Rules of the road

Today we went out to the “Mall del Rio”, which is a moderate-size modern mall here in Cuenca. We didn’t do much there except look around, although we did get some more toothpaste and some sugarless gum for Ben to use to keep his braces from hurting his lips.

However, we took a taxi to the mall, and once again I had cause to think about how they drive here. At first glance, people accustomed to driving in the US would say that drivers here are crazy, but that is not true. We have not seen any accidents since we arrived, even though we have seen lots of situations that looked like they were close calls.

One comment that Ben made the same day that he and Samuel arrived is that pedestrians here move fast and stay alert, and it is true. The drivers will try to avoid pedestrians, but they also count on the pedestrians to not do dumb things. For example, as Ben further noted, in the US when the light turns green and pedestrians start crossing in the crosswalk, a driver turning left must wait for them to clear the crosswalk, no matter how slowly they move. And if the driver were to give a brief beep on his horn to ask them to hurry up, they might well [some of them anyway] just stop in the middle of the crosswalk and leave the driver stuck in the middle of the intersection until the light goes red. The concept seems to be, “I’ve got the right-of-way, and how DARE you ask me to hurry?!”

Here if you tried that, the driver would probably make his left turn anyway, and would try to avoid a direct hit on the pedestrian, but if he were to get hit, we doubt that either the police or the judge would have much sympathy. He was acting stupid and not trying to protect himself, and does not deserve any sympathy, much less the protection of the law.

At the same time, pedestrians often cross the street away from crosswalks, or even on red lights, as long as there is room. I have seen them cross on a red light right in front of a policeman, with no concern whatsoever. It appears to be up to the individual to assess his options, and act in his own interest, and suffer the consequences if he does something stupid.

From what I can tell, much the same attitude applies to drivers. I have seen them make left turns on a red light when no one was coming on the street with the green light. And since stop signs are considered to be optional, as a driver approaches an intersection through which he has the right-of-way [i.e., the crossing drivers have stop signs], he will nearly always give a brief beep of his horn to alert crossing drivers that it is not safe to enter the intersection without stopping first.

In fact, horns are used a lot here, mostly for communication, rather than in anger. Drivers will often give a brief beep or two just to make sure that other drivers or pedestrians are aware of their presence. Taxi drivers will often give just a tiny beep to announce their availability to individuals beside the road. And occasionally you will hear a longer beep where a driver basically says, “You’re being stupid! Shape up!” On the other hand, I have not seen any road rage here. I’m sure it happens sometimes, but I haven’t seen it.

I feel like I am coming to better understand the rules of the road, but I am a long way from feeling like I could drive here. The knowledge may be in my head, but it is a long way from being incorporated into my reflexes.

Sorry, no pictures worth posting today.