I happened to be in Dubai a few days ago and stayed there overnight, which meant an early start on the Sheikh Zayed Road to get into the office on time. It was an eye-opener.

The good things first: dawn came up like a generous promise, a clear crisp warm light flooding the scrubby desert in Dubai and the rather neater margins in Abu Dhabi. The air was cool and fresh, at least once I was past the Jebel Ali industrial zone. You could see why Sheikh Zayed loved this country enough to build the UAE around it.

But then there’s the downside. Even with a 6.30am start, the road was pretty well full. That in itself wouldn’t have been a problem, since it is basically a straight road with a speed limit and few inherent surprises; in most places around the world you’d expect that this would be conducive to a reasonably fast yet relaxing drive.

Yeah right. Part of the problem is the fact that there are two speed limits, one at 120kph as stated on the signs and the other at the speed which the cameras flash. Some people obey one, some the other. And there are many, many drivers who don’t seem to care too much about either.

This is a road that fills up with the greedy, the inconsiderate, and the downright dangerous. Leave a reasonable amount of space to the car in front, and you can guarantee that someone will nip into it. If you don’t get out of the way immediately your rear view mirror will be filled with some hulking brute tickling your bumper – the only good thing about that is the fact that you can no longer see him flashing his lights furiously. If you’re driving too slowly in the view of the car behind, they’ll undertake and cut in. Meanwhile the hard shoulder is for overtaking, so don’t even think about breaking down or pulling over to change a tyre.

That morning the journey was delayed significantly by three traffic accidents on the approaches to Abu Dhabi, all of them apparently involving vehicles in the fast lane. The only good news was that none of them were me. Is this really any way to live?

Dennis Jarrett