Highway patrol vehicles are needed, people here disregard authority and the authority is too lenient with reckless drivers. Kids need to be in car seats and seatbelts. You see kids with their heads sticking out the window and again that’s because people don’t fear authority. They also need to understand pedestrian right of way. When a vehicle is backing up, drivers here don’t give the right of way, the person backing up could be in the middle of backing up and too many drivers honk for that driver to stop! Respect of the law and others is what’s missing.
Does a vehicle that’s backing up have the right of way? I am pretty sure that’s not how it works.
Reversing vehicles do not have a right of way.
Pedestrians ALWAYS have right of way.
However, the general point that drivers in the UAE do not seem to understand the concept of “right of way” is correct. Many times at a 4-way junction, confusion is caused if I actually stop at the stop sign and the traffic on my right and left (which HAS right of way) also stops!
This is because almost no-one stops at stop signs!
Another aspect of this is I have noticed that UAE drivers do not understand that in order to turn LEFT at a crossroads, they must continue straight cross the path of the waiting vehicle on their left in order to keep that vehicle on their left and to turn into the left lane. Many times, they stop and wave the person on their left across, so that they can cut the corner across the right lane.
Yest another aspect of this is that when a major road connects with minor roads, the traffic on the minor road should always give way to the traffic on the major road. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen cars drive straight across a junction with a main road without stopping (or even slowing).
The common theme with so many of these topics and comments is the lack of police enforcement.