Taxi cab conversation

On my drive from the hotel to the villa, I had to sit up in the passenger seat because the van was full. I had the opportunity to talk with the taxi driver.

He told me he first arrived in 1976, even brought his family one time, had come and gone. Wow, I thought, Dubai was probably all flat and looked like a desert then. Almost all the buildings have been built in the last 20 years. He told me he was on his way out for good this time. I asked why.

"It is getting expensive in Dubai. There are so many fines!" he explained.

What type of fines, what do you mean? I tried to learn more since I just arrived and was hoping for the best.

"There is a fine for not using your turn signal, a fine for not putting on your seat belt, a fine for going over the yellow line (onto the side of the road), fines for speeding, etc." he told me.

I was just laughing inside because those are all nice things to expect drivers to do and maybe a fine would help train them to do it. As we spoke, he went in and out of lanes without using his turn signal. At times, I saw that I was over the white lane divider being in the passenger seat for more than a minute.

Then I heard some beeping sound. I had bought a new phone and had several electronic devices on me. I asked him, was that him or was that me. He explained that the meter box beeps when he goes over 120km/hr. That was the speed limit. But then he told me he could go 140km/hr without a problem. ?? Apparently, since he drives a government taxi, the meter knows how fast he travels and he can get in trouble if he goes over the speed limit.

So, poor guy, he doesn't like the fines but he keeps up his old habits.