In a Round-about Way

If you don’t understand roundabouts before you come to Doha, you certainly will very soon after arriving. If you drive here & still don’t understand roundabouts, you will probably be in a road accident pretty soon. There is one basic rule that governs precedence at roundabouts: those who are “in” the roundabout have right of way over those who are just “joining” the roundabout. Should there be any doubt as to who is “in” & who is not, then the dispute is settled by survival of the fittest, nimblest, or most aggressive. Some drivers pride themselves on split-second judgment, judging that slower vehicles “in” the roundabout will lack the speed necessary to affirm their right of way & can therefore be beaten to the draw. This version of “chicken” is okay when dealing with lumbering trucks (of which there are many) but it can be nerve-wracking if the SUV to your left is traveling faster than you thought. In any case, drivers will honk at you if (a)you thought you could beat them anyway or (b) they thought you shouldn’t be there in the first place.

This introduces a second set of rules that determine your whereabouts when you are actually “in” the roundabout. Approaching a roundabout you’ll find a number of possibilities depending on whether the road you’re on is two-lane or three-lane, & whether you intend to leave the roundabout at the first, second, or third exit. Or, worse, if you plan to go completely around & head back in the same direction you came from. This last is a real possibility because main roads in Doha are often divided by a median preventing left turns & requiring a u-turn at some point further along. If the road you are on is a two-lane, the options are relatively clear. The left lane allows you to leave the roundabout by any exit except the first. The right-hand lane allows you to leave by any exit except the third (or fourth). This at least is the theory, generally borne out by strategic arrows painted on the road surface. If your approach road is three-lane, life becomes a little more complicated. The centre lane will generally allow you to leave by the second exit &, with luck any of the others. The right-hand lane will often suggest leaving only at the first exit. The left-hand lane only at the third (or fourth). Unfortunately, in both cases (two-lane or three-lane), the theory collapses when drivers decide to cut across from the left-hand lane & attempt to leave by an exit before the one you have in mind. Chaos, honking & frequent fender-benders, are the result of this descent into anarchy. To make things even worse, some drivers decide to manufacture an additional line of traffic for themselves inside the roundabout. This happens regularly in rush hour & nerves of steel are needed to cope & emerge unscathed the other side.

Recognizing the perils of the system, the authorities have decided to add traffic lights in some places. Fines are severe for those who run red lights in Doha & CCTV cameras are universal on main roads & intersections. Lights that are green begin to blink just before turning red & most (well, almost all) drivers respect this & stop quickly. A peculiarity, however, is that some lights then turn from red to a blinking orange. This seems to mean: go if you can & remember that all the old roundabout rules of precedence now apply again. As a last resort, the police will station themselves at the roundabouts, & control the traffic flow by hand. This is by far the most effective & safe way of negotiating the roundabouts of Doha. Unfortunately, it’s also the rarest. Many Qatari drivers in powerful SUVs seem to feel, in any case, that the road really belongs to them & ignore basic rules of politeness & commonsense, weaving & bullying their way through the traffic. The consequences litter the roadsides in cautionary piles of smashed vehicles (not all of them SUVs). I pass without comment the hazards arising from those Qatari women drivers who wear the full abaya. I have yet to see one of them wearing the veil while driving but it wouldn’t altogether surprise me.

Roundabouts have yet another valuable function: as landmarks for driving & giving directions to others. This works well largely because key roundabouts are given names according to the buildings or monuments that are visible in the vicinity, assuming that you have time to look for or at them. So we have “TV Roundabout” (Al Jazeera transmitters), “Decoration Roundabout” (location of the “Qatar Décor” store), “Oryx Roundabout” (fine statue of two intertwined oryx), “Sports Roundabout” (monument erected for the 2006 Asian Games), “Arch Roundabout” (also called “Rainbow” because of the huge multi-coloured arch in the centre), “Burger King Roundabout” (no explanation needed) & many more. My favourite is “Slopey Roundabout” (also called “Tilted”) for the angle of the road surface. Now I understand what the “Doha Round” is all about.