But there's a particular kind of anxiety that comes with merging onto a Dubai highway during rush hour — the kind where you check your mirrors twice, then a third time, and still somehow feel underprepared for what might come flying up behind you at 160 kilometres an hour. Most of the time, nothing happens. You merge, you settle into your lane, you get where you're going. But every driver in the UAE has a story. A near-miss on Sheikh Zayed Road.