Finally, having been here a little over sixteen months now, I feel qualified to comment on the truly hair-raising experience of driving here in Qatar - I exaggerate not. Having gained my Qatari driving licence, which was only a matter of waiting for my residence permit and then visiting yet another official institution with a queuing system, with photos etc, I duly decided to rent a car for three months. This is fairly standard practice for ex-pats and you usually end up with a Toyota Corolla - this being the cheapest and most reliable vehicle they have.
The first week is the worst, and you definitely need a passenger to help you. It's not just the fact that you are driving on the right hand side of the road. It's more because all the roads are three lane highways and the motorists here will pass you on both sides without any warning, so you need an extra pair of eyes as well as all the mirrors to look out for this happening.
The other phenomenon is that they do not believe in using their indicators when turning off, pulling out in front of you, will often cross three lanes in front of you without any warning and then turn off and if you wait any longer than ten seconds at a junction or roundabout, then the horn comes into play.
Forget the normal stopping distance when driving - if you leave a space longer than a car's length in front of you, someone will fill it. The most common and frightening practice I have seen is tailgating which happens all the time, when a local in a Land Cruiser wants to get past in the fast lane or the inside lane and you are in the way.
The best day for a new driver to practise is Friday, which is the start of the weekend and Friday prayers, so the roads are very quiet. See the picture below which is their main highway to the north of the country - this was taken on a Friday morning - we were the only car on the road.
Roundabouts are quite an experience - they usually have traffic lights on them, but not many people take any notice of the red stop light. There are no traffic cameras on the roundabouts, so unless there is a traffic cop, they get away with it. However, lane discipline is non existent and you need eyes in the back of your head. I have learnt to watch for the "body language" of the cars here and predict what they are going to do, then hang back and let them get on with it. That way, you usually avoid being part of the daily accidents which occur on the roundabouts.
All accidents have to be reported to the police or you cannot get your car repaired. If you have an accident with a local, it is without doubt, going to be your fault.
There is a very high percentage of four wheel drive cars here - probably about 80% and most of those are white, silver or grey - very occasionally you might see a coloured car but not very often. Most car parks are a sea of white! We have now bought a second hand 4x4, and it is definitely much safer - size matters here and the bigger the 4x4 the safer you are on the roads. Generally, as a rule of thumb, everyone gives way to Land Cruisers, usually because they have Qataris driving them and they are bigger than you.
Driving to work on a Sunday morning, the first day of the week for me, at 6.45 am, the traffic is busy at the traffic lights as we all wait our turn. You learn to dread the lights going to red, because you are in for at least a five minute wait then. No-one jumps the lights because it is a 6,000 QR fine (£1,000) and there are cameras on each set. This picture was at the lights near work, one morning when we had just had some heavy rain - just like a morning going to work in England.
The first week is the worst, and you definitely need a passenger to help you. It's not just the fact that you are driving on the right hand side of the road. It's more because all the roads are three lane highways and the motorists here will pass you on both sides without any warning, so you need an extra pair of eyes as well as all the mirrors to look out for this happening.
The other phenomenon is that they do not believe in using their indicators when turning off, pulling out in front of you, will often cross three lanes in front of you without any warning and then turn off and if you wait any longer than ten seconds at a junction or roundabout, then the horn comes into play.
Forget the normal stopping distance when driving - if you leave a space longer than a car's length in front of you, someone will fill it. The most common and frightening practice I have seen is tailgating which happens all the time, when a local in a Land Cruiser wants to get past in the fast lane or the inside lane and you are in the way.
The best day for a new driver to practise is Friday, which is the start of the weekend and Friday prayers, so the roads are very quiet. See the picture below which is their main highway to the north of the country - this was taken on a Friday morning - we were the only car on the road.
All accidents have to be reported to the police or you cannot get your car repaired. If you have an accident with a local, it is without doubt, going to be your fault.
Driving to work on a Sunday morning, the first day of the week for me, at 6.45 am, the traffic is busy at the traffic lights as we all wait our turn. You learn to dread the lights going to red, because you are in for at least a five minute wait then. No-one jumps the lights because it is a 6,000 QR fine (£1,000) and there are cameras on each set. This picture was at the lights near work, one morning when we had just had some heavy rain - just like a morning going to work in England.
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