No end in sight for long-delayed motorists

Near Al Sila: The truck drivers waiting in a queue that is now more than 25 kilometres long move no more than two kilometres per day, slowly inching their way forward to the Al Ghuwaifat border post.

Saudi officials have clamped down on security checks there, insisting on fully verifying each driver's identity though fingerprint scans. The net result for drivers is that what should be a three-day round-trip between Dubai and Doha has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare lasting seven days - or longer.

The long stretch of straight road, 360 kilometres east of Abu Dhabi, is one of the UAE's deadliest, with serious or fatal accidents occurring almost daily.

Trucks largely adhere to the prohibition on overtaking and the 80 km/h speed limit on the highway, while cars and off-road vehicles zoom by in the outside lane "The trucks make this road the most dangerous in the UAE," observes Ebrahim, a manager at the Adnoc plant near Al Ruwais.

"Many of my friends and family have been killed on that road," Ebrahim said.