Monday, January 28

Traffic Jams

While we've been travelling round the UK, I've noticed an abundance of traffic jams! (This photo isn't from here ... but it just illustrates the point perfectly!)


For the majority of our driving around, we have managed to quite successfully avoid rush hour and any build up of traffic by arranging our appointments carefully. Of course, no schedule is perfect and the occasional accident is unavoidable but for the most part we only been onlookers when it has come to the really heavy/standstill traffic and not stuck right in the middle!

Living in small town Ohio, traffic was rarely an issue. In fact, there were times when I saw a red light on the horizon and would roll my eye's at the thought of having to use the brake ... even when I was likely to be either the first or second to get to them! Often times I would take a route that gave as many right hand turns as possible ... you can turn right on a red light as long as it's clear. Something I can't imagine would ever translate over to the UK as I think everyone would just take advantage of it and there would be accidents all over the place!

Longer journeys that we took on the Interstate Routes were also very straight forward with majority of drivers sticking to the speed limit, the roads being patrolled to enforce it and everyone pootling along at their own pace. Again something that was alien to us coming from the roads here, where I think the majority of people would agree that they drive at least 10 mph over the speed limit on any given road and for the most part get away with it too.

It was often joked that 'road rage' Coshocton style was when there was more than one car at a junction and each driver was adement about waving the other one on ahead of them ... kind of a 'you go first', 'no, you go first', 'no, really, you go first' type thing! Having been used to that for the last three years I've been slightly surprised by the aggressive and often abusive nature of drivers back here. I know that I have always been one of them (the aggressive not the abusive ones, just to clarify!) but it seems that I've have mellowed out being away from it and am not disappointed about that either!

I am therefore not in the slightest bit sad that we will soon be leaving the crazy, narrow, traffic filled roads of the UK in a couple of weeks time and exchanging them for those around Dodoma. While Dar Es Salaam is crazy and Dodoma can be somewhat aggressive too ... I know they are definitely my preference over the rat race back here in the England. Now we just need to find a car with which to drive those Tanzanian roads when we get there!

2 comments:

  1. Oh how I relate to the traffic analysis of small town Ohio! Ha! We're going to have a big driving adjustment when we get moved to North Carolina...I think I shall miss the "Coshocton Road Rage". :o)

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    1. The Missionary Mum29 January 2013 at 01:21

      Glad to hear it's not just me! ;o) Looking forward to hearing about your new experiences too!

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