Really Worried about the roads - your advice and reassurance greatly appreciated | ExpatWoman.com
 

Really Worried about the roads - your advice and reassurance greatly appreciated

2
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 April 2013 - 13:32

Hi all
We are living in Asia at the moment and have 2 young kids. We have the opportunity to come to Abu Dhabi. It looks lovely but I am a fairly new driver and very worried about my kids being injured in a car crash while I go about my daily routines with them. Equally, my husband would often be in Saudi and Kuwait on business, taking taxis from the airports to various places, and I'm really worried about him. I've read the statistics, but I've also read that the accidents mostly involve people of specific nationalities. So what I would really like to know is, how often do serious accidents involve 'western' expats as victims (ie not where they are being reckless themselves). In other words, if I was driving carefully, how likely is it someone would come crashing in to me? Is it something that hits the expat community quite often, or is it rare? And also, how safe is it to have your life in the hands of a taxi driver in Saudi, Kuwait or the UAE if you are travelling there on business? Are there frequent stories of people being injured in this way? Thank you so much for any info from people who actually live there, this is really making me lose sleep!

8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 16:33
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there. Do you find that because they are stricter in the capital cars with Abu Dhabi plates drive like crazy people in Dubai as the police presence is not as strong here? no it doesnt make any difference where your plate comes from, because there are a load of people driving in dxb with ad plates as that is where your visa is issued so thats where your plate is issued, and the same vice versa ....... everyone in dxb used to say oh the ad plated cars are the worse, well they may have ad plates on but where do you live, they live in dxb, just have to have an ad plate because thats the rules, where visa is thats where plates issued etc..... the same with the reverse I was not sure as i see many many crazy drivers with AUD plates perhaps it is just that particular day. I was on Beach Road at the weekend and 2 cars were racing, there was a police car behind me and he paid no attention to them???? You could not avoid seeing or hearing them as they both had really loud cars yes but thats my point just because they have ad plated cars does not mean they have come from ad they more than likely live in dxb and just have ad number plates as their visa is issued from there etc. the difference between ad and dxb is that the speed limits are slower on the likes of the beach road etc compared to the many roads in auh. in the main cbd then the speed is no more than 80 and on the "motorways" the speed is no more than 120 or 140 depending on which road. in dxb they are less than that. now on the ad plates did they have 5 digits??? The ones on JB road were DXB plates
309
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 16:19
There are loads of unmarked police cars in Abu Dhabi. Saw one today - small black Toyota Corolla on 4th steet - and another yesterday, out by the golf club, an old white Nissan Patrol. I guess if we all obey the rules of the road we've got nothing to worry about, and personally, I'm really happy to know that there is such a high police presence. Personally, I find the standard of driving here to be pretty good, but then again, I did live in Doha for 7 years......you haven't seen crazy drivers until you've seen a Qatari behind the wheel! <em>edited by lulubaker on 30/04/2013</em>
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:51
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there. Do you find that because they are stricter in the capital cars with Abu Dhabi plates drive like crazy people in Dubai as the police presence is not as strong here? no it doesnt make any difference where your plate comes from, because there are a load of people driving in dxb with ad plates as that is where your visa is issued so thats where your plate is issued, and the same vice versa ....... everyone in dxb used to say oh the ad plated cars are the worse, well they may have ad plates on but where do you live, they live in dxb, just have to have an ad plate because thats the rules, where visa is thats where plates issued etc..... the same with the reverse I was not sure as i see many many crazy drivers with AUD plates perhaps it is just that particular day. I was on Beach Road at the weekend and 2 cars were racing, there was a police car behind me and he paid no attention to them???? You could not avoid seeing or hearing them as they both had really loud cars yes but thats my point just because they have ad plated cars does not mean they have come from ad they more than likely live in dxb and just have ad number plates as their visa is issued from there etc. the difference between ad and dxb is that the speed limits are slower on the likes of the beach road etc compared to the many roads in auh. in the main cbd then the speed is no more than 80 and on the "motorways" the speed is no more than 120 or 140 depending on which road. in dxb they are less than that. now on the ad plates did they have 5 digits???
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:47
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there. Do you find that because they are stricter in the capital cars with Abu Dhabi plates drive like crazy people in Dubai as the police presence is not as strong here? no it doesnt make any difference where your plate comes from, because there are a load of people driving in dxb with ad plates as that is where your visa is issued so thats where your plate is issued, and the same vice versa ....... everyone in dxb used to say oh the ad plated cars are the worse, well they may have ad plates on but where do you live, they live in dxb, just have to have an ad plate because thats the rules, where visa is thats where plates issued etc..... the same with the reverse I was not sure as i see many many crazy drivers with AUD plates perhaps it is just that particular day. I was on Beach Road at the weekend and 2 cars were racing, there was a police car behind me and he paid no attention to them???? You could not avoid seeing or hearing them as they both had really loud cars
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:46
i am sure that i read that there was only something like 25 marked police cars in dxb, with more police bikes but only in double figures... in auh there are millions (well not that many but hundreds!!!) of marked police cars, and now many unmarked police cars too.
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:45
