Wheels UAE – July 26, 2019

’m writingthis
columnintheguest
accommodationofa
factorylocatedina very
remotepartofSaudi
Arabia,onehundredandfi ftykilometres
froma tiny regionalairport,where I
was meta coupleofhoursagobya very
courteouscompany driver. Justa few
yearsago, thethoughtofdrivingthrough
thenightinSaudi,withanunknown
(to me)driveratthewheelofa car, the
conditionofwhichI couldnotbesure
of, frequentlyfi lledmewithdread.I’ve
madesimilarjourneyshundredsoftimes
inthelast twentyplusyearsandhadmore
thanmyfairshare ofverynearmissesand
downrightscarymoments, yet today’s
journeywas souneventfulthatI actually
dozedofffora good 20 minutes, muchto
theamusementofmydriver.

I noteda fewmonthsagoaftervisitingthe

FormulaE GrandPrixinRiyadh,thattimes

theyare a changinginSaudiArabiaand

apparently, thatapplieseventothedriving

standards. Anyonewhohaseversatbehind

thewheelofa carintheKingdomwilltell

you just howdangerousandunpredictable

theroadscanbe, withrules, regulations,

commonsenseandlifepreservation

apparentlyoflittleconcerntoanyone. Orat

least, that’s howit usedtobe. But ladiesand

gentlemen,it ismyprouddutytotellyou that

I recentlywitnesseda roaduserinJeddah

switchonhislefthandindicatortowarn

thecarbehindthathewas abouttochange

lanes. What’s more,it was donedeliberately,

correctly, andwithgoodintent.AndI never

thoughtI’d live towritethat.

I’mtoldthattheauthoritiesinSaudiare

installingspeedcameras, includingmany

whichare hidden,andimposingheavyfi nes

for recklessdrivingthesedays. NowI’mnot

claimingthatovernight,theroadsofRiyadh

are assafeasthoseofEuropeortheUS, but

it must besaidthatduringmylast coupleof

visits, I’ve beenfarlessinclinedtothinkI

was abouttomeetmymaker. I’mprobably

downtojust threeorfourtimesa day now...

Whisperit quietlybutI’ve seenmuchthe

sameeffectover thelast fi veyearsorsoin

Dubaiandalthoughit’s takenthema while

tocatchon,theSaudiauthoritiesare tobe

praisedforrecentlybringingabouta small

butnoticeablechange. SinceI travelthere a

lotonbusiness, longmay it continue.

i

“i’ve beenfar less inclinedto

thinki wasaboutto meetmy

maker. i’mprobablydown

to just three or fourtimes

a day now...”

Seeinga trafficaccident on theroad is a daily scenein

SaudiArabia,but thedriving standards seemto, fi nally, be

improving.Longmay thispositive new trend continue

Who Would have

thought it?

opinion

drivers’briefing

timansellheadsfullthrottlethrough

thegraveltrapsoflife

Photo shown is for illustrationpurposeonly