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Originally Posted by RJK Nice. How were they? Did they conduct classes in Al Quoz or around JLT area only? I have to start process for my wife & was considering Galadari since its close, next Cluster to where I stay.
Congratulations on your car too! Presumably you're also in JLT, we could get together sometime
Cheers |
Thanks! I took night classes primarily. They encourage you to take 2 hour sessions so you can get picked up and then have enough time to drive to Al Quoz and practice there. The 2 lane roads where the initial practice is done is all in Al Quoz. Plus, it's better if you practice there as the final test will be in those roads. For parking classes and tests, I had to go to their Al Quoz office. I had chosen Galadari because they gave me a good deal and were ready to pick me up for my classes from home. But an issue I found with them was that it took ages (4-5 working days) for me to get a slot for tests etc. This may have been because it was the cheapest and a lot of people chose this. So if EDI, say offers similar convenience and not too much more money, then I suggest you go with that (wouldn't hurt to check with someone who has gone with EDI on the slot allocation timing). Another consideration point - Galadari and few others have an internal and an automated Parking test while EDI still only has only the RTA parking test. It reduces one test in the whole process. Last I heard, EDI was also moving to internal + automated soon, if not already done - so can check about that too. In terms of quality of classes, I have no issues, all instructors I got were nice and taught me well.
Sure! can go on a drive sometime, I understand there are others nearby as well who get together regularly. I'm in Cluster D.
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Originally Posted by rav11stars Thanks! It'd take a thread to write my buying experience here. In short, I went from STI -> Focus ST -> Mazda6
Considering a number of factors I settled down for the 6. My online gripe right now is probably I should've dug around and gone for a nice pre-owned ride.
Yeh, I too didn't see many STIs here. |
That's quite a journey already! Which do you like the best?
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Originally Posted by Habanero City Congratulation for getting DL in Dubai.
What kind of tests are done for the Eye test?
Does it include test for color blindness and how is this considered in Dubai or any other Countries. |
Thanks! Yes, the eye test includes a color blindness test and basic vision test. Did not fully get your second question.
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Originally Posted by ninjatalli Interesting write-up! For a city having such a tough process, the large number of accidents that keep happening out there is quite surprising! Usually, there's a strong correlation between both; and one always confirms the other.
And Dubai (and the sister city of Abu Dhabi) do have a large number of accidents! When I asked the localites, they always pointed it towards the tourists/sub-continent drivers and the taxi drivers. But most of the accidents I saw on the roads had no such pattern.
But then this is OT, so apologies. |
Haven't been here too long, so can't comment. But what I did notice is that there is a definite mismatch between traffic sense / following rules and the difficulty of the process. I also noticed a lot of tail gating, especially during peak hours on freeways - very fast acceleration coupled with hard braking. I try to keep a safe distance ahead of me to smoothen out my braking lest someone come and rear end me (always a constant worry!).
OT - The discrimination extends to corporate compensation too!
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Originally Posted by Hayek Agree fully with this. Have never driven in Dubai but have spent some time there on work trips, including a couple of drives between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Frankly I found virtually everybody tail-gating and saw a couple of accidents, which is something you don’t expect in a country with tough driving tests and draconian punishments for offenses.
Don’t think we should fuss too much about testing Indians - given our terrible driving culture, anyone would want to be careful. |
I agree with the tail-gating part for sure. Wrt testing Indians, Pakistanis etc., I feel it is required as driving rules and scenarios are vastly different from India. For ex, there are very few places in urban India where you will be driving at constant speeds of 100 kpmh with significant traffic around you.
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Originally Posted by benbsb29 The Galadari family also owns the Khaleej Times newspaper, as well as the Ford and Mazda dealerships, in addition to various other businesses from what I remember from my childhood.
Thanks for confirming. I re-read the link that was provided earlier, and saw how they have cleverly added in that clause
Anyway, my point was not to detract the thread, but more to bring awareness to people who may imagine the Gulf to be countries where the streets are lined with gold, and all you need to do is get there to claim your share. Just wanted to add that I was born in Dubai, lived there for 18 years of my life, and I've realised that as much as the world evolves, the discriminatory practices there never change. |
Yeah, I was mistaken earlier. Got confused because an Indian in my team had converted his UK license and on checking, he has a British passport. What I've found is that Dubai is quite welcoming towards expats and personally have not faced any discriminatory issue as such except for ones that are rules and procedures like you mentioned. From my limited travels, the only place I've seen which treats Indians warmly is the Philippines - but this is a discussion for another day I guess.
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Originally Posted by kanishka88 On road fines: For a second think of yourself as someone who is very well aware about the location of speed cameras. Or someone who earns / makes more than 6 digits of dirhams a month. Would you care about a AED 600 (and more) overspeeding fine on your sports car? I am aware about people who's monthly traffic fines exceed >10k AED a month
That said, driving in UAE in general is so much peaceful, is extremely safe (much much better compared to our home land) and you can thoroughly enjoy beautiful roads, low traffic and highly cooperative traffic cops.
I thoroughly miss that place after relocating back to India. Here is the pic of the 280+bhp beast that i owned for 2 years. Kept it like a new one till we parted ways this year (the pic here is from the last day). Was too lazy to post its ownership review |
I was surprised at the absolute value of fines as well when I first got here. I knew that it was actually quite a lot and serious when my credit card guy told me I can convert my car fines to easy interest free installments
I was very close to getting the S3 - perfect balance of practicality, power and value, but in the end the heart won out. Not that getting the S3 wouldn't have appeased the heart
. I think it has 296 hp! I'd test driven the car - it's a monster, will probably get that next!