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there. Do you find that because they are stricter in the capital cars with Abu Dhabi plates drive like crazy people in Dubai as the police presence is not as strong here? no it doesnt make any difference where your plate comes from, because there are a load of people driving in dxb with ad plates as that is where your visa is issued so thats where your plate is issued, and the same vice versa ....... everyone in dxb used to say oh the ad plated cars are the worse, well they may have ad plates on but where do you live, they live in dxb, just have to have an ad plate because thats the rules, where visa is thats where plates issued etc..... the same with the reverse
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:42
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there. Do you find that because they are stricter in the capital cars with Abu Dhabi plates drive like crazy people in Dubai as the police presence is not as strong here?
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:32
i had one the other day, on the al ain road, which is one of the quicker roads in auh, all the lanes were full of cars driving correctly overtaking, an x5 comes whooshing up on the first lane, undertaking everyone.... then came to a point where it got stuck between a car in front and also one in the 2nd, so she had to sit and wait, anyways, once she got past, she again started to undertake again but found the car that she was undertaking was obviously someone she knew, so then the window comes down, and they have a conversation on a 2 lane slip road with all the cars stuck behind her at 80 kph reduced from driving at 120 etc, then all i could see was they were then doing hand clapping and dancing in the back of the cars, whilst all the cars could not pass them............. eventually after a couple of kms the x5 speed off again weaving in and out....
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:28
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here. and the side too!!!! in the capital they have many more police cars on the road, marked and unmarked, on my many times driving a day on wacky races, i spot them, they are more pro-active than in years gone, still have a way to go though, but getting there.
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:21
It's looking very grey at DIFC. Hoping for some more rain It does look cloudy out but that could be our office windows needing a clean, i am hoping for more rain also
1575
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:15
It's looking very grey at DIFC. Hoping for some more rain
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:14
Not in Dubai Lol i do not see a single one on my daily drive to and from work I do believe that they are far stricter in the capital when it comes to bad drivers, much stricter than Dubai With regards to taxis i have never been involved in a near miss or crash. I would not say the UAE is one of the safest countries to drive in at all and the statistics prove this and it is in the newpapers daily about how bad the fatalities are in this part of the world. Safe as in crime but driving no! In 7 years i have had 2 cars hit me, one tried to squeeze through a space that a bicycle would not fit through on the floating bridge, he took the side off a taxi and my drivers side paint off and another person put his car in R at the lights and reversed backwards crashing into me I do not mean to scare the original poster but you need eyes in the back of your head to drive here.
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 10:08
Since the rainy weather since set in a couple of days ago, all the madmen (and women) have been out and about on the roads (full of silly pills) trying to get to where they are going as fast as they can (don't want to get wet!!!) It has been a long time I have seen so many silly little prangs involving only one car! Sadly, I think the rain has left us but hopefully everyone has put their silly pills back in the bathroom cupboard for another year. the rain is still forecast to stay around until tomorrow, so we may just have some more, although i can see blue skies so perhaps its gone. but yes this is what happens when it rains..... some people luv driving through the puddles, and some think its going to swallow up their car and cant possibly go anywhere near them, so they will swerve around not caring who is next to you. but i have seen the madwomen on the road the other day with no rain in sight....
Anonymous (not verified)
0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 April 2013 - 09:04
Since the rainy weather since set in a couple of days ago, all the madmen (and women) have been out and about on the roads (full of silly pills) trying to get to where they are going as fast as they can (don't want to get wet!!!) It has been a long time I have seen so many silly little prangs involving only one car! Sadly, I think the rain has left us but hopefully everyone has put their silly pills back in the bathroom cupboard for another year.
2
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2013 - 07:24
Thanks for your replies - much appreciated! The stats look so bad but then they do seem to all involve the same 2-3 nationalities.
4747
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 25 April 2013 - 22:48
it is wacky races here and at the moment they seem to have taken all stupid pills, the driving at the mo is silly, but you have to be brave and not be frightened the longer you leave it the worse it becomes, go out on a friday when its quiet and build up confidence, you do need to be aware of everything around you and have sixth sense to predict what they will do, and in most cases, you will be fine but yes you can be involved in a lot more accidents here.. hence why the insurance we pay is much higher..... there are a lot more police on the roads than years ago, so they are trying and alot undercover so they sneak up on you if you are doing something wrong. taxis are fine since they have changed them, before they werent but you are ok now. but always use car seats and belts etc.
Anonymous (not verified)
0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 April 2013 - 18:18
I think you are worrying unnecessarily. While drivers can be a little crazy at times here, the roads are very good and there is more and more police presence on roads these days than ever before. Taxi drivers are the same worldwide. They are strictly governed here regarding licenses, training etc. and most speak English these days. There are many government sponsored campaigns to warn people about dangerous driving, speeding, and wearing seat belts. I think you are as safe here as anywhere. You will feel very safe once you are here. Of course, bring car seats if your kids are small. This is one of the safest countries in the world, I think. Certainly, I feel much safer here than anywhere else I have lived.