Driving (so far) in The UAE

One of the interesting and perhaps surprising things here in the United Arab Emirates has been the road system and driving I have encountered.

The roads are highly engineered and use very restricted amounts of entry and exit onto the main roads. This means that if you miss your exit, settle in to your seat and enjoy the drive till the next exit or post U-Turn entry. I am a victim! In one case, a 27 kilometer (16 mile) ride. The major highway linking the majority of the country is E11, which would be equivalent to I-95 or I-80, say in America. Keep in mind, though, that if the UAE was a US state it would be the 40th largest in land area between South Carolina and Maine. Here in Abu Dhabi, E10, E11, E20, E22, and E33 all come together here and form an amazing jumble with huge, sweeping junctions of bridges built in artistic, curving forms. These highways all are protected with barriers and tall curbs, and camel fencing (See a previous post on camel fencing).

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE. Today a fairly well master-planned city, just 50 years ago it was a dusty, sandy island approximately 30 square miles aligned approximately northwest-southeast with palm-frond (“barasti”) huts and but one masonry building – the emir’s fort and palace(an emir is equivalent to a prince). It boasted a single mud-packed road and a dusty air strip. Today, it is a major city of glass- and video-fronted skyscrapers, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-laned roads, an enviable electronic infrastructure, in addition to parking garages, industrial ports, and major shopping and social districts. Broad, green, tree-lined boulevards grace the city as well as a corporate airport, beautiful mosques and churches, schools, major sporting facilities and all the accoutrements of a major world capital – government buildings, dozens of embassies, and red tape.

Navigating Abu Dhabi can be aggravating for a newcomer or visitor. It has been for me. But if getting lost helps one learn new surroundings, it means I am learning quickly! I have found and remember how to get to church and to the exquisite (for an American at least) rugby facility here. Also, Abu Dhabi city boasts at least four major malls, three of which I have visited so far. Happily, though, for those with short visits here, the taxi and bus systems are excellent and amazingly affordable. As an example, one day here before I got a rental car, I had to use taxis all day to go into, around, and out of the city. My total taxi tab for the day amounted to around 100 Dirhams (abbreviated “AED” for ‘Arab Emirates Dirham’), or approximately $26.

One of the more interesting quirks of the Emirati driving scene is that the traffic light flash green before turning yellow, and then to red. This equates to a very fast caution light, though, before turning to red.

And traffic here is not unlike the US, though I find it more akin to North Carolina, which in my humble opinion has the worst drivers in America. But, that’s another blog post altogether! There seems to be a special lack of turn signal usage, which is also rampant in America, but is aggravating anywhere.

If there is anything the Middle East should be famous for, besides oil and camels, it is speed bumps. They are frequent and varied, but fortunately are usually marked with speed limits and “hump” signs. These are needed because it seems that some of these speed bumps occur in really odd or unneeded places.

And tunnels. Major traffic tunnels are used in Abu Dhabi in a number of places, which I thought surprising considering the size and low altitude of the island. But this has not been too big a problem as the tunnels are large and deep and heavily used. They bypass large sections of city traffic and funnel traffic through more congested areas. Interestingly, though, the need for the major downtown tunnel may have been somewhat alleviated with the opening of E12 east across Saadiyat and Yas Islands, and bypassing the whole of the city from the Corniche, the westernmost waterfront of the city and island, toward Dubai and the northern Emirates.
Speed limits are as high as 140 km/h, or 87 mph, which is comparable to what I encountered in Europe.

Cars here are varied, though there seems to be quite a few more “exotics” here than we see in the US or even Europe. I’ve seen Lamborghinis, Ferraris (there is even a Ferrari store here in one of the malls, selling shirts, hats, fobs, etc.), Mercedes-Benz, Infinitis, Lexuses (Lexi?) and more than a few Porsche Cayennes, alongside an ironic mix of Kia Picantos, Hyundai i10’s and Daewoo mini-trucks. American cars are popular, too, with hundreds of used American machines ending up here. Chrysler products are popular here, with Chargers and Challengers frequently seen. I even found a 1963 Plymouth Fury for sale here! And the cars all come with a CarFax report at reputable dealers. Dark-colored cars are rather infrequent here - no surprise when summer temperatures regularly hit 45C/120F.

And a correction to an earlier blog: While pickup truck ownership WAS illegal for years to foreigners/expatriates, that is no longer the case, as my new Emirati colleague Mahmood has informed me. Apparently in the past there was a severe smuggling problem with expatriates crossing the border with a variety of products in small trucks. To combat this, trucks owned by foreigners were illegalized. The smuggling issue had apparently died down, so the law has been overturned.

So, driving here has been comfortable enough for me. The highways are wide and well engineered and generally drivers are not too aggressive or passive. I hope to get out of the city area soon and explore Al Ain and the western desert, as well as the east coast to view the Indian Ocean, and lastly to travel to Oman and the mountains along the border regions.

When I do, I will post updates.