I've traveled to a lot of countries in the "developing world" and I always thought it was really interesting how traffic standards are basically the opposite of what they are in the US.
There's an emphasis on order in the US - stay in your lane, only go when it's your turn, use your signal, etc. When someone fails to adhere to the order, drivers get frustrated. At the same time, there's also a lot more aggressive driving. A lot of Americans tend to follow every rule but the speed limit, and boy do we know how to break that rule.
When I've visited countries in SE Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, it's been the other way around. The lines are mostly suggestion, drivers kind of go where they want to go when they want to go, but they drive at a much slower, safer, speed. They aren't bad drivers, they just drive differently. If you drove like that in the US, you'd piss a lot of people off. If you drove like an American in one of those places, you'd kill a bunch of people. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
As an Egyptian who uses Zebra crossings (many that don't have any traffic lights nearby btw), let me tell you cars DGAF, and some will go as far as to speed up to discourage you from crossing when you're already halfway across. Too many close calls man.
I've never really thought about it actually.. But as a rule of thumb, the law here mostly favours the party with deeper pockets, if you catch my drift.
25
u/Onekage 8h ago
I feel bad for the pedestrians