Driving and Parking

Earlier this week, I got my first oppurtunity to drive in this crazy city. Manuel is in the process of getting his visa so they took his driver's license to process the paper work. Rose and Dan needed a ride to the airport. Did I do good? Depends on who you ask. ;-)

Within two minutes behind the wheel in the same block that we live, I got in a traffic jam that lasted about 3 minutes. I had to sit and wait while everyone around me laid on their horns. I figure it wasn't helping so I chose to not to add to the ruckus.

I made it out onto the big street and realized that we needed gas. In Abu dhabi, there is only one gas station company. So we went to one of their many stations. It was so crowded that the line to get in backed onto the main road. I had to do some tight maneuvers to make it to a gas pump. In the process, my back seat drivers had no faith in my maneuvering skills and I received a scream from Rose and a "Watch out! Watch out!" from Dan. I wasn't even close to that other car. They made me so nervous, that the rest of the trip they tried to rebuild my confidence level by telling me what a truly great driver I was. :)

In the end, I got them to the airport in one piece. :)

The driving here is very chaotic though. I refuse to drive in the fast lane because in the blink of an eye, people will fly up behind you and I honestly don't think they will wait for you to move out of the way. In AD lane lines are like guidelines, they are treated as optional which makes driving very....interesting.

There is very little police enforcement so people drive at their own speed. They have speed cameras that are not discreet so the drivers speed between them and drive the speed limit near the cameras. Most intersections have red light cameras.

The parking is also horrible. If you can't find a spot, you make one on a centerline or in an intersection. Take a look at the pictures I've taken from outside my apartment.