel bad when the get their first ding.
11.Make cars illegal....there will be no cars on the road...only bicycles, motorcycles and trucks...I'll get a tanker truck...
However, more roads might be nice, with overpasses, tunnels etc..
