Dubai is a place where the petro-dollar rules. Along with Abu Dhabi, these two Emirates of the UAE wed an ancient Arab culture with the "sophistication" of the Western world.

Just how well this marriage works depends on your political stance on world views. However, when leaving the two main cities within these Emirates, you are firmly back in an Arabic atmosphere.

Sometimes that "marriage" of cultures doesn't quite work. Enter stage-left, the main highway between Abu Dhahi and Dubai.

The road laws in one Emirate disallows anything above 3 tonnes to venture from the inside lane of the four lane expressway (see road sign above). So, if you travel at anything less than the speed limit for trucks, and you're correctly in the inside lane, you have 30-odd rolling tonnes travelling millimetres from your rear number plate, wishing you would vapourise. YOU then move towards the outside lane, into the faster flowing traffic, to let him UNDERTAKE you.

An example of extracting part of the Western World's road laws without buying into the parallel safety systems.

Additionally while on this high-speed expressway, if you have any rubbish itching to be thrown away, just pull over into the (statistically most dangerous) hard-shoulder, and "put it baskit".

Perfectly quaint.