Observing life: Tackling roads is a tricky proposition during Ramadan

It's disappointing that car size and gender make a difference on our roads.

Driving on the roads in the UAE can feel like a terrifying experience at the best of times. During the month of Ramadan, however, when people are functioning on vastly reduced blood sugar levels and increased tiredness, the possibility of an accident is magnified tenfold.

The subject of road accidents caused by speeding and tailgating makes headlines all year round. But everything is escalated during Ramadan. During the month that is supposed to represent patience and peace, our roads are turned into hazard zones. With people’s patience frayed in the daily rush to get home for iftar, you have to be extra vigilant when taking to the wheel.

I do my best to avoid long drives because of aggressive drivers (see: bullies), who I feel are trying to literally run me off the road. Imagine this: I can be happily going along, driving at the maximum speed limit, on a relatively empty road, and suddenly an aggressive driver comes steaming up behind me flashing his – or her – lights. The driver will sit on my tail until I move as quickly as possible out of the way. This is a scene I’m sure we’re all familiar with.

What’s worse is, even if there is nowhere for me to move, some drivers continues to stay two inches behind me, flashing their lights or beeping their horns until I make a drastic move to divert my course.

This dangerous experience, unsurprisingly, stresses me out. When travelling at those speeds, the slightest mistake can cause a disaster – there is a reason drivers are required to keep an adequate distance between them and the car in front.

However, as much as I try to avoid these situations during Ramadan, I have to make a few trips to The National’s main office in Abu Dhabi, as I live and work in Dubai.

That’s why I’m happy to have found a new technique for coping with those road bullies – borrow my ­husband’s car.

You see, as much as I hate to admit it, when I’m behind the wheel of my significant other’s SUV, which has a ­super-powered engine – a result of his passion for cars – the bullies seem to back off or not even approach me in the first place. I have come to the conclusion that they think it must be a man driving that car (the windows are blacked out) and they stay away.

It is a disappointing fact that size and gender make a difference on our roads – I have tested this theory out, and it works. However, because I value my safety more than my image, I am happy to make the necessary changes to ensure my well-being.