License to Kill?

Like 90% of the US population, I consider myself to be a “better-than average” driver. Just kidding! All things considered, I’m probably pretty average.  My reflexes are decent (inherited from my father). I get great gas mileage.  And I am pretty good about only braking when necessary (which contributes to the good gas mileage).  I will admit, it was tough learning to drive stick shift. But, I did just peachy learning to drive on the left side of the road while I was in South Africa.

In full disclosure, one area I must admit that I struggle with is spacial awareness. Judging where my bumper is in relation to a curb or another car can be tough. Luckily for me, my car, and my insurance, I usually err on the side of caution, thinking I’m about 2 inches from something when it’s actually a foot away.

Here in Ghana, I must be in the minority.  Drivers here squeeze through gaps in traffic leaving only the smallest amount of space on either side. Trotros drive on the shoulders, cutting in at the last minute to avoid as much traffic as possible. The sheer skill (or aggression) is almost beautiful when it happens well.  But looking at it critically, it’s disastrous. It’s a miracle that there aren’t accidents every 5 minutes.  It's like the jungle. But instead of eat or be eaten, it's cut off or be cut off.

So there are accidents. Often. And occasionally, people die. One evening, on our way home from Accra, Jamie and I noticed that across the road, a trotro had crashed into a truck. Our taxi driver pulled the car over to see what happened – and there were two people dead laying in the shoulder.

The point of this entry is not to expound on the horrors of driving in Ghana. Or to criticize the seeming blatant dismissal of the “rules of the road”.  To be honest, a lot of the practices remind me of the way people drive in Atlanta.  (When I told my boss that, he was horrified by us Southerners.) My point is that we’re not all that different. Apparently so far this year there have been only 734 deaths from traffic accidents in Ghana.  In 2008 in the US, about 19,000 people died from car crashes in the first half of the year.  But there are about 250 million cars in the US, and only about 1.1 million in Ghana. So conclude from that what you will. 

I would rather focus on this: a few driving situations handled differently than in the States.

1. Roundabouts (aka Traffic Circles):  The right of way seems to belong to those entering the roundabout, not those already inside it.
2. Rubbernecking:  This is taken to the extreme in Ghana. People don’t just slow down the way they do in the States. Here, they pull over, get out, and walk over to the accident.  And this isn’t just people in their own cars – people driving other people do it too.  Once, when we were on a trip with students in a trotro, I literally had to instruct the trotro driver (who had been an hour late picking us up) not to stop to look at an accident on the side of the highway.
3. Traffic lanes:  These exist, sort of.  On the biggest roads, there are often two lanes on each side of the divider. But on any and every other road, lane designations are subject to interpretation.  This  applies in particular to dirt roads, which abound in and around Tema.  In a taxi, you might double your traveled distance between destinations because your driver is winding back and forth across the road, trying to avoid mud puddles, especially bumpy areas, slower moving vehicles, etc.

Needless to say, I see driving in Ghana as an adventure. Tomorrow, my boss is returning to the States for 2 weeks, and in the mean time, I will be responsible for driving our staff anywhere we need to go (that isn’t more easily/cheaply reached by trotro or taxi). Thanks to my newly-received International Driving Permit (thanks Dad – I bet you’re wishing you didn’t get it for me, right?) So, wish me luck as I endeavor to weave my way both through the unpaved streets of Tema and Ashaiman and the unique driving culture here in Ghana.