Traffic Troubles
It’s your lucky day. This is the second piece in a regular segment for my blog: How-to-Tuesdays. Here I will give you a run down on how to do something new–related to my life in and around Bulgaria. Check out last week’s how to which is a great recipe for roasting egg plant in the Turkish style.
I grew up in a small town where the traffic was busy for about 5 minutes during rush hour (if you can even it call it rush hour). My mom taught me a song about crossing the street “Stop, look and listen before you cross the street. Use your eyes, use your ears before you use your feet!” And these lessons learned early on have served me well.
Even in Washington DC where we definitely had rush hour and there was always traffic on the street, a girl could rely on the cross walk, traffic signals and the pedestrian right of way. I lived in the city more or less unscathed for 5 years. It’s probably important at this point to note that I didn’t own a car and walked or took public transportation every where.
Upon arriving in Sofia, I was terrified to take to bus, tram or trolleybus but I quickly learned the ropes. The thing that I wasn’t expecting was how difficult it is to be a pedestrian in this city.
Right of way as a pedestrian? Nope. That’s a laughable idea. Relying on the street signals to safely cross the street? Also, not a good idea. Stand on the sidewalk hoping for a break in traffic? I guess that this is okay, if you’ve got 20+ extra minutes to kill.
So when the song your mom taught you at five years old for crossing the street is no longer sufficient, what’s the answer? Well, for me it’s been a little bit of trial and error, a lot of common sense (the “stop, look and listen” advice is still good) and my cat-like-reflexes have come in handy as well.
Here’s my advice:
- At a busy street without a signal, approach the street at an even pace and hope that a Bulgarian will already be there in the process of crossing. Speed up a little bit and cross with the expert. Alternately, you can slow down in order to cross with a Bulgarian you see approaching the corner. This strategy is about using the street smarts of a native and the strength of numbers.
- If there are no Bulgarians in sight, look around again, then eye the traffic. Never cross in front of a new or expensive car. They seem to always speed up in the intersection or as soon as there is a pedestrian in their path. If the cars are older, step in to the street with purpose and hurry across. Usually if you’re in the street they won’t hit you, but rarely will they stop for you to cross the street even if you’re in a crosswalk.
- When using a traffic light to cross, never-ever assume that you can step into the street when the man says you can walk. You cannot. First you must look to make sure that no drivers are going to make a free right hand turn into you as you cross the street. I’ve had someone try to hit me this more than once. Also, no amount of glare or mean looks will make a driver feel bad. Your status as a pedestrian makes you much less important than a driver.
- Use the underground “subways” to cross under busy intersections as much as possible. Basically there are sets of stairs that you can use which take you under the traffic problem–Bulgarians call them “subways” because sure that’s what they are but these “subways” will not take you to a metro/tube/underground-train (well unless you are on the only metro line in Sofia that has something like 8 stations and then one of these “subways” might actually take you to the metro).
- Wait as patiently as you can for either a break in the traffic or a Bulgarian to come along who you can then follow across the street–Bulgarians, after all, seem to have a six-sense about crossing the street or they are fearless. Pretty cool either way.
Does it get any easier to cross the street? Well now that I have some established routes in my neighborhood to get to my high school, the university, my grocery store and the like I find that I know what to expect from the traffic and I am definitely less terrified to cross the street (though maybe it’s bad to lose that edge–being terrified does make you more aware).
The best part of all of this? Now, I find myself reaching out to grab my American visitors’ hands in order to help them cross the street or what’s more often the case, to drag them behind me as I dart out into traffic. Oh, how quickly we adjust.
That’s a cool post.
Unfortunately it is true
I read an article in Bulgarian newspaper where they had calculated that in one particular month on the streets of Sofia there were more fatal traffic incidents than killed people in Baghdad for the same month. Probably the numbers they used weren’t exact, but it is sad it is even comparable.
Before my visit to Novi Sad (Serbia) I thought that Sofia is the worst city for a pedestrian. I visited Budapest and Prague and saw that their drivers are also not very carefull. Somebody told me that Rome is similar. For me it seems that more of the southeast European countries are hostile to the pedestrians.
Reading your “tips” for street crossing, I feel kind of guilty that you have to put up with this in my own country (and especially that I’ve been living elsewhere for a few months now).
