Egypt Guide
Getting around
By car
Driving in Egypt is not for the faint-hearted or inexperienced motorist. Cities, highways, backroads and pistes each pose a challenge to drivers' skills and nerve. Pedestrians and carts seem blithely indifferent to heavy traffic. Though accidents are less frequent than you'd think, the crumpled wrecks alongside highways are a constant reminder of the hazards of motoring.
The minimum age for driving in Egypt is 25 years, the maximum age 70. Foreigners require an International Driving Licence (obtainable from motoring organizations;) .The official speed limit outside towns is 90km per hour (100km on the Cairo– Alexandria Desert Road), but on certain stretches it can be as low as 30km per hour. Road signs are similar to those in Europe, but speed limits are posted in Arabic numerals. Although driving on the right is pretty much universal, other rules of the road vary. Traffic in cities is relentless and anarchic, with vehicles weaving to and fro between lanes, signalling by horn. Two beeps means "I'm alongside and about to overtake." A single long blast warns "I can't (won't) stop and I'm coming through!" Extending your hand, fingers raised and tips together, is the signal for "Watch out, don't pass now"; spreading your fingers and flipping them forwards indicates "Go ahead." Although the car in front usually has right of way, buses and trams always take precedence.
On country roads – including the two-lane east- and west-bank "highways" along the Nile Valley – trucks and cars routinely overtake in the face of incoming traffic. The passing car usually flashes its lights as a warning, but not always.