Driving Decoded Part II

If you have been driving in Dubai for fourty eight hours then you would have got used to the zippy characters called rent-a-car. They are driven by the man of the moment, the truly here, going somewhere reaching now kinds or whatever description fits in less than three words because be sure he will not be on your horizon for long. The freedom of paid insurance, no EMI’s and the belief that smaller is maneuverable, these rent-a-car mainly in the form of Lancer’s, Yaris’s or Tiida’s can make rules bent, heads turn and feet sore. You must be on top of your driving school learning curve to be on the safer side come these nifty cars. Even a compass would feel short-arced while making a full circle at the roundabout as these glide at the edge deciding which curve to fade out of.

Dubai’s stressed taxis meanwhile, may not be in the same class but do waver on the unpredictable. Maybe it is the passenger who is indecisive or the drivers who are supremely confident of their skills but they definitely come second on my beware list. Changing lanes at the xth moment or butting in to your lane are some memorable moments that could occur in your drive home.

But what could dent your calculations while negotiating the last few turns of your home stretch are these butt-ers who have a knack of jutting into your lane in the most shameless manner day after day. These thick-skinned souls don’t care how many stares they get or how many honk them. Whether it is morning rush or evening downtime. They are impatient and clever enough to park their vehicles at just the right angles to make a beeline for your lane when the signal turns green. Some play the courtesy game and stay back a polite distance with their indicators on. So their mind game will force you to give them way boosting your feel goodness while getting their way too.

But despite these irritants I must give the other perspective. And it is this that, you may encounter such bad driving habits in many parts of the world but the pleasures of driving here shut out the irritants. I revel in having a full tank in each petrol station visit. Fill it, shut it, forget it - to borrow an advertising phrase. All of which comes in small change compared to what I pay back home. And with the Gulf specifications, automatic transmission means quick pick up, no hassle of manual gears and cruise control to give the ankle a rest. Basic courtesies like right of way to the pedestrian are common. The police are efficient in resolving traffic accidents and park themselves at strategic positions to monitor violations.

So that’s driving in Dubai decoded for you. For the impending resident or tourist, hope these observations will be of use…and for resident long-time sufferers if you share some of my experiences then please go ahead and post your comments below. If you decide not to and play safe, all I can say is maafi mushkila (no problem) and move on.

Driving Decoded Part 1

It has been twenty months driving on the smooth and forebodingly white-marked roads of Dubai but I’m still plagued with these contradictions. Dangerous and pleasurable in the same lane. Easy and challenging while parking. Mind-blowing and mindless in the space of a second. From the mean machines like the Ferraris and the Lamborghinis cruising the fast lanes to the driving school stained Nissan Sunny’s and the sedate Japanese sedans-not one of these four-wheeled creatures would deny experiencing the above said contradictions. As for the two-legged owners who make them go through it all, the accelerator foot is a mere trigger for the good, the bad and the ugly.  Impulse is an added emotion while driving here and you will be best advised to keep it under check.
Speeds on the highway give you the freedom to press it till 120kmph. On the road to neighbouring emirates Abu Dhabi you can exhilarate at 140kmph. Covering one fifty km in an hour twenty, no problem. Oh, how I wish roads back home, the rules back home, the radars back home could have made driving an experience. But I am soothed by the thought that lack of it at least prevents instantaneous death. Because, despite the precautions if you waver from the rules here you end up in a heap. You cannot cock-a-snook here and wish ABS will save you. But one thing that does help here is looking over the shoulder while changing lanes, getting into lanes or just being sane. If you can remember to do this then peace be-upon you.
Laziness can be lethal on these well-kept roads where minimum range is 60-80kmph. Slower than that will make you aware of shoulder glances from drivers passing by with words to the effect- where are you from, when did you get your license, are you on the phone or just what the….  That’s just a softer version of bullying on the roads. It gets harder when bigger machines boss the roads. The Tahoes, GMCs or the Patrols to name a whew! These makes, king the roads. So the bigger car you drive the more chances you have of coercing other cars to slow down, give way or just brake hard. Many have-nots aspire for them and those who have are either blissful or plain gloats.
As for me, I’m happy with a car that is neither too big nor too small. It’s neither a full SUV nor a sedan. It’s nether white nor silver. Oh well, I started with a pack of contradictions and I ended up with them!
Maybe I’ll do some straight talking next time. Thanks for reading the debut blogpost of DUBAIDEKKO…will be back with more on the city of ‘can do’.