Ola Expats!
it seems to me we have a topic of interest here; mainly that of driving in Kuwait.
Now, before we embark upon a thorough explanation, please note that this post is not meant to cover HOW TO GET A LICENCE IN KUWAIT, so if you are looking for info on that, look elsewhere.
Ok, lets get down to business shall we?
Everyone is united in calling driving in Kuwait helacious, perilous, murderous and a downright deathwish.
Is this correct?
No. No it is not. It is their OPINION. everyone is allowed to have an opinion.
For example, during my years of university I drove in Egypt. That was helacious, there was little to no respect for anything or anyone - traffic laws and people alike. there were no visible lanes, cars cut ahead of each other, drivers drove with their hands firmly on the horn, no indicators were ever used except to insult the driver behind u. it was hell.
I returned to kuwait (remember, born and raised here) and would instantly be calmed by the driving i saw BACK THEN - it was impossible to hear a horn on the street, and to me, kuwait was the epitome of perfect driving, people respected lanes, some used indicators etc. it was bliss.
that being said however, it did not mean that there were not a few bad apples, ok, a lot of bad apples in the bunch. Both expats and citizens alike. However, the laws are more stringent on expats unfortunately, and the saying in Arabic goes "من امن العقاب اساء الادب" or something along those lines, which translates to, "he who guarantees the punishment acts badly", which means if you know what the law will do to you and are certain you can get away with it, you will not abide by the rules in the first place. so if an expat takes an illegal turn or drives without a licence, they are deported, whereas citizens are not deported. again, that does not mean that expats do not commit grievous crimes, oh yes they do!
the bottom line is; you are responsible for your own driving. drive safely and you will avert 80% of the craziness on the roads. most accidents occur because 2 people decide to be bone-headed together - against each other. i have seen it countless times, one driver trying to merge into a lane, another refuses their entry, so first driver has a bone to pick with second driver and goes out of their way to scare the heebie-jeebies out of them, at risk of everyone in the street.
Kuwait has the proper infrastructure for perfect road safety. However, rarely does any country have a perfect record of road safety. there are the crazies out there that ruin it for everyone, the speeders, the gawkers, the non-users of indicators, the people out there to hit on everyone else (flirt, not hit as in hit).
driving in Kuwait is not as bad as people make it out to be, it is only not what they expected. and it is not wrong to expect things to be better, given the country's financial strength etc.
Most traffic jams are caused by inconsiderate drivers and poor planning - e.g. i live in hawally, during school days it takes me 40 minutes to get to kuwait city, and if i am 5 minutes late leaving my house, that results in me arriving to work late by about 15-20. whereas when schools are off it takes me 10 minutes to get to work. the reason being the genius that designed hawally placed all the schools near the major entry/exits, causing massive deadlock.
before i was proud to tout how amazing driving in kuwait was to all my friends at uni, citing that you could go a whole week without hearing a single horn blow. now that is not the case, however it is still better than most places.
and please remember, despite how fast people drive here, the record for highest ticket in the world was in Switzerland (link). True story
what expats mean is that courtesy is long lost on the roads of kuwait by about 75% of the drivers, and it is only by driving really crazy that you are allowed to take your exit.
hopefully this sets the record straight on driving. Personally, i am very lazy when it comes to driving. i live in hawally and walk everywhere i need to go because of a) traffic b) parking. heck, i can run to marina mall in about 25 minutes, and i have done so, several times. one time i even left my car parked at bayt lothan and picked it up the next morning, by running there. driving has become a hassle, it is high time kuwait introduce a better way for people to get around, the buses just dont cut it.