I will continue with the Lalibela churches later, but today I wanted to write a bit about how driving works in Ethiopia.
At first it may seem that there are no driving rules, but don’t get confused, they have developed a way to move around with cars that is extraordinarily unique to this country.
Addis is a notoriously crowded city where streets have to be shared among motorized vehicles, horse carts, pedestrians, bicycles, and farm animals. And of course the people who work on the streets like vendors, traffic police, and construction workers.
It seems to me they all know the rules, but these are not so evident to foreigners. According to what one driver told me, they do need to pass an exam to get a driver’s license and it seems not to be a very easy test.
Since the streets are so crowded, usually cars don’t develop high speeds and most of the time are negotiating the crossings and free spaces on the road as magicians.
In the category of motor vehicles, you’ll find minibuses (white and blue with white tops), big city buses (usually red), taxis (also blue with white tops), private cars, and some trucks (and the Bajaj in Gondar).
Since sidewalks in Addis are a tripping hazard, people and animals prefer to walk on the side of the streets and run in front of cars when they want to cross them. A good driver has to be fast with the brakes and with the horn!
Extraordinarily, I haven’t seen much “road rage”, quite the contrary people mostly saying hi to one another. I witnessed some shouting between drivers, probably they were cursing but I can’t tell for sure since I don’t speak the language, but that was it. There are asphalted avenues that cross all the city, but side streets are usually narrow dirt roads, full of potholes and rocks impossible to use as turns, so the most common maneuver in the streets of Addis seems to be the U turn.
Fortunately I have witnessed some improvement in the driving since I went to Ethiopia 3 years ago. For example, seat belt and turn signal lights usage are much more common now and when a driver receives or wants to make a cell phone call, he pulls over to the side of the road and stops until he is finished.
Gondar, another city I went to, is smaller that Addis and a little less crazy, but still a madness for Western foreigners.
Then, there are the roads that connect the cities and small towns.
The dirt roads are usually narrow and cars can’t go too fast, the ride is dusty and bumpy.
There is a lot of road construction going on right now in Ethiopia and new good asphalt corridors connect big cities all over the country. I travelled the country road that takes you to Gondar from Lalibela, and it looks just like any other asphalted country road in the USA: in good condition, clearly marked and signaled and the ride is as smooth as it can be.
There are however, some differences in the way Ethiopians drive on these roads and I think it has to do a lot with culture, topography and how people in general in Ethiopia use these connecting avenues. Roads are not only for cars, but for pedestrians and animals.
In fact I’ve seen very few private cars using them, the vehicles travelling them are mostly buses, minibuses and trucks carrying all kind of merchandise. Again the rule is be fast with your brakes and your horn, many lives depend on that.
There is a curious Ethiopian way to drive the roads that makes complete sense in this place. Even though the road has two lanes and you must drive on your right, the cars circulate just in the middle!
Yes the line that divides the lanes also indicates the middle of where your car must be. The reason is that the sides of the road are used by people walking alone or with their animals.
You must wonder what happens if another car comes in the opposite direction you’re driving… Well just slow down and move to your lane so both cars can pass.
Since the northern roads go through high mountain terrain, there are a lot of curves, turns, ups and downs and here is where honking the horn becomes a must to let others know that you are coming and avoid a full frontal crash.
The same goes for animals and people crossing your path, honk your horn to let them know they better move before you run over them.
As you can imagine, even though Ethiopians seem to drive quite well despite the circumstances, there are many accidents, some of them fatal. Actually, Ethiopia has one of the highest road-accident rates in the world.
A good advice would be to use your seat belt when available…

 

BTW, I encountered a small truck in the Gondar market with the legend “Obama Isuzu Obama” on the top front and the people there swore it was the name of the car model, but I think they were just pulling my leg.
I had to take the picture though or nobody would believe me…

ETHIOPIA: Government moves to address road-accident toll
Driving in Ethiopia…What, a surprise?

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