I find driving in Dar is actually quite enjoyable, except for the potholes the size of the Titanic. When you factor in the lack of road signs, speed limits signs, lines on the roads and functioning traffic lights, it becomes an interesting cross between downtown Manhattan and bumper cars. There are driving laws, yes, in theory. But like most laws in Tanzania it is nearly impossible to get a copy of the actual laws and more importantly, they are enforced only to the extent that you can bribe the traffic officer. Yet surprisingly enough, the selective enforcement (or lack of enforcement) creates a road situation that is relatively orderly.
Well, maybe I’ve lived in Dar too long if I think that driving here is orderly. But there are two definite principles that rule the road: aggressiveness (a.k.a. guts and stupidity) and size of vehicle. So for me, I’m actually pretty close to the top of the pecking order. The largest vehicles on the road are trucks, but since they are older than I am, they are slow at accelerating and maneuvering in traffic. The next largest are dala dalas. They have crazy drivers (VERY crazy), but they are hindered by the fact that they usually have 30 people in a vehicle built to fit 10 and are also old and slow. The next largest vehicles on the road are the large SUVs (Toyota Land Cruiser size). But these are usually owned by older expats or older wealthy Tanzanians, so they tend to be slow and cautious drivers. (Or the old folk are being driven by a driver who tends to be even more slow and cautious.) The last group is the sedans and smaller cars, which loose based on their size alone.
So that leaves the small SUV category, into which my baby and I fit. Most of the people in this category are younger expats, such as myself. And I will further split this group into two: those that can drive and those that shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Now, many Americans and Europeans initially fall into the latter category as they learn that driving on the left means the steering wheel is on the right but that the car should always be on the left side of the road. (You would be surprised at how long it takes some people to realize that.) But most of the expats here are females, and… as much as I hate to say this, most of the female drivers in Dar I’ve met also fall into the latter category of ‘please, please take the keys away from them’. I usually hate that stereotype, but I honestly think I only know one other girl in Dar that actually understands how a car works and also understands that you should look at the road on which you’re driving. (Again, you would be surprised.) And anyone who has an automatic has weak acceleration here, so they tend to fall into the latter category as well.
They say that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, I have to say, that falling near the top of the pecking order of driving has definitely corrupted me a bit. (My baby may loose a little on size, but driving in South Africa and San Francisco… let’s just say that dala dalas defer to me.) But, unlike my dear brother, I have not gone over to the dark side and adopted the motto “screeching tires are happy tires”. No- to me screeching tires still mean you need to be nice and stop the car and let your little sister out before taking the 25mph turn at 60mph.
But seeing as Dar doesn’t exactly have an advanced trauma unit in case of accidents (you get sent for treatment in another country if you get a complicated fracture of your arm), the best way to drive is still defensively.
But when it’s a beautiful day with a nice breeze and you’re on a road with the beach and the Indian Ocean on one side… it’s nice not to have driving laws.