I like how your attitude towards the matter seems to be a bit on the humorous side but frankly, it is only annoying and very dangerous. It is also a good starting point for a discussion on the things I hate about my country… I feel totally uncomfortable writing this, of course, and I probably ought not to admit it, but it is only true.
Anyway, I just hope the things you like about Bulgaria to, at least, outnumber those that put you down. There’s lots to be desired, in many aspects, but hopefully there are enough things that you came to like about Bulgaria.
True, our streets are like that. But you get used to it. I think it really is something between a sixth sense or bravery. The first comes from experience, especially in one’s own neighbourhood. The second comes from knowing that you have the right of way. A good tactic is to pay close attention to the speed of the cars and if they are going slow enough to be able to stop if they see you cross (i.e. don’t jump out in front of speeding cars), just step on the asphalt (that’s when you get the right of way, apparently) and wait. Don’t cross, just wait for them to slow down. It’s like a game. They see you want to cross, but they don’t really want to let you pass. However, they have to, so the slow down just a bit to see if you’re serious about this. If you stand there, they win and get to speed by and splash you with puddle water for bouns points. If you make a step forward, though, they have to slow down even more. You win and get to pass. And know that if someone runs you over, he’ll have to explain himself in a hell of a lot of documents and stuff. They know it too. There’s too much writing, we’re just not worth the trouble. But if the cars are moving too fast – don’t push it. Seek a group of people to cross with, wait for a big enough opening or look for an underpass (I for one don’t call them subways, don’t know who told you that
).
So in a nutshell, show no fear, know your rights and watch their speed.
Uh, again PS:
That is just for Sofia. Do NOT try anything brave in Plovdiv. Drivers there are certified killers. They only stop for large groups of people.
Being a pedestrian in Istanbul is just as difficult as it is in Sofia, IMHO. There I followed the same strategy and crossed the street with a local expert
Rome is definitely better though, I don’t agree with Marin there.
Carolyn,
I have found that the best way to get around is to totally ignore the normal rules of the road. This goes for pedestrians as well as drivers. If walking – do just that, I know a few locals who are horrified by the way I step out (not too far) in front of traffic, but the simple fact is that if they have an accident, they have to wait (maybe hours!!) for the police to turn up – you as a pedestrian don’t, so generally they stop ( they may give you the look, but just plead foriegn!!)
A lot of drivers in Sofia (and the rest of Bulgaria for that matter) are very aggressive, but when push comes to shove they do actually stop – Especially in Sofia – where the traffic is that bad that they can’t do any great speed.
As you pointed out, there are still the mafiosa type (normally in a new bmw or Merc) that act like they own the whole city, but you get the same types wherever you’re from. Don’t be intimidated, most of them are just wanna be’s and the if by chance you meet the real thing them the chances of them wasting their time on someone they don’t know is small its not worth mentioning.
If you really want to sample some of Bulgaria, I can recommend Veliko Tarnovo, it is a much prettier city that Sofia, also Plovdiv (almost as large as Sofia but see the old town).
I have to share one of my favorite links related to this subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZCQigEwckQ
Our church sends a team to Bulgaria every year to work with churches there and we shared this video with our team to acquint the newbies with the traffic!
One of the craziest things I’ve EVER done was drive in Bulgaria, especially Sofia! I remember the time we were caravanning in three vehicles and our entire group ran through three consecutive red lights in rapid succession(you DON’T want to get separated from the rest of the team in a foreign, unknown city)!
Still, making the drive from Sofia across to the Black Sea, then back again was a great way to experience the country…
I have so many different prospectives on that subject and I have to tell you there is a lot of far worst places for the pedestrians than the streets of Sofia or Plovdiv.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree growing up in Bulgaria we learned ho to avoid the traffic and protect our selves with a skill of young tiger at his first hunting trip, and I feel your pain since my wife is an American and after so many visits in Bulgaria, she still have a tons of “funny” questions and things to laugh about.
Recently I spent some time in Costa Rica and let me tell you Bulgaria seemed to me like quiet suburb of North NY state to me and I thought to my self “I wish I can bring all the Bulgarians here, maybe that will change their mind and help them love their country more”.
So, Bulgaria have many issues, but nothing that even an American girl can not handle, agreed?