Traffic

[bourbonjockey]

Of all the things that seem dangerous here, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.  The thing that seems the most dangerous to me I do all the time.  Driving.  Or riding on someone else's motorbike.  Actually riding is scarier, at least when I'm driving I feel in control and I go slow cause I'm still getting used to traffic.  But some of my friends drive

Comments

[daotalay]

I read a Thailand guide book recently that defined traffic there as giving right of way to the largest vehicle, and that made all my experiences of Thai traffic click into place. Once you know that, more or less, you know how to get along. You're still risking your life practically every time you cross a street, but at least you know not to go in with any naive assumptions that a car would EVER stop for a pedestrian. It's just not how it works.
God, I have terrifying memories of winding mountainous roads where a truck is passing a car that's simultaneously passing a motorcycle. And my host father driving around blind curves on the wrong side of the road, totally blase, because the right side has potholes.