Omanis on roads: Ignorance is bliss

It's no wonder that Oman has the 2nd highest accident rate in the world after the USA. People drive here as if they own the roads that others have paved for them to use carefully - not carelessly.

The other day I was taking a stroll in my car and I was entering a small roundabout around where we live and on that roundabout I needed to go straight. Now as far as my teaching goes, we were instructed, that, should we want to go straight we would have to take the right lane to go right or straight and to take the left lane should we need to go to the left of the roundabout or take a U-turn on it.

So what did yours truly do? I took the right lane. First indication that I wanted to go either right or straight.

As I drove into the roundabout in the right land I noticed that on my left hand side there was this woman with a man on her right passenger seat and child on his lap. She was attempting to go straight where I was heading. Having seen this, I increased slightly to take my leading position to my 'goal'. But still she pursued as if nothing had changed. And she almost hit me too had I not tapped my breaks.

I was furious with this person. Terribly.

I gave her a honk and a signal signifying to her that she doesn't know how to drive properly or that she could have gotten her driver's license from Nizwa. She - in her own melodramic way - pointed out that it was her way. I was this close to stopping her in the middle of the road and getting that man on her passenger's side to keep her on a short leesh otherwise I would be very much tempted to give her a piece of my mind and send her home with two black eyes.

And this is just one incident amongst many that happens more than occasionaly on Omani roads despite the fact that the ROP has installed traffic radars every 1.5 kilometeres all over the Sultanate up until every road border that is known.

People don't understand that the instructions that they are taught during their schooling years of driving are meant for all life and not just to pass a slight exam that you have 2 police officers over looking at every mistake you might take taking into consideration that your instructor is there to be either tormented or delighted at your performance (sometimes it's delightness in both cases - should you pass or not - because in both cases he gets paid more).

I will say this, ignorance will not go unforgotten on roads.

Neither will breaking the law either.

Let it not be said that everyone's not been fairly warned.