In Azerbaijan They Drive on the Right (Most of the Time)...

Riding in a car in Azerbaijan is an adventure. As Peace Corps Volunteers we are not allowed to drive or own a vehicle. This is for two purposes (that I know of): one, it increases our safety and two, we are expected to live at the level of the locals, and owning a car is not a common thing here. As the title of this entry foretells, they do drive on the right, which is helpful as a foreigner (knowing which way to look – very important as pedestrians are not given the right of way) but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Very few roads have lines – down the middle, between lanes, or on the sides. There are very few traffic lights. Roads are pretty much open territory. If the right side of the road has a big pothole in it, why not drive on the left to avoid it? If there are cows or sheep being herded across the road, drive on the left or wait for them to finish crossing (herds can be from just a few animals to over 50, which usually takes up more than one lane). If the road curves to the left, drive in the left lane to make the trip that much more efficient. And while I’m not saying this is wrong, I am saying that it’s very different from the order/attempted order you see on American roads. There is also a different sound associated with driving here. In America the sounds I associated with driving are braking and crashing. Here it is the honk of a car horn.

• Honk: I’m turning here.
• Honk: Random animal, get out of the way.
• Honk: I’m passing you now.
• Honk: Hi, how are you?

So even though there are less cars on the road it seems noisier to me (and I’m in a small city). A couple of weeks ago I was travelling to another city and I took a taxi part of the way. Sitting directly behind the driver the thought popped into my mind that this is what it must feel like to be in Mario Kart (or some other car racing video game) – he had his hands at 10 and 2 (the proper driving position), was hunched over (like he needed to get the best view possible), peered in the rearview mirror as necessary to pass another car, and was driving as though a record was at stake (when really all that was as stake was another fee – the sooner he got rid of us the sooner he could pick up another paying customer). So, like the bull that jumped in front of the car I was riding in yesterday (the brakes worked), combine all of these things together and anytime you get in a car it’s an adventure and a story waiting to happen.