Driving – it is like Outback …

The restaurant that is – the chain with the ‘no rules…’ motto. That pretty much sums up driving in Yemen. If there are rules, they are NOT enforced. In all truth, there is no ‘drivers license’ process here – if you are old enough to sit in a car and drive, you can drive here – no test, no license. Just get in and drive.

The first few days here were VERY intimidating. Though Bahraini drivers are crazy by Western standards, they are absolutely tame in comparison to the Yemenis. I have to drive across town to get to where I work everyday – 30 minutes on a good day, more like an hour on a less good day – so it is not like Bahrain where I walked everywhere. It was a mix of shock – seeing how they drive here – and the normal worry of having to learn a new city and how to get around – in a place where there are few streets signs. Oddly enough, most streets have several names anyhow, so maps and street signs are rarely in agreement.

The biggest wild card is the taxis. Not only are there normal cabs, there are zillions of mini-buses (think a VW microbus, though made by Toyota) that drive around with the right rear slide door open. They drive around and pick people up and drop them off randomly – and they are very aggressive drivers.

Typical mini-bus… they randomly change lanes to keep things interesting

Stoplights and lanes. Two things that as an American, you tend to obey. Not so here. When stoplights work, they are pretty much ignored. Lanes? Ha! A common technique is for drivers to straddle the lane marker so as to leave their options open. Weaving back and forth (no signals or checking blind spot!) is also common. So, just because the car in front of you is in the other lane, it does not mean you can assume it will stay there. Drivers here tend to use their horn a lot – one common technique is a quick tap as you come alongside another vehicle so they know you are there. For lane changes, I learned the ‘mirror, signal, blind spot, and then change lanes’ method in school – here it is ‘change lanes, listen for someone honking if they are in your blind spot’.

But, like everything else in life, you get used to it.