Monday, May 07, 2007

A tale of plastic in the dirt

I found yet another broken car lens in the dirt by the side of the road. Vehicle accidents are part of life in Nairobi. Out of the group I'm a part of, there's an accident involving someone about once every two weeks.

No matter how good a driver you are, it's the other person who may be the problem. Some people bribe their way into a license. Ability? That may not be part of their skillset. Learning? Maybe not. Aggressiveness? Definitely. (I pleasd guilty to that last one.)

I tell newly arriving people that they should expect to be in a fender-bender about once every nine months, on average. If they aren't, it's maybe because they don't get out very much.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once per 9 months is kind of on the high side. But then again I've never worked in the city centre. I've just done a 13 year count (94-07) and I average out to 1 bender per 2 years, including times when the car was bashed in parking lots in my absence.

Bob A said...

If either of these is normal, I was much luckier than most. I think, between my wife and I, we were only in 3 in 18 1/2 years. I hope we don't make up for it when we return to the continent! :)

Bob

Anonymous said...

Paul, I like to think of it as 'aggresively defensive' driving in our city in SE Asia. But I sure don't know your town or continent for that matter!

Keep safe in the next month, OK?
Take care & looking forward to seeing you guys in July!

Where you can find Paul Merrill

If you are looking for Paul Merrill, go over to  Shiny Bits of Life , which is my personal blog - or  Greener Grass Media . Thanks! (I no ...