Traffic, uh, Flow

(Some of these posts are delayed because of power and internet issues.) 4 April 2009

While teaching these past three weeks, I have had the interesting experience of driving a motorbike and experiencing up close – very close - the traffic patterns here. Every town has its unique characteristics even within the same country. Traffic in this country tends to resemble a stream gurgling over and around rocks on its relentless path down the mountain. But it seems in recent years some serious eddies, whirlpools, and riptide rapids have developed in this town.

People drive on the left side of the road so for those of you from right-handed places, just think the opposite to get the same effect. In other words turning right here is like turning left for you. The majority of vehicles on the road are motorbikes but there are also plenty of cars, and some trucks and horse carts and man-pushed carts.

The single most important unwritten rule seems to be do not ever stop if it can at all be avoided, and its corollary, avoid slowing down. Thus we have people wanting to turn right (left) who won’t stop and wait for a gap in traffic, they just turn right (left) and drive along the edge of the road on the wrong side of the road waiting for an opportunity to finally zoom over on the proper side of the road. I have seen people 2-3 blocks later still driving down the wrong side of the road who haven’t yet been able to get over. (Had they stopped and waited there was a big gap in the traffic coming up but since they couldn’t wait, they end up following the crowd and can’t get over.)

This of course produces hazards for others. As you drive innocently down the road on the proper side you may have to squeeze uncomfortably close between those right-turners driving down the wrong side of the road and people in the oncoming traffic who are in a big hurry and swing way out into your lane to pass someone.

Passing is wild too. People pass on the right and on the left. A wise driver never swerves because you never know what might be coming up behind you in a big hurry. While vehicles here do come equipped with turn signals, it appears to be optional as to whether you use them. And even if they are on there's no guarantee that the correct signal is on. You must learn to read minds as to whether the vehicle ahead of you or in the oncoming traffic is planning to turn and you must keep your foot near the brake at all times as precious seconds count when you guess wrong.

There are several traffic lights in town now too. The lights rarely all function and with the constant blackouts, they often don’t function at all. From observation, it appears that a yellow light is mere decoration. A red light means keep going as long as somebody ahead of you is still going. You don’t want to be the first vehicle stopped at a light. People turning right (left) tend to start turning from half a block back cutting across the oncoming traffic’s lane and pose serious hazards to the first vehicle stopped at the red light since they nearly get clipped by the folk turning.
In addition, people waiting at a red light to turn right (left) typically start a new right (left) turn lane on the oncoming traffic’s side of the line. Usually this is just motorbikes but sometimes even cars will do it. As you can imagine, this can cause serious traffic blockages as the oncoming traffic has to squeeze through what’s left of their lane. Last Friday I had to sit through three cycles of red lights because of this type of gridlock. And this is NOT a big city.

This behavior is not just young high school kids. I have seen government workers in uniform do the same. I have even seen policemen do it. And it is not my imagination, I have talked to several others (natives) who see the same things I do and complain about it.

Several years ago before the internet was very common in SE Asia I used to have to babysit a computer that would receive an international phone call every night some time after 10pm with the bundled email for our office. We had the only phone with a modern line capable of receiving digital signals with minimal garbling. I had to make sure the computer was on and booted up and then would wait for the call and make sure the info was completely downloaded before turning it off. While waiting I would play games that were installed on it. I remember noticing at the time that playing the games had noticeably improved my manual dexterity which had sort of gotten rusty after several years of village living. I think it was also helpful in improving hand eye coordination and helping me in my driving now especially as I try to anticipate moving targets, etc. My impression: a certain amount of video gaming may be beneficial for driving!

Addenda 4-30-09 It occurred to me the other day that the basic thing going on is that people drive like they walk. People on foot do not stop, nor do they bother with lanes or staright lines, they just walk around obstructions and cut across to where ever they are going, whenever there’s an opening at whatever angle it takes, but they never stop walking.