Dhaka is a city with virtually no street lights, stop signs or side walks, pretty much nothing to separate or guide cars/rickshaws/CNGs and pedestrians. Being cautiously aggressive is crucial.
In order to cross the busy streets here, you have to put yourself out there, literally. You have to look right, look left and when the traffic is a bit lighter than usual, start walking… quickly, even if there’s traffic approaching. To save yourself from being hit, just put out your hand, as if you’re asking them to stop, so they slow down or at the very least, dodge you as they continue driving. Sticking out your hand with such conviction is the only “traffic signal” used here. And, as hard as it is to believe, it actually works!
The other tactic you can use while crossing a crazy intersection is to “piggy-back” and follow someone else as they are doing the same, preferably a Bangladeshi. Just ensure you’re on the opposite side of the oncoming traffic, so they serve as a buffer between you and the vehicle. Regardless, one thing is for sure, throwing yourself into such a vulnerable situation provides an intense and relatively exciting rush of adrenaline. Not to mention, putting a positive spin on certain situations helps you experience a foreign place.
I started driving (only until our driver becomes available)! One might wonder what the big deal about that is.
Well, I will try to describe what it is like driving in Dhaka. Imagine two gigantic armies - SUVs, cars, buses, motorcycles - down to infantry, thousands of pedestrians and rickshaws. Then imagine them now forced into long columns coming toward each other, on a narrow path full of obstacles - potholes, trenches, open sewage holes. Imagine them passing through each other, trying just somehow to keep to the left but, occupying the whole road.
Put yourself in the middle of of this ocean of humans and wheels. You have some measure of protection offered by the car itself. Mine in particular has the sturdy metal bumpers and you bump into someone or something at least several times per trip.
The only real rule in this encounter with the road is "Might is Right". If a truck is coming through, it is coming through. Most vehicles fight for space, but they do manage to push through most of the times without bumping anything else. The smaller the vehicle, the more it has to give way and the more smarter it has to be.
I am pretty sure Darwin could have written his theories here as well. If you can't drive, you get driven, or take a rickshaw.
As for myself, I am becoming more Bangladeshi then Bangladeshis themselves. I now have no issues driving on the wrong side (that does not apply to Cristina who is getting close to a heat attack). I can honk my horn in Bangla as well. Negotiating these streets is a specialty art, and Radu bhai is becoming the king of the road.
You can always tell the intensity of a Dhaka traffic jam by the decibel level the honking horns have reached. If you can still hear the person next to you speak inside an air conditioned vehicle above the sounds of horns honking outside of your car, then you are just in normal Dhaka traffic.
Back home, in our "let me make sure I do not offend you" American culture, honking your horn at someone is like inviting someone to a school backyard fight. People get offended. “What’s that guy’s problem? He HONKED at me!”
Here in Dhaka, honking is just a way of life. Walking down the street, you must expect to lose some of your hearing. Cars here honk more often than they do not. When they come to an intersection, they honk. When a person is walking alongside a road, they honk at the person. When they are changing lanes (realistically there are no lanes here), they honk. When they are turning, they honk. When they just are on the road, they honk. In traffic, they just hold down their horns as if through their abuse of the horn they can express the incredible frustration they feel at the hopeless situation of the eternal traffic jam in Dhaka. A true jam will incite even the most patient driver to start honking. The horns are most annoying to pedestrians, ricksha wallah, and CNG drivers/passengers.
I seriously contemplated ordering a blow horn from the US. I would get the most powerful one, the kind that blows out your ear membranes at sporting events. Then I would just honk back at any bus, car or CNG that honks at me.
When a Dhaka traffic jam hits, it strikes with the force of an atomic bomb going off, and all ears are affected by the sound. Pedestrians beware, If you are a pedestrian near this jam, you are at serious risk of permanent hearing loss. Same goes for those in the CNGs or rickshaws. Even in the confines of an air conditioned vehicle, it becomes difficult to hear one’s own voice, or the voices of others in the car above the symphony of horns being honked.
