Although Dubai has a great road network with 8 lanes, the standard of driving in Dubai can be quite terrible at times. The death toll on Dubai roads is one of the utmost in the world per capita of population and this has particularly increased by the prevalence of powerful expensive cars and opportunities to drive them fast. It doesn’t help that 80% or more of Dubai is outsiders with a wide range of countries represented – anyone who has travelled out of their home country will straight away notice that driving standards and habits vary the world over. Assume that every terrible habit you’ve ever seen is imported into Dubai and you’ll get the idea.
Speeding
Speeding will charge you 200 dirham per recording from the camera – fines are billed all together when you replenish your car registration yearly. This can be horrible as one mother discovered a few years ago after having gone very fast past the same camera for several months when taking her children off at school. The bill was actually more than the value of the car. Most residents will collect a good amount of speeding fines during the course of the year without being aware of them
Animals:
Camels are a novelty for many outsiders and are rarely seen in urban areas. In highways, they’re also risky as they have no road sense and although many roads are confined with camel fences, that doesn’t assure the camels are on the correct side. If you strike one, you’ll have two problems. The first is that because of their height, they will topple and go through your windshield at no matter what speed you were doing when you hit it. The second is that they are costly – especially as when you have hit the most prized racing camel in the owners herd. Keep these things in mind as you tear down poorly lit country road at night.
It’s very simple to have a car accident in Dubai – as you’ll see. The Dubai Police have been requesting that people involved in slight accidents should stop their cars in such a way so as not to block traffic, then exchange details and move to the nearest police station. While that sounds quite wise in theory, in real life it doesn’t seem to work. With the different countries people and driving habits, and language and communication barriers, it’s all too easy to end up in heated arguments either on site or at the police station with the final settlement from the police appears to be quite random.
