Driving in Saudi Arabia – Roundabouts and gaps

Bismillah, alhamdulillah.

According to the Wikipedia: “roundabouts are statistically safer than both traffic circles and traditional intersections“, they are supposed to have 40% fewer collisions, 80% fewer injuries and 90% fewer fatalities compared with intersections they replaced. It will not come as a surprise that roundabouts gained popularity post the 1960s when British traffic engineers assessed their safety compared to intersections.

Translating these findings traffic engineers in Saudi Arabia have introduced these ideas onto roads in Jeddah and other major cities. Whether the safety record of roundabouts in Saudi compare well to the safety of roundabouts in other countries is highly debatable.

The picture below shows a sign indicating to whom preference should be given. In English it clearly reads ‘PRIORITY FOR CARS INSIDE THE ROUNDABOUT’, though the Arabic version of the signs says priority is for cars which are بداخل ‘in’ or it could be understood as ‘entering’ the roundabout. This may be one of the reasons contributing to the confusion at roundabouts.

A possibly confusing sign in Arabic at a rondabout

A typical approach to a roundabout in Saudi is to speed up and play a game of brinkmanship. The usual approach speed for a roundabout is a minimum speed of 60 km/hr with the average being around 80 km/hr. Drivers entering the roundabout assume they have priority and zoom straight on.

It does not take rocket science to work out that the result is a mess of weaving cars, near misses and accidents. Though it may seem illogical the received wisdom of drivers in general is to be as aggressive as possible at roundabouts and to play a high stakes-hit brakes late policy. This usually results in some heart stopping moments but seems to add to the general thrill of driving in Saudi Arabia. The tactic of going slow and obeying the rules is generally counterproductive and more likely to results in an accident.

On the bright side roundabouts provide an outlet for artistic expression. Various roundabouts are adorned with giant geometrical structures or everyday objects. A sort of modern art. The word for roundabout is دوار dawwar though official signs use the word ميدان maidaan which is best translated as square. In keeping with Islamic norms statues are not found at such roundabouts, instead geometrical and other forms of valid Islamic artistic expression are given life, though some leave you wondering what exactly is going on. As in the picture below of a large roundabout on ‘Malik Road’, this is a large roundabout with what looks like a set of sails in the middle.

The sails of a ship on a roundabout

If your over 30 you may remember a cartoon called Wacky Races, well driving in Saudi Arabia is quite a bit like that. The concept of lanes as discussed in the previous post does not exist. The golden rule is testosterone driven and involves trying to take advatnage of any gap no matter how small or dangerous that lies ahead. Here is one common undertaking manoeuvre special as demonstrated by the driver of a white Humvee.

A white Humvee notices a small gap to squeeze through on the inside lane

The Humvee decides to increase the efficiency of lane usage as both cars share the inner lane

The black four wheel drive is forced aside as the Humvee pulls past

Given this general attitude when driving and the knowledge that side impacts pose greater danger to occupants than rear and front collisions, it is a reasonable policy to use the car as a defensive sheild. Imagine you are a Formula 1 driver and make sure you have plugged all gaps sufficiently well when driving, if not do not be surprised if someone is trying to squeeze through.