I’ve only driven on UAE roads since earlier this year, yet I’ve quickly become accustomed to the driving standards that some people seem fit to exhibit every time they sit behind the wheel.

Of course, not all drivers in the UAE are bad drivers; here are a few useful pointers to remind the few road-baddies how to drive the proper way.

1: Go mobile: That is, go mobile on the road without your mobile phone in hand. It’s common sense that if you’re using a mobile phone whilst driving, you’re not paying attention to the road.

2: Middle ground: Highway driving has a very simple concept about lane usage: the middle lane should be used when you are in the “slow” lane but want to overtake another driver. If you are in the middle lane and the slow lane is free of cars, you should be moving back across into the slow lane.

3: Fast learning: Some people driver faster than others but, please, if you’re in the fast lane and the middle lane is free, move across into it. Unless you like holding up the flow of traffic, that is.

4: Keep your distance: Slamming on your brakes every time you come too close to the vehicle ahead is a scary experience for both you – and the rear end of the car you’re near-missing. Want to avoid an unnecessary accident or even a fatality? Keep your distance!

5: Don’t flash me: There are plenty of times when we’re running late, or just want to get to the office/home a little faster, but it would be much easier to drive if I didn’t have some 4x4 growling at me in the rear-view mirror with the headlights blinking. I have just as much right to be in the same lane as you. Leave those lights alone!

6: Right way round: Most roundabouts in the capital have the same number of lanes on the roundabout as those approaching them. This means that if you are in the right-hand lane approaching a roundabout you should use the right-hand lane once on the roundabout. It does not mean you should cut across into the middle lane.

7: Leaving early: Cutting across lanes on the highway in a last-ditch attempt to make it onto a slip road in time is simply dangerous. Ease off the speed, pay attention to your route (leaving that mobile phone alone will help) and you should avoid an accident and a detour to get back to that slip road, having not missed it the first time around.

8: Belt up! I can never understand why adults – especially those with children – find it so hard to find the seatbelt. Whether you’re riding in the front or back or the vehicle – wearing a seatbelt can be the difference between life and death. Surely that’s worth buckling up for?