Driving

The state of affairs on the road is quite exagerated by the folks on here. If you haven't figured out that many expatriates have not driven throughout the world and most seem to enjoy public transportation and walking. Being the dumb american I am and having spent a quarter million mikles on the roads in the last few years I can say it is quite fun to drive in Doha. Yes you need to pay attention and the laws are somewhat subjective but in general no one here is interested in scratching their precious automobile. If you are polite on the road and give way when necessary you will be fine. Also you are responsible for your own speed, there is no sense in trying to drive at 200 kph just to keep up wih an idiot, pull to the side and allow the morons to go by, this includes me when I come up behind you on the bike.

Yes I even commute to work 100 km a day on a motorcycle so it can't be too bad here can it now?

Hmmm- which personality is coming out today?

It's not all that bad. It's definitely a bit wilder than in the US but you just can't let them intimidate you and then you over-react. I have 2 kids and I drive them everywhere. Lots of moms on the roads. You just can't be handing out the cheerios and trying to find dropped toys and look out for the Landcruiser that just came up on your a*s out of nowhere flashing their lights for you to move because they're more important than you. :)
No automatic deportation for accidents - just don't move your car one inch until the cops arrive, even if you're blocking 4 lanes of traffic.

wow

Can one survive without a car? Can I just use the taxi and public transport. Je prefere

...kiwis have got to be the worst drivers in the world. I can't wait to get out to Qatar for some easy drivin'!

... were lifted off a blog of a guy living here his address is www.prufrockstar.org I think they are spot on

(1) Don’t use turn signals under any circumstance, except perhaps to signal that you’re exiting a round-about from the left lane. Signalling a lane change is a sign of weakness.

(2) Qataris always have the right of way. In any traffic dispute with a Qatari, you will lose. This also applies to nabbing parking spots.

Guidelines:

(1) Be decisive. Any hesitation may spell your downfall.

(2) Pay no attention to what’s happening to your right when you’re in a round-about. It’s more unsettling than anything, and you’re probably better not knowing how many times you narrowly avert disaster.

(3) When in doubt, drive faster and talk on your cell phone. You’ll fit right in.

(4) You can gain access to most security gates simply by waving at the gaurd.

Finding your way:

(1) Navigate using round-abouts, not street names. Unfortunately, I know the name and location of only 7 round-abouts: ball round-about, burger king round-about, TV round-about, tilted round-about, decoration round-about, sports round-about, and rainbow round-about, so my navigation abilities are rather limited.

(2) If you run into water, you’ve gone too far east. If you run into desert you’ve gone too far in some other direction - turn around.