If You Drive in Qatar, You’ve Definitely Met These Parking Personalities

Driving in Qatar comes with its own unwritten rulebook, especially when it comes to parking.

From busy mall car parks to supermarket lots and neighbourhood streets, certain parking personalities seem to appear everywhere. You might have complained about them, waited behind them or — without admitting it — occasionally been one of them.

Here are some of the parking personalities almost every driver in Qatar has encountered.

1. The “Just 2 Minutes” Parker

You know the scene. A car stops directly behind another vehicle, the hazard lights come on and the driver disappears. “It’ll only take two minutes.” Twenty minutes later, the blocked driver is still waiting.

Double parking may feel convenient when you are quickly picking something up, but it can easily block another driver or disrupt traffic in a busy parking area.

Better move: Find an actual parking space, even if it means walking a little farther.

2. The Two-Spots-One-Car Driver

One car. Two parking spaces. Sometimes the vehicle is sitting directly over the dividing line. Other times it is positioned diagonally enough to make both spaces unusable.

During busy periods, especially at malls and supermarkets, watching one vehicle occupy two perfectly good spaces can be particularly frustrating.

Better move: Park between the lines. Your car does not need its own compound.

3. The Parking Spot Stalker

You've just finished shopping and start walking towards your car. Suddenly, there is a vehicle slowly following behind you. Turn left. It turns left. Walk another row. It follows.

For the driver, it is a strategy for securing the next available parking space. For the person being followed, it can feel like an unnecessarily intense walk back to the car.

Better move: Give people some space. If they are leaving, you will still have a chance at the spot.

4. The Reverse… Reverse… Reverse Driver

The reverse lights appear. Everyone waits. The car moves backwards three centimetres. Stops. Another three centimetres. Stops again.

Careful reversing is important, but extremely hesitant manoeuvring can quickly create a queue behind you.

Before pulling out, check mirrors, cameras, blind spots, pedestrians and surrounding vehicles so you know when it is safe to move.

Better move: Check your surroundings before reversing and move once the path is actually clear.

5. The Trolley Abandoner

The groceries have been loaded. The bags are inside. The driver is ready to leave. There is just one final task: returning the shopping trolley. Instead, the trolley gets parked in the empty space next door, where it becomes the next driver's problem.

Besides taking up parking spaces, unattended trolleys can roll into vehicles or create obstacles for pedestrians.

Better move: Return it to the trolley bay. It usually takes less than a minute.

6. The Door Swinger

Some parking spaces in Qatar can get tight, particularly inside busy mall car parks. That makes this driver especially memorable. The car stops, the door swings open at full width and the neighbouring vehicle suddenly has to hope its paintwork survives.

A little awareness can prevent dents, scratches and awkward conversations between drivers.

Better move: Check how much space you have before opening your door, particularly when vehicles are parked close together.

7. The Entrance Hunter

There may be dozens of empty spaces available. But they are 50 metres away from the mall entrance.

Unacceptable. So the Entrance Hunter begins another lap.

Meanwhile, cars arriving later have already parked farther away and walked inside.

Finding a convenient parking space is always nice, but endlessly circling the entrance can waste more time than simply parking slightly farther away.

Better move: Take the available space. Your step count will thank you.

Parking Etiquette Makes Everyone's Drive Easier

Most parking frustrations come down to one thing: remembering that everyone else is trying to get somewhere too.

Parking properly, leaving access clear, watching for pedestrians, returning shopping trolleys and giving other drivers enough space can make busy parking areas noticeably easier for everyone.

And sometimes, walking an extra minute really is faster than spending 15 minutes searching for the perfect parking space.

How many of these parking personalities have you met in Qatar?

And more importantly which one did we miss?

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