Tuesday 16 September 2014

Kuwait: Ode to the Bat Mobile Pt 1

It's time to have a frank discussion about the driving in Kuwait. I have eluded to it in other posts, not wishing to sound petty or critical--but it's time.
But it must be said: the drivers in Kuwait exhibit some of the most arrogant, aggressive, inconsiderate, rude and dangerous practices that I have experienced any where else in the world. Sure, there are bad drivers everywhere, but understand,  the drivers of Kuwait are not 'bad' they just operate like they are the only vehicle on the street. Ever. 
The driving experience requires more than one post, so for now, I will start with the Type of Vehicles Favoured in Kuwait. 
The most popular vehicle in Kuwait seems to be the Land Cruiser Prado. Its a big useless hunk of a car/truck that guzzles gas and leaves a huge carbon footprint.



This is for sure the vehicle of choice for the Kuwati driver. Most of the time, there is only the  driver in the vehicle, although it seats 6, 8 in a pinch. Everyone drives in Kuwait, as its too hot to walk. People drive a block. Really. There are other types of vehicles that are the same basic shape and size, but to me they all look the same. The common feature is: BIG

Another Popular vehicle here in Kuwait is the Range Rover. Yep, its big too. Note the off-roading experience in the photo below. They dont have grass/trees in Kuwait, so obviously I took this photo from the Range Rover website. From what I can see though, the only off-roading that is done is when they drive up over curbs and park on the sidewalks...so again, I am not sure why such a huge truck/car is needed, but there you have it. One cannot ask "why"?? in Kuwait. 

A luxury vehicle: the Range Rover ascending a steep hill.

The Grand Cherokee Jeep is also a very popular car here. Again--not sure what they need such a huge vehicle for--my theory is that they like the big vehicles because accidents, which inevitably happen ( more on the driving, in another post) are less fatal if the passengers are protected by a big car. 

jeep grandcherokee OVERVIEW

The fact that I find very curious about the size of the vehicles is this--aside from the main roads and thoroughfares, the roads are very small and narrow. A smaller, compact car would be much more convenient, practical and save much aggravation, as traffic is impossible on those narrow streets ( more on that later) but noooooooooo people "need" to have the huge honking vehicle instead, and they dont seem to mind being stuck in traffic for hours because the whole street is blocked off by trucks parked on the sides ( and in the middle) of the road, and so nobody can get by. I dont understand that. 

The poor suckers ( like myself) who dont have these big vehicles, are driving Mitsubushi Lancers, Toyota Corollas and Nissan Altima's. 


2014 Lancer

Yep, its  a lot smaller than the majority  of vehicles on the road...and yep, I have to use my horn a lot to 'be seen'. I have been run off the road, quite literally in this small car...ohhhh for the Bat Mobile, then I'd show em. 

Just an FYI....To fill up (from empty) this medium sized sedan with premium gasoline, costs me 12$. To fill up my similar vehicle in Canada, from empty, costs about 100$.
I have no idea what the gas mileage is on the gas guzzlers the Kuwaiti's drive--but seriously, I dont think it matters. When it comes to cars here, bigger is better and size is indeed, everything. 














We are run off the road. 
Literally--but like I said--thats another post. 



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