I'm visiting Muscat later in the year, and wanted to know what to expect if I hire a car and hit the roads.
I as pleasantly surprised by Bahrain's roads earlier this year, the standard was infinitely higher than Dubai! I also close my eyes whenever I visit Beirut too, wouldn't dream of driving there!
So where does Oman end up on the ME hall of shame?
RU
Last edited by reverserunlocked; 5th Jul 2004 at 05:08.
Sticking to the topic, the winner has gone to be Saudi Arabia! I have taken to wearing eyeshades as a passenger on out of city journeys...... Thinking about doing the same on inner city trips as well............................
Anywhere else has to be a piece of cake.....
Mutt.
PS, as a visitor, dont hire a car, use taxis.... its much easier...
I've lived here in Oman (Muscat) :P .. all my life ... the roads here are quite good .. and the quality of driving used ot be good ... thats when the police used to do their job ..
but off late .. more people die here of road accident than any other illness or anything else .. (i don't think a plague would take as many people)
The inner city is mostly crowded during the weekdays .. not long traffic jams just a hefty crowd so atleast not much of craziness on the road .. but do get yourself insured please .. the rent cars will defo have insurance .. but get urself insured too ..
The place to stay is pretty good if you're just visiting .. lots to see in far off places ...
if you need a car for rent .. gimme a buzz .. might be able to hook you up ...
as opposed to Mutt's post, I'd recommend you rent a car here .. much better way to get around .. taxi's can and will easily cheat you .. there are no meters on them. And the cars (since they are privately owned) are sometimes in fall apart condition (altho most are good).
The taxi drivers in Oman are the mojor cause of most road accidents by the way .. so back to renting a car .. I guess ..
Agree with Boilermaker, SA by a mile. Roads in Bahrain are like demolition derbys at the best of times, but weekends or SA holidays they come over the causeway and make it ten times worse.
Oman is one of the best in the region. Definitely hire a car if you want to get out of Muscat city and look at the forts up in the mountains, well worth it, cars are relatively cheap and driving is easy.
Driving in JED KSA does bring up the blood pressure. Having drove there many years I find it a comfort now compared to the driving and attitudes in Istanbul. Thank God they do not fly! They cannot stay in the same lane of traffic no matter how hard they try. Seen one incidant a while back where the road rage was out of control. These two just exited their cars and started beating the hell out of each other. All the while the rest of the pedestrians and other traffic just ignored what was going on as if it was a normal day. Wife just said dont worry its normal. I have a problem myself after driving in IST and Jed then returning home to the US. Need to take things much slower. Not saying anything bad about either place, just different worlds.
Having lived 5 years in Kuwait I personally think Kuwaiti's are the worst drivers I have ever encountered.!
If you are in the fast lane on any of the freeways and are going too slow by their standards they roar up behind you, sit about a foot off your rear bumper and stay there until you move over.
I saw this once where a police cruiser was in the fast lane doing abt 140 clicks and a Kuwaitii in a jeep cherokee screamed up behind him, sat about a foot away and stayed there until the cop moved over to let him pass !!
You could not drive into the city without seeing a new wreck on the side of the road every day.
Lived in Oman for 6 years and thought it was a bit grim............until arriving in Abu Dhabi.
The Omani's all auditioned for 'Driving Miss Daisy' compared to these goopters up here. The Pakastini taxi drivers are complete numpties and the locals have George Lucas working with them that enable them to use the force!
By all accounts though I heard Saudi and Kuwait take the cake.....though with the annual death toll at 15,800 deaths in Iran a few years ago on the road I reckon they may be right up there.
Last edited by Fox3snapshot; 4th Jul 2004 at 18:57.
Ah yes, Iran... according to the statistics one person is killed on the roads every 28 minutes in Tehran, and 20,000+ countrywide every year.
Anyhow, a typical day on the roads (and pavements) in Bahrain, as reported in the GDN June 3, 2004:
An unlucky motorist described how his Mercedes 500 SEL was rammed by three separate cars in the space of an hour yesterday.
The vehicle was at the side of the road after being hit by a Toyota Land Cruiser when it was hit again by two passing vehicles.
Ali Al Shaikh, 37, escaped uninjured after his Mercedes was hit from behind by the Land Cruiser on Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Highway, at around 8.45am.
He was apparently changing lanes when his car was hit by the Indian motorist, who also escaped uninjured. "The impact was so strong that my car spun to the middle of the road," Mr Al Shaikh told the GDN.
However, after the traffic police completed the accident report, Mr Al Shaikh was pulling off to leave when his car was hit again by a Nissan Sunny - this time driven by an Egyptian.
A traffic officer at the scene said he was re-directing traffic when the Sunny, which appeared to be speeding, was taken by surprise and went into the back of the Mercedes.
The collision sent the Mercedes spinning into the centre of the road again, but both drivers escaped injury.
Mr Al Shaikh's car was moved to the side of the road while a second accident report was filled out.
However, as he was returning to the vehicle, a speeding Toyota Lexus ploughed into it for a third time - proving that trouble does come in threes.
"I was walking back to my car when the Toyota Lexus apparently tried to slow down, but skidded and hit my car from the back," said Mr Al Shaikh.
The Saudi national, who was driving the Lexus carrying a Kuwaiti number plate, was travelling at over 150kmph, according to an officer at the scene. But despite the huge impact, the driver escaped uninjured.
However, his Kuwaiti passenger was taken to the hospital with a broken arm.
Both the Saudi and the Kuwaiti nationals are students at Arabian Gulf University.
Oh... come on! guys
