It'll drive you crazy

Lots of things are different about driving here. Apparently if you are American, you can just get your driver's license translated and pay 200 dirhams to get a UAE license. Once I do this, I will confirm that it's that easy to do as almost nothing is as easy as it should be here. I am thankful that they drive on the right side of the road here...because driving here is already crazy enought without having to get my brain and body to work together to drive a car on the left side!
I'm not sure what the locals have to do to get a license...but I've heard it's pretty easy. I can blog about that if I find out the process.
So, cars are pretty much the same style as at home, and unlike in other countries they are in pretty good condition for the most part. It's funny how they have different model names here, but some are the same. For example, the Nissan Sunny here is similar to the Sentra. They do have the Altima. And then there's the ever-popular-with-the-locals Patrol (an SUV). I have seen Fords, Dodges, Kias, VWs, and we have a Hyundai Accent. There are lots of Toyotas...I dare say that's the most popular brand, but that may be because every taxi is a Toyota Camry, and there are TONS of taxis here. Of course there are also a plethora of BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus cars...and I have seen Bentleys and Maseratis. As far as color, I would say 90% of cars are white (including ours). I suppose it's because it's so hot here and they think the color keeps the car cooler.
In Al Ain, there are roundabouts EVERYWHERE. There are easily 25+ in the city...and although they can be terrifying and you often have near collisions, I must admit that I'd rather take a roundabout than sit at a stop light here. Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like the lights take FOREVER to change!
The craziest thing about driving here is that no one seems to follow any sort of traffic rules. You really don't see police here unless there's an accident, so no one is worried about getting pulled over for speeding. I don't even know if the police cars have radars in them...but my guess is no. There are speed cameras set up all around town, but most people know where they are and slam on the brakes just in time. Trust me...I have seen cars fly down the road at 150 kph! If you are driving in the far left lane, you better be watching for someone flashing their lights in your mirror because that means MOVE. They also don't follow any sort of rules about the right of way, one way, no parking lanes, etc. Even scarier is that there are no car seat laws, so you will see people holding their children (or even letting them hang out the window) in the front seat.
For the most part, traffic isn't too bad in Al Ain. I haven't really even seen bad traffic in Abu Dhabi...it's Dubai that probably has the worst traffic jams.