3 of The Worst Driving Habits in Dubai & How to Break Them
Author: Muhamad Omari from CarWise.ae
The UAE is not the most dangerous, nor it is the safest place on earth for driving. You have to be careful sitting behind the steering wheel to protect yourself, your loved ones, and the value of your car.
Any one of us can have a bad driving habit that we do all the time but don’t realize so. Some of these habits can be tolerated, but some are very dangerous and can lead to fatal accidents.
Take care of yourself and the passengers riding with you by recognizing these 3 bad driving habits and trying to break them:
Distracted Driving
Anything that you do that takes your eyes off the road and attention away from driving is considered a distraction.
Whether you are munching behind the wheel or using your phone to make a phone call, send a text message, or pull up the maps, these are all considered distractions.
They can slip away sometimes; Dubai is such a busy city that once you are stuck in a traffic jam, your drive home will take 1.5 hours instead of 20 minutes. When this happens, it becomes very tempting to scroll down your Instagram feed.
However, once you get used to this habit and lose your focus on the road, it can put you in great danger, and if you get caught by the Dubai Police, you are not going to be happy.
The fine for distracted driving in the UAE is AED 400 and 4 black points.
To overcome this habit, you can hide your phone the moment you enter your car or you can opt for a safe driving app that minimizes distracted driving by making your phone inaccessible while your vehicle is moving.
Taking your eyes off the road for one second can be enough for a car crash to occur.
Be super careful not to compromise the safety of passengers, pedestrians, other drivers, and yourself of course for a careless mistake.
Speeding
Maybe this is something that all of us have been guilty of in the past. Whether you were late for work or simply unaware of the speed limit, I think we all have done it one way or another.
However, some sports car enthusiasts in Dubai who love driving fast tend to speed intentionally, which led to the formation of new strict speeding laws.
In Dubai, the speed limit, just like everywhere in the world, varies depending on the classification and sizes of the road.
In general, the speed limit on residential roads varies between 25-40km/h and for the highways, such as the Abu Dhabi-Al Ain (E22) and Sheikh Zayed (E11) highways, the limit can go up to 100km/h.
The new speeding laws charge more for higher speeds. So, if you exceed the speed limit by less than 20km/h you’ll pay AED 300, but if you dare to exceed by 80km/h over the specified speed limit, then you must pay AED 3,000, receive 23 black points, and have both your license and vehicle confiscated for 60 days.
To avoid speeding, try to organize your life better; wake up earlier, for example, so you don’t have to rush to work.
Also, know the rules of the road really well, pay attention to the speed limit in the area where you are driving, and be patient on the road.
Driving Under the Influence
In Dubai, no matter how little alcohol you’ve consumed, it is illegal to drive under the influence. You’ve had something to drink during a night out with friends, don’t drive home even if you think that you feel sober.
Alcohol is a depressant, meaning that it makes you feel fatigued and drowsy when you are under the influence.
It slows your reflexes and eye muscle function and impairs your night vision and color perception. It makes it difficult for you to concentrate on the road, stay in your lane, or even remember where you were going in the first place.
All these effects increase the chances of getting into a car crash.
Dubai has zero-tolerance for drinking and driving. So, if you’re caught driving under the influence, your fine can be up to AED 20,000, 23 black points, and your vehicle can be confiscated for 60 days. In some cases, you can even be sent to jail.
If you go out with your friends for drinks, have one of them commit to staying sober so he can drive the rest of you home, or arrange for somebody to come pick you up.
You can use public transportation or share a ride with your friends.
When you want to sell any car in Dubai, you need to have it in good shape to earn a good market price for it. If you proceed with these bad driving habits, in addition to risking your life, you are also risking the safety of your vehicle as well.
You can get rid of these habits with time; you just have to pay attention to your behavior behind the steering wheel, focus on what you want to change, identify triggers, and work on breaking the bad habit by replacing it with a healthier and safer one.
