Driving in South Africa

Every country has its own rules for driving – some of them are written, some are unwritten. Often it is the unwritten that are most important. When driving in Spain, I quickly realized that one of the unwritten rules was that the car ahead in traffic had the right of way. It could be only an inch, but that was enough to give that driver freedom to move over. It did not matter if they were on the left or the right. Once I figured that out, driving was easier and much safer. A friend who lived in Italy for a few years explained the lack of lines on the streets (other than center lines) by explaining that this was the way every Italian could have his own lane.

South Africa has some special rules of its own in addition to the fact that they drive, like the British and Australians, on the left side of the road. Fortunately, this time we started driving in a country area and not in downtown Sidney as happened on our visit there. It also helps to have a navigator and backseat drivers remind you when you stray a bit too far to the left or begin driving on the wrong side. We have a stick shift which I was a bit nervous about, but that has not been a particular problem. The difficulty has been the turn signal. In our first vehicle, it was on the right side of the steering wheel and I kept turning on the windshield wipers when trying to signal a turn. Our second car has them on the left side, but by then I was used to the other side and still made a few mistakes, bringing a few more laughs from the passengers.

South Africa does not allow free left turns on a stop light, but apparently they do allow you to go through a red light when moving across lanes. That one really surprised me the first time I saw it. On a divided highway with a stop light, the car in front of me used our green light to move between the lanes and after stopping went through the red light to move on treating it just like a stop light. Another stop light action to get used to is the fact that blinking lights are not the same. A blinking green just means that the light is getting ready to change, not that it is ok to go. I almost got caught on that one once.

South Africans are among the most polite drivers we have seen, fitting the kindness we have felt everywhere. There are a few divided highways, but most of the major roads are two lane undivided highways with few intersections, if any. However, most of these roads are extra wide which allows for safe passing. The white center line is similar to ours in that solid means unsafe to pass. The outside line is yellow. The difference here is that the space outside the yellow line is really wide enough for a car. This allows cars and trucks to drive along the edge safely and allow others to pass. I have seen this occasionally in the US, particularly on the I-5 in southern Oregon where big heavy trucks driving uphill will pull way over effectively creating a third lane. Here, both trucks and cars either spend most of their time outside the yellow line or will move over when a car approaches who obviously needs to pass. The extra space also gives the oncoming traffic room to move out of the way meaning the passing car has even more space. Then the passing car will use the emergency flasher for a short pulse to acknowledge the kindness of the driver who moved over. Jim, my co-pilot, has made sure that happens for us.

We have also had to get used to all the pedestrians. They seem to be everywhere because so many people don't have cars. In some cases, it is even essential to cross a busy main road to get from one side to the other. In addition, many of the people are waiting for one of the minivan taxis that carry people everywhere. Often there are 10 – 15 people waiting in line for one of these 15-seat vans that seem to always be full when we pass them on the road. Out in the country, we will sometimes see people using their thumb trying to hitch a ride or holding out money showing they are willing to pay. Sometimes the person who stops will simply let them ride in the back of a truck where they will often stand. We even saw one riding on a trailer hitch.

Finally, big trucks have to be off the road after dark, making that time a much safer time to be driving.

Driving in Norway

Any place you travel, you have to figure out the local rules if you want to survive as a pedestrian or a driver. This is even true in the US where we tend to complain about drivers from other parts of the country without really understanding that they are just using a different set of rules of the road. 

Fortunately for us, we spent a week on the road in a tour bus with a guide before we took off in our own rented car for the two weeks we would be spending on our own. Our first lesson was leaving the ferry at ...... As we climbed these 13 switchbacks, we had to trust Finn, our driver. Linda and I sat in the front for this first trip up the side of the fjord. As we approached the first corner, we anxiously awaited the turn. But the turn took a lot longer than we anticipated. Since the front tires are behind the driver, Finn could put the nose of the bus out over the abyss before turning. While perfectly safe (we think?), it was more than a bit disconcerting at first. It didn't help when he said that after the 15 years he had been driving, he did it all by feel. 

Going down the Troll Staircase was even more interesting. Somehow going down was a bit more scary than going up. I suppose that has something to do with the fact that since we are already on the way down, the drop would be faster? That makes about as much sense as being afraid when flying. Rationality has little to do with fear. Our first lesson: trust the driver.

The picture below shows how part
of the road was built many years ago.

Our second lesson came near the bottom of the troll highway on a narrow section of the road. Without enough room for the car to pass, it would have to back up. Marit, our guide, was not worried. Her comment: "This will only take a moment. The driver is Norwegian and Norwegians know how to back up." At first, I thought this was another example of her wry self-deprecating sense of humor. Then the driver backed up about 100 meters at 20 kph and we realized she was serious. Norwegians have to know how to drive in reverse because there are so many narrow roads. A few km later, we met a Danish driver who not only had trouble driving in reverse, his panic was such that he missed the first wide spot and had to continue backing another 150 meters. Our second lesson: when confronted by a larger vehicle, put it in reverse. 

Marit then explained that the lines on the road were a message. In the US we know that the style of centerline tells us whether or not it is safe and legal to pass. In Norway this is only the beginning of the message. The very fact that there is a centerline tells us that the road is at least 24 feet wide and means that the road is wide enough for two trucks to pass in safety in their own lanes. If the road lacks a centerline, but has lines on the sides, then it is too narrow for that, but probably still wide enough for two cars. If there are no lines at all, drivers need to be more careful.  

 We saw many examples of this as we drove north of Trondheim where the traffic tended to be light even on the main north-south highway. Even in August, we did not see a lot of traffic. We did see a number of turnouts. In the picture above you can see a couple of them in a distance of less that 300 meters. 

 Then there were the interesting signs. Before heading to South Africa in February, we will spend some time studying the international symbols used on traffic signs, not all of which are used in the US. We did see a few that probably are not on the official list. The one shown here we found on Lofoten Island and is probably self-explanatory.  

We saw another in Trondheim that needed explanation - a picture of a car upside down with objects falling out of it. Marit told us it was a reminder to lock youe vehicle so your possessions would not be stolen.

 The sign above suggest that the driver slow down and the ones below are reminders to wear your seatbelt.