Left-Hand Drive

• It is weird why the world can’t decide which side of the road to drive on? Why does UK, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia and some other countries drive on the left side (hence right-hand driving) whilst the rest of the world drives on the right (left-hand driving)??? Why can’t we just standardize everything and spare everyone the confusion? I even heard from a Sudanese friend, that Sudan used to be right-hand but they have changed all the left-hand some years back. Must have been a major exercise. Imagine trying to do that in Kuala Lumpur!
  
  I’ve been driving in UAE the past couple of days – left-hand driving as opposed to Malaysia! Some points to share:
   Most common (less harmful) mistake is always walking to the wrong side of the car when getting on it. Countless times I have walked to the right only to find that the steering wheel is on the left!
   Groping the left for the hand brake and gear which was not to be found.
   Trying to put on the signal indicator but instead had the wiper on. (Happens if you drive Waja/ Tiara too instead of Sonata!)
   Tend to drive more to the right side of the road. Except in UAE the middle of the road is not on the right. What I find there is the road kerb! Ooops…. Which is when my German friend, Eddy commented that the road doesn’t seem big enough for my Lancer.
   Confusion when reaching a junction! Contrary to popular belief, it’s much easier if the traffic is heavy. Then there would not be any ambiguity on which side is the correct side to turn into. But in deserted areas like out-of-the-way highways and residential zones, I had to spend a second or two to get my lanes right! (Almost turned into the wrong one that day in Ruwais! Luckily I got my senses right!)
   Some roundabouts (or circus as it’s called in Singapore – hilarious thing to call a roundabout) can also be quite dangerous if there are not road dividers leading to them.
   Feels funny turning the head the other direction while reversing the car.
  
  Well… those are some of the issues of driving on a different side of the road. No worries, I am getting used to it as time passes. The problem would be when I have to be rehabilitated when I return to Malaysia!
  
  Another thing to be careful about when driving in the UAE is that there are many crazy drivers around. The highway speed limit is 100 kph in the Abu Dhabi western region and 120 kph in Dubai. But people drive close to 200 kph all the time, swerving in and out, as they liked. There are the Indian and Pakistani drivers who drive madly like they do in their home countries. Not to mention the rich, young and fiery Arabs speeding along with their sports cars! No wonders why accidents are so common. In fact there was a 6 car pile up two days back at Musaffah, near Abu Dhabi. I remembered there was a 20 car accident during the last winter in Dubai. So, drive vigilantly and carefully in UAE!