The Roads

The roads of Kuwait are mostly straight, flat and under a hot glaring sun, very reflective.
The three lanes on the motorways allow one to drive in relative comfort at 70 mph, your choice: the inside lane, the centre lane, or the outside lane. The reason for this being that whichever lane you choose, someone else will overtake you and they will be in the lane of their choice.

Driving

Travelling along the centre lane it is possible to be overtaken simultaneously by a top-of-the-range Rolls Royce being driven by an Arab (or more likely his chauffeur); and a bedouin driving a clapped-out old heap that many years ago failed an M.O.T. test in England, but still manages to beat your 70 mph, belching out his poisonous exhaust fumes as he passes you.

Rules

There are no rules. That is to say there are rules, but every other driver on the road ignores them, so there really isn't any point in you obeying them.

Road Signs

The only road signs that are taken notice of in Kuwait, are maps. However, these should not be assumed to be correct.

If you stop at a give way sign, you run the risk of the driver behind you running into your vehicle, as he has no intention of stopping. Proceed over the give way with caution, but do not stop.

Take a deep breath upon approach, hold your foot over your brake but continue at the same speed and drive straight onto the roundabout. If you stop, you take the same risk as at the Give Way.

There are some, but no notice is taken of these. A pedestrian wishing to cross a road and preferably still alive when he reaches the other side, should only cross an empty road.

Although it will cause you a great deal of stress, upon approach to traffic lights, look in your rear view mirror and try to judge whether you can safely stop at red lights, without the person immediately behind you ramming into you. Your brake lights may be working, but his almost certainly aren't, so even if he notices you stop, and he stops, the car behind him will have no way of knowing that the car in front has braked.

Speed

Drive as fast as you feel comfortable with. Should you notice a police car in your rear-view mirror, flashing its headlights at you, just move over. He is almost certainly on his way to a fatal accident.

There are an average of three fatalities per day on the roads in Kuwait. Two point four of these are pedestrians.

Some Good Points

Number one is the cost of petrol. At around 5p a gallon and every garage has attendants and mechanics, your windscreen is washed, the oil checked; topped up if necessary, without the need to leave your vehicle. Ask for your spark plugs to be changed, fill your tank and expect change from a 5 Kuwait Dinar note (approximately £10).¹

Caution

Beware of drivers beckoning you, the pedestrian, to cross the road in front of him.