When it comes to cars and traffic, there are several maxims I have picked up as I have traveled:
1. The world divides very subjectively into countries I will drive in without a second thought, countries I would consider driving in, and countries where I would not drive a car if someone put a gun to my head.
2. I trust the person who is driving the car. I can only think of one situation in all of my travels where this rule failed me.
3. Even though the traffic patterns may appear to be without rules or order, driving in such chaotic contexts actually requires a much higher sensitivity to the "rules of the game." While fewer rules are written, it seems to me that there are actually many more "rules" to negotiating the social norms of traffic.
The sheer density of population on the island of Java, together with strained infrastructure, makes for an especially interesting transportation experience. You notice this first of all before you even leave a parking lot. The shortage of space means that parking lots are almost always overseen by an attendant of some sort who guides and directs drivers into tight parking spaces. Passengers exit before parking, so that cars can be nestled even closer to one another. If the parking lot is filled, cars are sometimes parked in the middle area, with their drivers instructed to leave the car in neutral so that it can be rolled one way or another if someone needs to get out. These same parking attendants will then guide you out of your spot and to the exit of the lot. They do not stop there. They will then step into traffic, hold out their hand to stop oncoming traffic and let you pull into the stream. The attendant, while holding traffic with his right hand, will artfully extend his left behind him, perfectly positioned to accept a small amount of money from the driver.
Such "traffic stopping" is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Indonesian driving. Everyone seems to do it -- stepping into multiple lanes of traffic moving at 30-40 miles an hour, extending a hand, and then crossing 3-4 lanes of traffic. It seems to work. Cars and trucks seem to acknowledge this and stop. Motorbikes, on the other hand, see this only as a warning to swerve around the pedestrians at full speed. This is the kind of behavior that, if tried in the US, would result in the said pedestrian being "squashed like a toady," to borrow a phrase from my seven-year-old.
Still other attendants work in the median between the opposing flows, manning little gates where people can make u-turns. These attendants are clearly one step up from their peers, using small stop signs or even small mirrors to catch the attention of drivers before stepping into the flow of traffic. Motorbikes make a nearly continual tight curve around such posts, with cars moving slightly more slowly and carefully. Again, a perfectly choreographed passage of money takes place, with neither concern for the continuous traffic nor the mechanics of a very sharp turn disrupting the artful passage of rupiah bills.
I would be very slow to even think about driving in Indonesia. I'm not nearly a good enough driver. Driving here takes some real talent.
1. The world divides very subjectively into countries I will drive in without a second thought, countries I would consider driving in, and countries where I would not drive a car if someone put a gun to my head.
2. I trust the person who is driving the car. I can only think of one situation in all of my travels where this rule failed me.
3. Even though the traffic patterns may appear to be without rules or order, driving in such chaotic contexts actually requires a much higher sensitivity to the "rules of the game." While fewer rules are written, it seems to me that there are actually many more "rules" to negotiating the social norms of traffic.
The sheer density of population on the island of Java, together with strained infrastructure, makes for an especially interesting transportation experience. You notice this first of all before you even leave a parking lot. The shortage of space means that parking lots are almost always overseen by an attendant of some sort who guides and directs drivers into tight parking spaces. Passengers exit before parking, so that cars can be nestled even closer to one another. If the parking lot is filled, cars are sometimes parked in the middle area, with their drivers instructed to leave the car in neutral so that it can be rolled one way or another if someone needs to get out. These same parking attendants will then guide you out of your spot and to the exit of the lot. They do not stop there. They will then step into traffic, hold out their hand to stop oncoming traffic and let you pull into the stream. The attendant, while holding traffic with his right hand, will artfully extend his left behind him, perfectly positioned to accept a small amount of money from the driver.
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| A parking attendant in Semarang, Central Java |
Such "traffic stopping" is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Indonesian driving. Everyone seems to do it -- stepping into multiple lanes of traffic moving at 30-40 miles an hour, extending a hand, and then crossing 3-4 lanes of traffic. It seems to work. Cars and trucks seem to acknowledge this and stop. Motorbikes, on the other hand, see this only as a warning to swerve around the pedestrians at full speed. This is the kind of behavior that, if tried in the US, would result in the said pedestrian being "squashed like a toady," to borrow a phrase from my seven-year-old.
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| Getting the most from your motorbike. It seems like a lot of Jakarta driving is underneath freeways |
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| Jakarta Traffic - from indosight.org - the cars on the right, motorbikes on the left is the norm |
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