Jared and Lindsay Ord of Olds have a new appreciation for traffic lights in Canada after travelling around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a major East African city that has almost no traffic lights.
Jared, a dentist, and Lindsay, a dental hygienist, travelled to Ethiopia last month as part of a team providing medical and dental care primarily to children.
“Driving is ridiculous,” Jared said during an interview with the Albertan.
“They do have some (traffic lights) and these are new. They do have some actual running, working street lights and they're new. We asked our drivers what they thought about them and they said, ‘we like it because it helps traffic flow better.'
“But for the most part, I'd say 95 per cent of the intersections we went through – and these are like four lanes each way in all four directions --There are no traffic lights; there are no traffic police.”
He did note that once in a while a policeman could be seen directing traffic but “it would be like one man trying to organize a stampede.”
Lindsay recalled one drive.
“We were in tight morning traffic,” she said. “We were so close to the vehicle next to us that our driver leaned out his window, pulled his (side) mirror in, pushed the other guy's mirror in, then drove forward a little bit – enough to spread out the space, because we were like this close to the next vehicle. (She holds hands apart an inch or two).
“Then he pulled the other guy's mirror out, pushed his mirror out and then said, ‘thank you' in Amharic (the Ethiopian language) because everybody's windows are open.
“Off we went and we all just started laughing because it was just so unlike what would happen here,” she added.
“Even though it seems like there are no rules and it's just a free-for-all, they have their systems and they're actually quite polite,” Jared said. “I think if the same thing were to happen here we'd have massive road rage. I think they just learn to deal with it. It's normal for them.”
"Even though it seems like there are no rules and it's just a free-for-all, they have their systems and they're actually quite polite. I think if the same thing were to happen here we'd have massive road rage. I think they just learn to deal with it. It's normal for them."JARED ORD
