Front page of the newspaper had great news. “Men too can get driving licence for automatic cars”. The Department of Traffic and Patrol has relaxed driving rules, allowing men and women alike to seek a special licence to drive automatic cars.

Upon reading the article, I now understand why my next-door neighbor has AUTOMATIC stamped on her Qatari license. According to the article, she is not allowed to drive a car with a manual transmission at all.

Apparently the same people that do the testing for the licensing bureau own the driving school as further along it is specified that if one is in the middle of driving lessons in a manual car, one is not allowed to switch to an automatic car – even if one already knows how to drive an automatic car! I would imagine some of these people caught in the middle of a driving course that involves both “theory classes along with the practical classes” taught by someone whose English is not their first language are probably ready to slit their wrists after seeing this! I can say this from experience (my bookkeeping class with the Chinese instructor speaking English just for me) as it is exhausting to listen to someone who is trying to teach in their second language as I am sure it is exhausting for the person doing the instructing!

Women applying for a driving license go through an arduous process to get that little piece of plastic – at least those of us who must take the testing route do. An appointment must be made and women are only allowed in the application center during the “Ladies Only” hours, which seem to be between 5 and 6:30 AM. So an appointment is made at 5:30 in the morning and upon arrival at 5 AM just to be on the safe side – the line is out of the door! Forms are completed, letters from husband’s employer, copies of his passport, and copies of his resident visa are attached but at least in this country, no permission letter is required.

Then comes the ‘SIGNS’ test – some are internationally recognized and some are veeery interesting. There is a great picture of a bugle with a red line through it – of course that means – No Honking, there is a sign with a red car and a black car driving side by side – of course that means No overtaking (passing), the sign that I thought was a fire hydrant is actually a sign indicating that there is a side road ahead to the right. There is one sign that is a triangle with a large exclamation point – Caution and the Beware of animals of course has a Camel. The triangle with the X in the middle means intersection ahead opposed to a triangle with a circle, which means watch out – roundabout ahead. Highways are high-speed carriageways, U turns are referred to as backwards turns and as the terminology in the signs test must be accurate, the western reference to U turns has failed a few people.

Occasionally at this point in the process– the administrator comes out of her office and calls out, “Go home and come back tomorrow – no more room for ladies today. Come back tomorrow” which drives the expats who have been waiting for two hours absolutely insane! There is no discussing it and there is no recourse.

Upon arrival the next morning and instructed to get on the waiting unairconditioned bus, which after being fully loaded with expats, women in black and maids is driven 200 meters to the area where the actual driving test is given. From what I understand, the test consists of driving up a ramp, making sure to stop at the STOP line which is a faded barely visible white line, proceeding to back down the ramp, parking and then driving around a roundabout with very little traffic. No similarity whatsoever to actually driving in Doha. People that don’t pass are stopped in the middle of the parking lot – told “Get out of the car! You have failed!” – Very little explanation as the language barrier is substantial.

Obtaining a drivers license here is a challenge but also an adventure and must be looked at as a process not an errand. I have to remind myself that prior to moving to Singapore, I had to get a new license in a new state and it took four hours to complete the process. Thinking back to the people that were waiting with me, it might not be such a bad idea to have “Ladies Only Hours” in the rural south.