Driving in Egypt & Jordan *NBC*

Just returned from a month in Egypt and Jordan where IMHO defensive driving takes on a whole new meaning. Lanes appear to be mere suggestions in and around the cities. If you see an opening you can go for it. Resolution of accidents seemed to be negotiated between the drivers on the spot. Speeding through the desert was typically the only offense I saw cracked down upon. Radar was heavily used, both during the day and at night! In the middle of nowhere you would come up upon a police car parked at right angles to the road or highway with a rubber cone in front of the car.





Then the officer would step out by the cone and hold up a small stop sign and the speeding car would pull over. The tickets were apparently quite costly. I asked our driver what happened if a car did not stop and he said they would catch you, through you in jail, taking your car and license away.

While I experienced alternate modes of transportation including horse and buggy, camel and felucca, none comes close to enjoying our Boxsters!

I appears in the desert, with all that heavy traffic, it's important to keep speeds down to avoid accidents in all that congestion.

What was the speed limit on those desert highways?

.....and is that white police vehicle really a disguised 911?

Actually there was very little traffic once you got out of any of the major cities. The highest posted speed limit I recall seeing was 100 kph. Cars tended to drive faster than the posted speed until, if they were lucky, someone in the oncoming lane flashed them indicating a radar check point. Radar dectectors were not allowed. Not only was that not a disguised 911 but in the month I think I only saw one Boxster (986) and one air cooled 911.

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jwdbox
Actually there was very little traffic once you got out of any of the major cities. The highest posted speed limit I recall seeing was 100 kph. Cars tended to drive faster than the posted speed until, if they were lucky, someone in the oncoming lane flashed them indicating a radar check point. Radar dectectors were not allowed. Not only was that not a disguised 911 but in the month I think I only saw one Boxster (986) and one air cooled 911.

Oops. Guess I should have added an to my first statement as I didn't see any other traffic in the pictures except what looks like the bottom of one vehicle's wheels in the opposite lane. I don't suppose that these radar traps were revenue generating operations, where they?

It also appears that, at least in the pictures, the terrain is very flat, so you would think a one of those police vehicles would be easy to spot off in the distance.

While it was often flat, the heat created mirages so distant vision was not that great and the roads were not always straight. My guess is that they did generate revenue since almost every one that we passed had one or more vehicles (cars, trucks and tour buses) pulled over.

While I didn't drive in Egypt when there in Jan. 2011, it was rather crazy. A highway with four lanes in each direction was really six or seven lanes in each. Peds would cross the highway on foot. They have "private" buses that are basically mini vans that top along the highway and pick people up. They are so crowded, we saw one where a "passanger" actually was hanging out of the driver's door that was ajar. He was sortof half in and half out of the mini van. In Cairo, I think the entire city has about four traffic lights. All you hear is a constant tapping of car horns. It is crazy, but it seems to work. I'd imagine once you drive you get into the flow of it, but I certainly had no desire to give it a try. I didn't even want to cross the street on foot. We went from there to prestine, snowy, orderly and quiet Salzburg, Austria, where there was a constant, light snow for the four-day trip. DC would have been cripled under such conditions.

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db997S
While I didn't drive in Egypt when there in Jan. 2011, it was rather crazy. A highway with four lanes in each direction was really six or seven lanes in each. Peds would cross the highway on foot. They have "private" buses that are basically mini vans that top along the highway and pick people up. They are so crowded, we saw one where a "passanger" actually was hanging out of the driver's door that was ajar. He was sortof half in and half out of the mini van. In Cairo, I think the entire city has about four traffic lights. All you hear is a constant tapping of car horns. It is crazy, but it seems to work. I'd imagine once you drive you get into the flow of it, but I certainly had no desire to give it a try. I didn't even want to cross the street on foot. We went from there to prestine, snowy, orderly and quiet Salzburg, Austria, where there was a constant, light snow for the four-day trip. DC would have been cripled under such conditions.

You're right about that, here is a sample of what we saw:









Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2012 04:49PM by jwdbox. (view changes)

What do you mean you wouldn't want to drive SilverBox in that?

Actually they did tend to give new/expensive cars some extra space so as to avoid the hassle of the on-the-spot driver to driver negotiations for settlement of any fender-benders.

Guenter could clean his Boxster while on the road

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

I found drivers in Jordan were far less aggressive, and actually felt safe driving there.

One evening in Cairo, the friend who drove me got drunk, so I insisted on driving. I was terrified the whole time. As drunk as he was, he probably could have done better than I.

In Egypt, the most important component of a car is the horn. Without it, you wouldn't be able to drive a city block.

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Clarkaddison
I found drivers in Jordan were far less aggressive, and actually felt safe driving there.

One evening in Cairo, the friend who drove me got drunk, so I insisted on driving. I was terrified the whole time. As drunk as he was, he probably could have done better than I.

In Egypt, the most important component of a car is the horn. Without it, you wouldn't be able to drive a city block.

Yes we found Jordan less aggressive than Egypt and the same regarding the continuous use of the horns in Cairo. However it turns out that they actually use the horns as a short hand communication ranging from a courteous "I am coming up on your right" to "oops, I am still where you want to go" to "get the h*ll out of my way." It takes a bit to differentiate but it really has evolved there into a quasi language unlike I have witnessed anywhere else.

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jwdbox
Yes we found Jordan less aggressive than Egypt and the same regarding the continuous use of the horns in Cairo. However it turns out that they actually use the horns as a short hand communication ranging from a courteous "I am coming up on your right" to "oops, I am still where you want to go" to "get the h*ll out of my way." It takes a bit to differentiate but it really has evolved there into a quasi language unlike I have witnessed anywhere else.

So Horn 101 would be part of the Egyptian driving test?

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

Another fascinating aspect of driving in Egypt is car repairs. The tiny repair shops are concentrated over several city blocks. One may specialize in carburetors, another in mufflers, another in body work. My friend brought his ancient Fiat to a muffler shop and waited while the mechanic fashioned a new set of exhaust pipes and added a generic muffler. Next door, a man and his 10 year old son were hammering out a door dent while the owner sat in the car. The son would aim a blowtorch at a spot, then the father would hammer. No Bondo. My friend explained that when this process was done, the owner would drive on to a paint shop and have the door sprayed. Prices were extremely low.

This system is why Egyptians don't have car insurance, and when they have minor collisions all they do is cuss at each other and move on. Traffic is so heavy they can't stop and argue.

On the other hand, there are few cars in Cairo that don't display a few dents.

Thanks for the information/explanation on the abundance of small repair shops in Cairo @Clarkaddison. I saw them all over the place and wondered how they did business.