Well a few of you may remember me telling you all about my journey to work in Doha, Qatar on the Asian Games, as a sound engineer. Let me tell you a few facts about driving in Qatar. Chaos is the best way to describe it!! Indicators are a fashion accessory, speed limits don't really apply. Drink driving gets 9 days in Gaol and 20 lashings with a whip and if you are a native Qatari no rules apply. Your car only gets impounded if you get caught doing more than double yes double the speed limit. There is 2 speed cameras in the country. Roundabouts are controlled chaos and people seem to veer across lanes even with cars next to them!! 70% of people admitted to hospital here are due to car accidents. Not to mention the stunts they pull when winning a football (soccer) match. Last night I had to drive down the main road from where we are staying to the city centre. Qatar had just beat Jordan 3 nil. This normal 10 min trip took over an hour!! Imagine cars doing major burnouts in standstill traffic in 3 lane main roads. 100's of Men and children hang out the side and sit on top of their 4wd's and hold flags holding up all the traffic doing anywhere bewtween 10-150 kph. Flags cover numberplates and entire windscreens Not to mention the guys on motorbikes doing front mono's in between stopped traffic with no helmets on and others on suped up quad bikes charging in between lanes popping 90 degree mono's. Along with The constant beeping of horns, reving of engines and the firing of guns in the air. Its insane yet amazing at the same time. Its like a stunt show and you are in it. The police just sit there and watch it all happen and if they try to tell a native Qatari to move on they tell the cops to basically "shove it" as here the Qataris rule and no one can tell them what to do. The reving of engines and the plumes or rubber smoke create a haze in both directions of the main drag along the ocean (3 lanes each way) Pity all of the cars are left hand drive and there are mainly luxury 4wds BMWs and Merc's, haven't seen one J-spec sports car here. Geez this is an amazing place.... will try to get some photos up of the action when I get back to Australia on the 13th. Does anyone else have any crazy international driving stories??
Yeah, know what you mean, indicators are like an excuse for them to dut you off cos then they know you are coming
Argh foreign driving is insane Went to China this time last year and let me tell you they are crazy! Specially the taxis! In the 3 weeks i was there my taxis hit a motorbike, another taxis and yes a pedestrian They just beep the car in front as warning that they are coming through, hell or high water. BTW Bali is almost as bad p.s. A girl from my work, Lina, left to do accreditation at the same games as you............wondering if you have run into her???
Petrol is so cheap!! We get company cars here. Just had to fill up the Chevrolet (Holden) Caprice today 80L of premium unleaded for a grand total of $25 AUD!!!!! Lina hmmm, there are at least 300 Aussies over here working on this event, but no haven't bumped into a Lina that I know of. I know exactly what you mean about the beeping when coming through esp on roundabouts. The other funny thing is the amount of front smashed cars just left around on the side of the road!! So many cars have panel damage here. If you were a panel beater this is the place to be!!!
