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What are some unwritten rules when driving in other countries?
from your travelling experiences?
in russia: cars, not pedestirans, have the right of way. If you're a pedestrian and you got hit by a car, it was your fault, not the driver's. In china they honk at everything: honk to pass honk around corners honk to get people out of the way stop signs are simply there to warn you that you might get t-boned if you don't watch out. In India: - Just as Indians are seperated into castes, so are their vehicles. Large trucks and military tanks are the top caste. Autorickshaws and bikes are the untouchables. The bigger vehicle gets the right of way. Sorry, mopeds. Rule of the jungle is a good rule of thumb. Don't try to challenge the supremacy of the goods carrier trucks. - Does one drive on the right or the left in India? Yes. - Cows always get right of way. They're God. Don't roadkill God. I've seen traffic stop dead in the middle of the main E-W highway in northern India because God was standing in the middle of the road. - 100 points for pedestrians. Under no circumstances stop at a crosswalk; if an idiot tries to get across, it's his karma. His rebirth will be auspicious. - Red lights and one-way traffic signs, in fact all signs of any kind on the road, are merely polite suggestions. Feel free to interpret the situation as you wish and go with whatever works. The signs are put up solely for the amusement of the bureaucrats in the traffic agency offices. - While the speed limit may be 50kmh, you may as well go 5kmh, or 500kmh, because nobody cares. The police drive extended-wheelbase Suzuki Samurais and they can be easily outrun. - Usage of the horn, or the "Delhi brake pedal", as it is known: this is a sensitive issue with a very specific ettiquette. Honk only when traffic is blocked, when it isn't, when you're slowing down, when you're speeding up, when traffic is stopped, when you're in a traffic circle, when another vehicle is within 100 yards of you, and at all other times. - All roads are 5 lanes. Even the ones only two lanes across. Think it's impossible? You've never been to India. - Brake for lepers. - A flash of a truck's blinker is an indication that it's safe to pass. Or an indication that there's ANOTHER truck, loaded with twenty tons of concrete, oncoming and you'll be killed instantly if you try to pass. You'll find out in a moment. - If in a car accident, throw big wads of money at all authority figures and injured parties and hope for the best. - What in the US is a road hazard is probably the road in India. There are two ways to deal with the ruts and potholes; one is to drive fast and skim over them, the other is to drive slow and try not to bottom out the suspension. There is no third option. - Driving under the influence of unrefined grain alcohol, heroin, ganja, powerful and crude methamphetamines, etc is totally unacceptable, except for the drivers of large long-distance goods carrier trucks. These constitute about 25% of traffic. - Not that many Indians die on the road. This is because, as one said to me, "we have gods to protect us." Us whiteys don't. You'll probably die. But Shiva will provide in exchange for a small goat. |
:D :D Can't compete with India, but:
In Spain - at least on the Canary Islands - using your left blinker doesn't mean that you want to turn left (necessarily). It usually designates that the traffic ahead has simply slowed down. Compared to a lot of things, that's pretty logical. You slow down because you assume the driver is front of you is planning to make a left turn into traffic.;) |
In the UK there is one simple rule - you must overtake anybody in front of you. Even if your turn off is 100 metres down the road. It is better to almost kill yourself than not overtake the car in front of you.
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A Mexican left turn starts by pulling off to the right. I think. I never did properly figure it out.
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Ireland:
Drive as SLOW as possible. As an American living there for nearly 2 years, I have no idea how I didn't lose my cool and strangle someone! No one is in a hurry, and while that may be admirable, it drove me nuts! |
In Turkey, I finally understood that drivers are carefully schooled in the international rules that govern ski slopes.
Whoever is in front, by no matter how tiny a margin, has the right of way and it is up to the person behind to avoid him, whatever he does. The primary way to apply this rule is to make sure that absolutely under no circumstances should you ever turn your head, or look in a mirrior. (A friend here has a saying, referring to traffic - "In America, you die by accident. In Turkey, you live by accident.") Also, in Pakistan, I saw for myself that all roads are 5 lanes, as with India. That's how I finally understood why NYC taxi drivers drive the way they do... |
Australia (driving on the left)
1) I can barely explain this, but it is true - in Melbourne when driving on a road with a trolley track in the middle, to make a right turn, pull to the far left lane of traffic, stop in the intersection, wait until light turns red then make the right turn across all the lanes of traffic before the opposing traffic gets their green. 2) How to signal entering a Round-A-Bout. Left Signal = Plan to exit at first exit at 9 o'clock position. No Signal = Plan to exit at 12'o'clock position. Right Signal = plan to exit at 3 o'clock position |
In Thailand, if you are involved in an accident with a Thai, you will be considered at fault.
Therefore, if you rent a car, be certain to have 1st class insurance. |
In the cities in Cambodia to make a left turn on a motorcycle in heavy traffic merge from the usual far right edge of the road to the center about half a block before your intersection. From the center cut across oncoming traffic to the far left side and proceed to ride the wrong way against oncoming traffic. Round the corner and continue until you get away from the intersection then cut across oncoming traffic to the center and merge back over to the far right again.
Driving with headlight ON during daylight hours is illegal but it is perfectly legal and widely practiced to drive with your headlights OFF in the dark at night. If a foot cop tries to flag you down to pull you over you can speed away without repercussions because he probably doesn’t have a radio or transportation to chase you. |
In Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, it is legal to run red lights and stop signs after 10PM.........this is for reasons of personal safety, if you feel you are about to be mugged while stopped in your vehicle.
Also, 5 lanes of traffic will always fit into a road with 3.........horns are used for all sorts of signalling between drivers, whereas signal lights are rarely, if ever, used. During one of their famous 30 minute tropical thundershowers, where the rain accumulation can get to be 2-3 feet deep in places in a short time, you must never stop your car if you are transitting thru the water......not only will your car get flooded, but you will block traffic and the 100 cars behind you trying to do the same thing. The only time you will ever realize that you got a traffic ticket is when it arrives in the mail.......they have cameras everywhere and police on almost every major street corner who write tickets in a small notepad for later delivery. They never even stop you.....you just get the fine later on. It is perfectly acceptable, and I have done this on several occasions, to pass a police car at high speed, change lanes without signalling in front of said car, and brake late for a corner without signalling. You will rarely, if ever, see any traffic accidents.......in over 19 trips to Rio and countless weeks spent living there and driving there, I have only seen one. Is it any wonder they have more famous racing drivers than anyone else ? |
Us Virgin Islands
:)
Driving on St. Croix is interesting. Owned by seven countries over the years, including the US and the UK, today mostly American cars (with the steering wheel on the left side designed for driving on the right side of the road) but the rule of the road is to drive on the left side of the road (from the UK era). It can make for some exciting moments on the road. :eek: |
I would add for Thailand: PRAY
I swear most there drive using the Force. I cannot believe there are not more accidents in Bangkok. |
adbrite, I loved your rules for driving in India! To those rules I'd add, "if you're the passenger, do NOT look out the front window". Two weeks ago we made a road trip from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and the trip there and back was half the experience.
At one point someone posted on the India forum asking why they couldn't find any car rental firm in India that would rent them a car without a driver, because they wanted to drive themselves. They were firmly talked out of driving on their own. |
When I lived for 2 years in Bahamas, since its a place where a drivers licence can be had for a bucket of KFC at the Road Traffic office, most people dont know how to drive.
In addition to that, you drive American cars on the left, which makes it a royal pain to pass on a 2 lane road, yet many people try with no vision whatsoever of oncoming traffic. There are also no seatbelt or drunk driving rules, none that are enforced anyway. When I lived in NZ, I liked the give way to traffic making the long turn rule |
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