The Weekend

For those not familiar with the UAE, the weekend, until very recently was Thursday and Friday for government workers and students; Friday for local business; and Friday and Saturday for companies emulating the west. Recently government and schools changed to also having Friday and Saturday off. For most western expats, the reality of having a regular "weekend" does not exist.

Having just arrived though, full advantage of this thing we call a weekend was taken in order to do a little exploring. I drove through the most famous areas just to get a feel for how things fit together. Things I read in advance about Dubai seemed to be based in fact even if they were not completely factual. There is a lot of traffic but not if you compare to Bangkok, Mumbai, Tokyo, LA or, well, you get the idea - no matter where you are, if there is an accident, the traffic is "bad". There are many poor drivers, and as a newcomer finding their way around, my driving was less than ideal. There is a preponderance of lane drifting that seems to be higher than other parts of the world but otherwise you can find drivers equally lacking in skill elsewhere.
The first accident I witnessed was due to an SUV traveling on a multi-lane highway suddenly deciding that a U-turn across a curbed sandy median was obviously the quickest way to reach their destination. Unfortunately the decision was disputed by fellow motorists, and opposing traffic had the last word on the subject.

One item of interest is that cars in UAE have a warning light and tone that come on when you exceed 120 km/hr. In some cars this stays on until you slow down, but mercifully, in other models, the tone is silenced after a short time leaving you only with a flashing overspeed dash light. Of course, this is rumor…no personal experience. Enforcement is primarily by radar camera and you often don’t know about the total of your fines until you turn in your rental car or try to renew your license.