"Normal" Traffic in Dhaka

If you think, "It is no longer worse" is still a possible increase. I was thinking earlier times, after I knew the traffic in Jakarta and Manila, it could not be worse. But that surpasses it here. Even in "normal state". Then, last week agreed the administration of the city to raise the whole yet.

Throughout the city were built in the past traffic lights. In fact, almost every intersection, such a plant. So far, all anyone is interested. The traffic lights have changed indeed busy between red, yellow and green, but traffic was regulated in principle by the police. That worked so reasonably. At least some of the vehicles was based on the police.

But now they decided to take off immediately all the traffic lights. This was in the paper that from the next day the police but will be at the crossroads, but do nothing to regulate the traffic, but just make sure that all depend on the traffic light. If you do not do will be punished accordingly.

Not quite congested intersection

The next morning we started thus. We arrived at around 9:30 in the office and there were almost alone. We were told that the rest would come later. Traffic chaos! A little later we sat down then to the customer on the move. For nearly 9 kilometers, we have used only a little over 2 hours. In the evening, was back in the same area.

The next day the headline on the front page of the newspaper: "traffic lights, the city plunged into chaos." Then the article to do so. We found about 11:00 clock that with the traffic lights not working and switched back on this and the old version with the police. The razor-sharp conclusion was: "The traffic lights are crap."

Empty road on holiday

The idea that it could be due to the behavior of drivers, you do not even come What we should have seen the real time. At least 50% of the traffic consists of bicycles and motor rickshaws. The talk does not usually anyway. I would go out sometimes assume that the majority of the drivers of these vehicles not read nor can write and the rest rarely reads the newspaper, so probably not something new from control did not have any idea of ​​them have, that there are so thing as traffic rules are and what they mean to this brilliant stand at the roadside. As a police officer is threatening with a stick waving in front of the face around to interpret clearly better. Divide the rest up into bus drivers who appear to be the owner of the road, and motorists. Even with the drivers it is not so safe and considerate to reach the goal, but 3 seconds before the neighbors. Regular traffic at intersections is to succumb completely, because they are mutually blocked in all directions and then either before or declining. The whole must then be painstakingly unraveled.

Last weekend, the town was virtually empty. A major Islamic holiday, the Feast of Sacrifice, has depopulated the city. Everyone was able to work, went home to his family. That would have been a good opportunity to try all again. But apparently I was the only one who came up with this idea. Two times I was almost driven to the winds. Of a bicycle rickshaw and an automobile. Both times this was the direction of travel is actually locked.