Bad Drivers

Local wisdom about local drivers:

"The three most dangerous drivers are: 1) moped/scooter drivers, 2) taxi drivers, and 3) women drivers.

I have to say that they are correct.

Moped riders do not stop. Anytime, at intersections, at corners, even at stop signs or lights. They believe that they must be in constant motion, like a shark. If they stop, they will die. I find their most vicious habit is coming out of a side street and making a sudden turn. They do not look for traffic or stop but curve and slide out into the lane directly in front of you... Usually, I have to slow or slam on my brakes lest I bash into them. I honk loudly even while tempted to crash into their rear and crush their wheels.

Taxi drivers talk with their hands, text or talk on their mobile phones (not hands free), and turn around in their seat to speak to you in back. A friend had to repeatedly remind the driver to face front and keep his hands on the driver's wheel. After several wild flailing backlash attempts, he deposited her at her destination.

I am not being sexist when I say that female drivers here are also dangerous. For whatever reason, they are either slow, ponderous, or flippantly arrogant. One women bashed into me coming full speed around a sharp neighborhood corner. In good local fashion, she blamed me and shouted, "Didn't you see?" Of course, anyone, male or female would have said the same thing. The blame game is the same. They say, not their fault!

In the end, one has to be alert and defensive, here. Defensive as in defensive driving. Having grown up in the urban Northeast with lousy drivers, I feel sufficiently oriented.