Howdy Folks!
Here's a trick you might (or might not!) want to try next time you're out driving ... but first a bit of background information.
My hotel's right off one of the main drags through central Riyadh. Down the street is one of the fancy new shopping malls. On the third level, overlooking the street, there's a food court where I've been eating most evenings. From the tables by the windows there's an excellent view down to the street, a large intersection with a signal light. The view provides endless entertainment.
So, here's the trick.
You know how when you're driving up to a red light the far right hand lane is often empty because the people wanting to make right turns have already made their turns? Well, why waste an empty lane, especially if there's a big back-up in the other lanes and you want to make a U-turn to park or shop on the other side of the street. So, this is what you do. While the light is red against you, drive over into that far right lane, then make a sharp left turn so you're driving along the pedestrian crosswalk. Then when you pass the median strip, make another sharp left and .... presto! ... you've just made a left hand U-turn from the far right lane on a red light.
By the way, if you're worried about hitting pedestrians you needn't be. First of all, there aren't very many. Second, they're very good at getting out of the way.
I've made a crude little sketch of the trick. The red line indicates the path of travel of the adventurous driver doing the U turn. The little rectangles are cars. You'll find it attached to this email.
I'm probably going to start doing these impressions as a blog instead of an email. But I'll continue to send you all a note when I've put up a new entry.
love to all my family and friends,
Mister Tony, as I'm known around the office
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