The strategic and safe location of UAE on the Arabian Peninsula provides it safety from extreme winds that originate in other parts of Arabia. Nonetheless, some strong winds that experts say originate in Iraq and Kuwait reach the coastal emirates of UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi. The arid landscape and dry weather of this Emirate force its residents and tourists to take precautions against unexpected sandstorms while navigating around the city.
This becomes a serious problem for drivers to tackle with. This blog post pins down some tips and instructions that should be followed for a safe trip in a rental car during sandstorms in Abu Dhabi.
Reduce vehicle speed
Sandstorm is nothing but randomly blowing sand and it can reduce the visibility of the roads by a considerable amount. This lessened visual ability that comes with sandstorms results in poor navigation around the routes and if not properly controlled, the car could go in the wrong direction and may result in an unwanted consequence. That is why it is always advised to avoid riding during a sandstorm or keep the speed at a minimum to avoid collisions with other cars or objects.
Turn on headlights
As already discussed above that sandstorm causes visibility problems, and the environmental lightning may not be enough to rely your eyes on that is why it is important to turn on headlights and low beams to help you see your way ahead and the surroundings more clearly so that you can navigate in the storm carefully without facing any accident. Cars at Capital Cars Rental have the best quality headlights to help you drive around.
Use GPS
GPS aka Geo Positioning System is an already enabled location technology that shows the real-time position of the user. Most modern cars come pre-equipped with a highly advanced GPS, and this comes in handy during an unexpected sandstorm in the furnished roads of Abu Dhabi. It shows your current location and the trajectory of your complete journey from start to end. It shows landmarks where it’s safe to stop, and how to navigate the roads to reach your destination. Our rental car Abu Dhabi Company has an up-to-date GPS to save you any troubles.
Watch for traffic sign
Traffic police and employees are on high alert across Abu Dhabi during a sandstorm and are positioned especially at the road system to guide and help unfortunate drivers. Given the tough and unpredictable pattern of dust storms, it becomes impossible to even move around with your body, let alone drive. The traffic personnel enable the traffic signs for an efficient flow of traffic during a storm and make sure no unwanted events happen that disrupt traffic flow and any mortal damage.
Avoid overtaking
One of the mistakes drivers often do is that they try to overtake to quickly reach their destination without assessing the situation and taking the dangers of overtaking during a dust storm out of the equation. This often results in unfortunate situations. It is always advised to car owners and rental car drivers to monitor their surroundings and take all precautions and act accordingly. By overtaking, you usually get into the opposite lane, and could result in a serious injury that is easily avoided otherwise.
Avoid stopping on the road
One of the careless things many rental car drivers and car owners do is that think stopping on the open road might be a good idea, but it turns out that is very bad and dangerous. Stopping suddenly in the middle of the road during a sandstorm in Abu Dhabi is an extremely careless act because you are giving no warning to the car drivers behind you that you are going to stop in this low visibility environment. This has often led to many unpleasant consequences. It is always the best practice to keep running the car at a considerable speed.
Listen to authorities
Abu Dhabi government is on high alert during a sandstorm and all the relevant authorities are informed. The traffic association may do consecutive radio broadcasts to help the rental car drivers and others to safely reach their destination. This often includes all the above instructions besides other state-specific ones for everyone irrespective of their driving experience in the Emirates. The helpline is open 24/7 for any kind of help during the dusty environment. Abu Dhabi authorities have asked the residents to contact hotline 993 for any emergency related to dust storms or any similar one.
These instructions, besides other geo-specific ones, are the cornerstones for rented car drivers and owners to follow during a sandstorm for a safe trip in Abu Dhabi. At Capital Cars Rental, you are advised on all the precautions against any type of environmental hazards beforehand. The cars come with all the necessary equipment to help you in the sandstorm in Abu Dhabi.
