The most terrifying experience I've ever had ...
occcurred this week when I took one of the local buses. I've written about driving in Turkey before (with rules such as there are no rules) but I didn't think it could get worse. I was wrong.
I went with a member of the school staff to Kocaeli University, to speak with students about English lessons and do recruiting.
To get to this particular campus took about 45 minutes on the bus. I nearly kissed the ground when I got off.
Turkish buses stop at designated stops, much like everywhere else, but they also stop whenever somebody waves them down. The driver pulls over or stops in the middle of the road and people enter.
There are 20 seats on a bus but an average of 40 people ride in them, making the journey cramped and uncomfortable.
When we got on the bus, there were only about 15 people on board, but that would change as we left town headed to the university. By the time we were out of Izmit a good 40 to 45 people were packed in and the journey was just about to begin.
The drivers are maniacs, honking their horns at slow traffic, cutting people off and nearly getting into crashes every leg of the trip. There were too many "close calls" to count because it seems every bus in Izmit comes within inches of crashes on a daily basis.
On one trip, there was another bus in front of us going slower than our driver cared for. So he began making passing moves on the left side of the bus in front of us and nearly crashing into several parked cars.
To get to the university, we took a mountain road that winds through the Kocaeli mountains. There was not much visual clearance ahead of us, but that didn't stop the driver from a series of passing trucks and other buses driving too slow in front of us.
Again, several close calls.
On one of the trips I did not have a seat, which I preferred, because the bus was packed so full with people. I figured if we got into a crash I would have plenty of people to absorb the impact and survive.
I think I am going to take the train whenever I can.
James
I went with a member of the school staff to Kocaeli University, to speak with students about English lessons and do recruiting.
To get to this particular campus took about 45 minutes on the bus. I nearly kissed the ground when I got off.
Turkish buses stop at designated stops, much like everywhere else, but they also stop whenever somebody waves them down. The driver pulls over or stops in the middle of the road and people enter.
There are 20 seats on a bus but an average of 40 people ride in them, making the journey cramped and uncomfortable.
When we got on the bus, there were only about 15 people on board, but that would change as we left town headed to the university. By the time we were out of Izmit a good 40 to 45 people were packed in and the journey was just about to begin.
The drivers are maniacs, honking their horns at slow traffic, cutting people off and nearly getting into crashes every leg of the trip. There were too many "close calls" to count because it seems every bus in Izmit comes within inches of crashes on a daily basis.
On one trip, there was another bus in front of us going slower than our driver cared for. So he began making passing moves on the left side of the bus in front of us and nearly crashing into several parked cars.
To get to the university, we took a mountain road that winds through the Kocaeli mountains. There was not much visual clearance ahead of us, but that didn't stop the driver from a series of passing trucks and other buses driving too slow in front of us.
Again, several close calls.
On one of the trips I did not have a seat, which I preferred, because the bus was packed so full with people. I figured if we got into a crash I would have plenty of people to absorb the impact and survive.
I think I am going to take the train whenever I can.
James
posted by James at 8:24 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, I just heard about some police action happening somewhere in Turkey. Can you make a call on it?
Ya gotta love public transportation. I think a good rule of thumb for a bus driver is smoke em if ya got em because eventually you're goin down in flames.
Rits
Assuming you're still alive as I write this and you're not blowing some American in a Midnight Express Turkish prison....I want you to walk up to a Turk in the streets and tell him, Sim Sickdare Sani and then tell him, Allzenah Seecheem....Have fun watching their expression. Then, take off running as fast as you can.....KAZ
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