Driving Update

I was wrong in my initial observation that there are no rules when driving in Brazil. Rebecca's need to go shopping outweighed her fear of driving, so it was time for her to join the dance. She drove just a few blocks and I realized there is a rule. Somehow I incorporated it into my new driving habits with no conscious thought. The rule is, you don't take the place of two cars to have more room around you. They will not tolerate American size space between cars.

Driving in Brazil

Well we finally got a car, it’s a Fait Stilho. Our need to go places finally became greater than my fear of driving. And now we know how to get to five places; our apartment, the Rowes, the Heinrichs, our school, a shopping center, and our church. Fortunately, all but our school is on the same route. Thank you Lord.

The biggest difference in driving here verses the states, is in the states we mind, or pay attention to the laws, and here we mind the drivers around us. In the states everyone follows the laws so you know where the car next to you is probably going. Here, if there is a space by your car, you have as much right to it as anyone and anyone has as much a right to it as you. So if someone pulls out in front of you, you make room for him. If someone runs a stop sign to pull in front of you, you slow down and let him in. After all, stop signs are really just suggestions; they are more of a yield sign here. And all this goes on without anyone getting mad. What’s to get mad about, they have as much right to the space in front of you as you do. I’ve seen people just stopping in the road to do whatever. Also, there are two lane roundabouts, as I’ve heard them referred to in the states. It is a circle where an intersection is, and you are supposed to stop and then proceed to your turn by going around this circle until you get to the direction you want to go, then make a right turn in that direction. It’s two lanes and logic tells you that the inside lane is for going around the circle and the outside lane is to turn. The reality is it’s a two lane turn and you turn right from either lane. Be aware of the inside lane turns when you’re on the outside.

This system works well. We live in front of a busy street and have only seen one collision. If you are paying attention, you can really get somewhere quickly. A taxi driver in Rio referred to learning to drive as, “learning the dance.” It’s really true, you are dancing with those around you, except both parties lead at the same time.