Observations behind the wheel

I like imagining what things used to be like before modern times. When Izabel and I were in the States doing Partnership Development we traveled a lot and saw a lot of open country, I was always wishing I would be able to see the land from 300 years ago compared to how it looked today. If there was a large prairie did it use to be a forest? If there is a large forest, did it use to be a prairie? Was the Rocky Mountain range always so densely packed with trees? If so, how did the wagon trains cross those mountains?

Part of the mountain area going from the coastal plain to the higher altitude

Living in Brazil has made me start to consider these and other things as well, mainly how traffic laws and routines evolve. We live in the coastal plain of the state of Sao Paulo, just after our city are mountains that level off into a higher altitude for the big city of Sao Paulo. These mountains are densely covered with trees and other vegetation, were they always covered this thick with green? I imagine being an early explorer tasked with uncovering this land yet being discouraged by the hard work of having to march my way through the thick jungle, of course I also think what an adventure that would be.

I was told recently that Brazil is going to increase some traffic fines which will hopefully prevent reckless driving, it reminded me of the emphasis in the States on using a seat belt or child safety seat. All during my lifetime seat belts have been required, but over the last 10 years or so there has been an increase in the fines associated with not using them. I remember my first trip to Brazil in 2007 I was riding in a car and looked into a car next to us and all four people in that car had a can of beer in their hand. There was another time when, as a pedestrian, I was passed by two guys on a motorcycle, both of whom were holding a beer can. Thankfully, the laws have taken a strict stand against drunk driving since 2007.

It takes much more energy to drive here in Brazil than I used to expend in the States. When we first arrived here I was nervous when I first started driving into other cities, not knowing all the rules, written and unwritten, but also just trying to keep up with the differences in driving cultures. After I returned from the States earlier this year I was talking about the differences between U.S. and Brazil with my soccer friends. I joked that in the States a road is wide enough to hold 4 or 5 cars side by side but there are only two lanes of traffic. In Brazil the roads are only wide enough for 2 car widths but somehow three cars and a bus fit in that space.

Since I've been in Brazil I have learned that here it's important to be aggressive as a driver or you'll never get anywhere. I've seen how common it is for people to approach a controlled intersection where they have a stop sign but to approach the intersection so rapidly that it seems they want to force the driver with a right-of-way to stop, so the car with the stop sign can continue without stopping. Eventually most of those cars stop, but it's important to be ready in case you find one of the drivers who is going regardless.

On the one hand you have a group of drivers that seem like they expect the seas of traffic to part around them, on the other hand you have a group of drivers who are awfully generous. These people have the right-of-way yet will stop and let anything into traffic or cross the road, human or animal. One group will happily continue driving, ignoring a pregnant woman with a small child waiting in the crosswalk, while the other group will stop anywhere along the road to allow a single male to cross the street who may not even be waiting to cross. What a study in contrasts.

Pretty much like this

I was driving in the city of Santos last week and for a while trailed a team of four motorcycle cops. I watched their diamond formation while on the move but was fascinated at how they arranged themselves while stopped at a light. As they came to a stop they positioned themselves to have a view of  every direction. Immediately after each motorcycle was positioned correctly, their hand went to the gun in their holster and they scanned their area for things that seemed out of place. One officer looked into my car trying to see my soul, I probably would have confessed to anything he accused me of at that point. This was the second time I had noticed motorcycle police driving in such a formation.

The last thing I'll mention about traffic is that somehow I think a Brazilian uses a third hand while driving and I have no idea how. Both the horn and the headlights are used as communication devices. Not only do I need to learn the Portuguese language but I also have to learn 'lights and sounds' too. It's amazing how quickly the lights will be flashed or the horn beeped when necessary. The length and pattern of the lights or horns probably also have different meanings like Morse code. The only conclusion that I can make is that a Brazilian drives with one hand on the horn, another controlling the headlights and they use their third hand to use the steering wheel, not to mention shifting, maybe they have four hands.