Driving on Thursday Evenings

Thursday evening isn’t the best time to drive around Al-Khobar. For many people it is the start of their weekend here. After evening prayers the streets become crowded with vehicles, most of which are at least twice the si§ze of the average car in England. To get things into perspective, Range Rovers look small in Saudi, dwarfed by Suburbans, Ford Explorers, Hummers and the like.

As the roads have become busier here in the last 5 years, the average person’s driving skill and patience have gradually have declined. This is particularly noticeable when the weekend drivers load their kids into the four by four and head for the malls. Seat belts are required by law, but then so is sticking to the speed limit and stopping at red lights. Most kids bounce around the back seats, excited at the outing. Occasionally, as I run, I find small shoes at the side of the road amongst the fragments of shattered windscreens.

Everybody, of course, has the right to be on the piece of road that they choose. If somebody else is already there, blowing a horn or driving slowly towards them in a determined fashion will surely displace them. If it doesn’t, waving a hand in the air in despair at the stupidity of others on the road may help. People are patient here though. If honked or cut in front of, the standard response is to hold your right hand in the air, fingers and thumbs together as though you were indicating through mime the deliciousness of a meal. It means something like ‘have patience’, although I have found it more satisfying to think of it as ‘your penis is this big’.

Road rage doesn’t exist here ... usually. On my run last night I saw two accidents on the Rainbow Roundabout in the space of five minutes. One caused because the chap in front didn’t set off fast enough for the man THAT spot. The second was the result of a gentleman who had decided to park on the roundabout in order to determine which exit he needed. He flagged another driver down to ask directions. He pulled alongside. Whilst they were chatting, most drivers just drove around without a murmur of discontent. Not one chap though; he just ploughed straight into the back of the cars.What I do find remarkable though, is that none of the drivers I have ever seen involved in a prang here has ever got out of the car looking angry. There is no shouting, no angry recriminations. Amusingly though, once you have crashed you are not allowed to move your car, even if it is in the middle of the highway and causing an obvious hazard. Instead you must wait for the police to turn up and complete a report. This must be great for establishing blame and filling an insurance claim, although I do wonder how many additional accidents it causes.