changing lanes and overtaking

• The roads you drive on will vary.

  You may drive on a two-way road with traffic heading in opposite directions.

  At other times you will drive on multiple-lane freeways, and there are a number of lanes of traffic headed in the same direction.
• When you are driving on two-way or multiple-lane freeway roads, there will be times when you may want to change lanes, for example to exit from a freeway or to overtake a slow moving vehicle.
• You must make sure that there is sufficient space in front of you to see whenever you intend to over-take a vehicle, person, animal or traffic blockage. You must also use indicators; to alert others of your intention to overtake.
• Crashes may occur if you do not take the time to plan. Think about what you want to do before you do it and plan for it.
• There are many multiple-lane roads in Dubai, with more being built to cope with increased traffic demand. Changing lanes one these roads must be performed carefully.
• To change lanes you need to:

  1. plan what you are going to do well ahead
  2. check the position of vehicles ahead, behind and to your sides
  3. signal early, as this warns other drivers and allows them to plan what they need to do
  4. be aware that the driver in the vehicle in front may signal to change lanes at the same time. In this case, you should wait until the driver in front completes their move to another lane
• When you have checked that it is safe to change lanes make sure you:

  1. check your mirros
  2. signal to the left or right giving sufficient warning to other drivers of your intentinos
  3. check your mirrors again
  4. check your blind spot by doing a head check to the right or left
  5. control your speed as you may need to maintain, increase or decrease your speed depending on the traffic conditions
  6. steer smoothly and gradually, as this allows other drivers to let you in.

  Once you are completely in the new lane, remember to check your mirrors again and cancel your indicator.
• When making a head check to check your blind spot, do not take your eyes off the road ahead for more than a second
• Overtaking on a two-way road is similar to a lane change, expect much more dangerous because:

  • you will need to drive on the wrong side of the road for quite a long time
  • signal to the right or left giving sufficient warning to other drivers of your intentions
  • check you mirrors again
  • vehicles travelling in the opposite direction are now directly ahead of you and are moving very quickly toward you
• It is not safe to overtake on bends, at junctions or on the crest of a hill
• Before you overtake, ask yourself

  1. Do I really need to overtake?
  2. Will it make a difference to my journey if I just stay in my lane?
  3. Am I permitted by law to overtake?
  4. Will my overtaking cause other traffic to alter speed or position?
  5. Is it safe?
• There are two parts to overtaking:

  1. Pulling out on to the other side of the road
  2. Moving back on to the correct side of the road
• You must not overtake at the following places:

  • where the road is not clearly visible
  • when the movement of traffic in the opposite direction doesn't allow you to proceed safely
  • at intersections and roundabouts
  • when vehicles stop due to movement of traffic obstruction or due to a stop sign
  • on curves, crests of hills, slippery roads, next to pedestrian crossings and roads with solid long lines
  • in places where the signs forbid drivers to overtake