Erin: On Driving

Our Tanzanian travel guides have a warning for Americans about driving. Tanzania uses the British system, so everyone drives on the left side of the road and steering wheels are on the right. But in addition to getting used to this (and making sure you know how to use a stick-shift; there is no other way to get up a muddy hill), there are a couple other rules important for both drivers and pedestrians to note.

1. 
   Speed – There may be a speed limit but it is not enforced. Usually you are limited by the quality of the road, especially as the rainy season has carved gorges into many of the dirt roads. Exceptions include police barricades, which are designed to collect tax on agricultural goods being taken to market before the ‘season’ officially starts for a certain good.
2. 
   Passing – If you want to pass a vehicle, use your turn signal to indicate your desire to do so (right-hand signal). The driver ahead of you will respond with his own signal by either indicating that the path ahead is clear for you (left-hand signal), or that you should not pass yet as the road is obstructed by oncoming traffic or that its too narrow (right-hand signal).
3. 
   Right of way – The right of way belongs to the biggest thing on the road. Cars beat out bikes, which beat out people. If bikes or people are not clearing from the intersection, you should honk at them (or ring the bell on your bike at pedestrians). I have seen one man knocked off his bike for leaving not enough clearance between his path and the car’s, but he was not injured. Children also frequently get honked at, even if they are out of the way. I assume this is to make sure they are paying attention and do not run into the road. (Roads here are always filled in the afternoon with children walking home from primary or secondary school.)

Ps. If you're reading this Dad, I think you would have liked our driver in Dar Es Salaam. Before working for ICAP, Manuel used to be a mechanic for racecar drivers on the East African circuit. This was in the 70s, and the races would go around Lake Victoria, through Kenya, Ugandan, and Tanzania. They would take short cuts to get ahead of the racecars, and had to use the bare minimum of parts to get the cars going again. Manuel scoffed at modern mechanics who just go to junk-yards to find replacement parts, he would disassemble the alternator, figure out what was wrong with it, and fix it himself before putting it back into the car. He also raced motorbikes himself in the 80s. Cool, huh?