Driving in El Salvador

For the last two months I have had the pleasure of having Dave Porter as my chauffeur. He has very graciously driven me to the capital of El Salvador (about 1 hour each way) weekly to take care of applying for my visa, working with customs to obtain our shipped goods and for our shopping needs. I have to admit though that being a passenger has often caused me to fear for my life. Well, yesterday I was able to experience driving myself in the big city for the first time.

I quickly discovered that El Salvador appears to only have one law for driving - there are no laws! I have heard the quip that pedestrians are considered road kill and they better get out of the way or it's their own fault. Also, I'm not sure why there are these white lines painted on the roads. At first I thought that they were to keep traffic in single lanes. Alas, that is obviously not the reason since no one seems to pay any heed to them. Perhaps the idea is to line up your hood ornament with the white line to make sure you are straight.

Another discovery is that many intersections have no traffic control devices such as stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights, etc. I suppose you don't really need them since they just slow you down. Which is ironic since everything else here seems to move at such a slow pace. Everything except driving. In this area they make up for the otherwise slow pace of life by going as fast as possible in a 1979 Toyota with bald tires, no turn signals, missing door handles and belching smoke. Oh, I almost forgot. Apparently mufflers are outlawed here.

In the instance where there are traffic control devices at intersections you have a choice to make. So as not to discriminate, El Salvador has installed both stop signs and lights at the same intersection. Do you follow the "Alto" sign and stop at the intersection? Or, do you follow the green light and go? The third, and apparently most popular option, is to ignore both and do whatever you want.

Another interesting device here are traffic circles. I'm sure you have all seen them back home where there are no lights or stop signs and you just go around the circle in a slow, orderly fashion and then safely exit onto the street you need. Well, Christina has an affectionate name for them now: "Circles of Death". The trick, it seems, is to start as far to the left as possible and then when you are within 10 feet of the street you want to exit onto you cross 3 lanes of traffic while all the time honking your horn and yelling something in Spanish and making interesting hand gestures.

However, by far the best part of the driving experience here are the buses. There is no public transporation system so people buy old school buses, paint them psychedelic colors and pack as many people as possible into them for a small fee. For some reason there are actually designated bus stop areas off to the side of the road. Again, I am confused because the buses just stop wherever and whenever they want with no warning. And, presumably because they are much bigger than you're car and they can, they pull out in front of you, change lanes into you and generally try to flatten you. However, to be fair, they do all this with a huge "Jesus loves you" sign painted on the back window.

Following my morning adventure I am happy to report that not only am I alive but I quickly made the transition to third world driving. The moral of the story? When I come back for a visit, I wouldn't recommend being a pedestrian anywhere near my car. You have been warned. But remember, Jesus does love you!