Driving Me Insane

I once read a book that was written by a Brazilian who claimed that people drive the way they are. And not only that, he held that entire nations reveal themselves in their driving habits. It was a fun book, jammed packed with stereotypes of course, but not completely unintelligent. Germans, of course, came across as overly rule-concerned: No need to slam on the breaks for a cross-walker. What is she doing there anyway? I can’t remember what it said about Latvian or Andorran driving habits, but I can tell you a few things about Costa Rican driving myself after having lived here for four years.

It’s insane. And it’s not even as much the way they drive but rather the way they conceive of motorized travel. The stereotypical Tico seems to think that a delivery truck is no different from the horse their grandpa used to ride. They all ride them much too fast on non-existing lanes.

Most roads here, if paved at all, have no median and none of them have shoulders. Not only that, the side of the roads remembers a half eaten cookie rather than a curb. What should be a sidewalk is often some makeshift ditch for storm water and since there are daily down-pours during the six-months rainy season, pedestrians really have no choice but to step into the road, baby carriage, grocery bags and all.

So just imagine a downhill road, twelve feet across, on a rainy evening, with heavy rush hour travel in both directions. Spice it up with a couple of kids balancing between the certainty of either instant death or extremely wet and mucky legs, a wind-blown biker with a black cape, and few foot-deep potholes where the median should be and there you go: Costa Rica.

But there is one redeeming quality and in my time here I have caught a few glimpses of it: Everyone seems to realize it’s pretty bad. That doesn’t change the fast and unforgiving driving behavior, but if a Tica/o sees that you are caught at one of the many no-chance left turns with no turning lane or light, you can be sure s/he is going to flash the lights at you signaling you to go ahead and cut in front of you.

Don’t try that in Germany.