Driving in Egypt is a chaotic and often perilous challenge, according to Shahd Mohamed, a 27-year-old photographer who lives in Cairo, with reckless drivers and poor road conditions making every journey daunting.
“My everyday drives are manic. Everyone goes wherever they want, whenever they want, and whoever has the bigger car wins,” Mohamed said.
Egypt has one of the highest rates of road fatalities per mile driven as of October 2024, according to the U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. While intercity roads are generally well-maintained, highways pose significant risks, particularly after dark, due to unmarked surfaces, unlit vehicles, stray animals, and disabled cars without reflectors.
Mohamed drives 40 minutes to work every day through the Ring Road to the 5th Settlement and struggles the most with driving on unlit roads and navigating potholes.
As part of the government’s 2024 load-shedding initiative, authorities have curtailed roadway lighting, including along the Ring Road, prompting some citizens to file complaints about the difficulty and danger of driving in the dark.
In a statement on 27 June 2024, the Ministry of Transport acknowledged and emphasized that critical junctions, such as bridges and city entry points, have been exempted from the cuts in an effort to mitigate the risk of accidents.
“Driving on the Ring Road is terrifying, it’s not adequately lit, and the glare of taillights from cars on the opposite side blind me,” Mohamed said, noting that with the new roads and bridges, she does not always know what to expect or properly navigate them. “Add the darkness to it, it’s a horror film.”
Unpaved roads and potholes are among the treacherous surprises Mohamed faces. “I could be driving at 90 miles per hour on the Ring Road and suddenly hit and fly over a hole.”
Driving in Egypt is not the easiest, especially because no one respects the road rules or stays in their lane, Yara Ismail, a 33-year-old operation manager told Egyptian Streets.
“I could be driving when suddenly someone swerves into my lane or weaves through traffic at high speeds. It’s unsettling and makes me nervous because, at any moment, a car or person could appear right in front of me.”
Drivers weaving through traffic, along with jaywalking pedestrians, the driver is prompted to hit the brakes fast and the line of cars behind needs to follow suit.
“People seem to appear out of thin air to cross the street,” Ismail said.
Echoing Ismail’s thoughts, Mohamed shared that people do not usually cross the Ring Road, however, it happens. “It catches me off guard. I have to swerve or slow down, which is risky because another car could hit me from behind.”
The Bureau of Consular Affairs reported that Cairo’s streets require extreme caution, with drivers navigating high-speed traffic, wrong-way vehicles, minimal road markings, and pedestrians weaving through lanes.
Nearly one-third of all road fatalities in Egypt involve pedestrians, according to a 2018 report by the World Health Organization. Another World Bank report (2019) estimates that 97 percent of streets in Egypt lack traffic lights, while 78 percent have no footpaths, leaving pedestrians vulnerable throughout much of their journey.
While pedestrians are responsible for some of the traffic by crossing the street at the most inconvenient time, according to Omar Ahmed, a 25-year-old treasurer, he thinks that the main problem is the drivers themselves.
He noted that he often encounters drivers who do not know the basic rules of driving such as staying in one lane, checking mirrors before every move, or turning on blinkers early before making a turn.
“One time, I was driving in the left lane at 120 km/h when a driver in the right lane suddenly swerved sharply into mine,” Ahmed told Egyptian Streets. “It was as if he didn’t even check his mirror or consider that another car might be approaching.”
According to a 2021 study Investigating the attitudes of Egyptian drivers toward traffic safety, 50 to 54 percent of drivers accept speeding on highways, residential streets, and rural roads, while 40 percent believe speeding in school zones is socially acceptable. Only 23 percent consider the behavior completely unacceptable.
Eighty percent of drivers identified traffic congestion as a worsening issue. Other major concerns include 65 percent of drivers citing aggressive driving, 61 percent worried about distracted drivers, 50 percent highlighting traffic safety issues, and 40 percent pointing to drunk driving as a growing problem.
“The only way to drive in Egypt is to be highly focused and ready for anything,” Ahmed said — thoughts that Mohamed mirrored.
“I try to always stay on one lane, drive at an average speed, and stay away from swerving cars,” Mohamed shared, noting that she avoids reckless drivers and lets people who “want to run the road pass by.”
Ismail too urges drivers to stay alert, as cars, motorcycles, and toktoks often go the wrong way on one-way streets, requiring constant attention.
“However, it’s really straining, stressful, and requires so much mental energy,” Ismail said, noting the dire need for better awareness among drivers and regulations by the government.
Driving in Egypt would be much safer if there were stricter driving exams and stronger enforcement of the rules, according to Ahmed. Ismail emphasized that having more traffic officers, restoring traffic lights, and enforcing strict speed limits are necessary to make driving in Egypt safer.
“Lit roads and good infrastructure would greatly improve driving. If all roads were well-lit and paved, with no unexpected potholes, it would make a big difference,” Mohamed said, adding that speed bumps should be clearly marked with signs, and crossing highways should be banned and have high consequences.
“With awareness and strict regulations, so many lives could be saved,” she said.
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