Interlude 12: Crash

***TRADUCCION EN CASTELLANO ACA***


A while ago I said that the driving here is so...finely cut, that sooner or later an accident was bound to happen. However I didnt quite believe this, having never seen an accident in real time (apart from, ahem, having been in one) - until last week, where I saw two.

I guess 'saw' is a loose term, in that the first one happened directly outside my appartment - so when I heard a huge smash and headed onto the balcony, I was able to see everything.

Perhaps I should elaborate a little on the layout of Buenos Aires first - it is like New York in that it was a planned city and is in grids with an intersection every, say, 80 metres. This, added to a lack of samaforos (traffic lights), means that either you slow down quite often or you just proceed at half speed and rely on your trust brakepads to get you out of a sticky situation if need be.

So the first crash was where this method didnt quite go to plan and two cars collided - and because it is all the opposite sides of the road over here, it was on the drivers side. Originally I thought theres no way he could have survived because it was literally him taking the brunt of the taxi, but luckily he seemed to be unscathed - although there was bits of car and glass everywhere.

The second one happened on saturday afternoon, and this time it was miraculous noone died. Again, I use 'saw' in a loose term, because I arrived about a minute after it happened and apparently one of the cars involved drove straight off! The other one, however, was smashed into a side railing (which, funnily enough, is the only side railing i've seen around), sending parts of the metal railing flying into the glass coffee shop entrance and in turn sending the whole 4 metre windowpane of non-shatterproof glass flying into the shop. By the time I'd come back after shabbat had finished and picked up my phone, the glass, metal and car pieces had all been cleared up - but you can see what I mean.

Luckily, because it was 7pm on a saturday afternoon and everyone was at home sleeping in preperation for going out until the early hours, the shop was almost empty. If it had happened later at night, it would have been mayhem inside the coffee shop.

So whats the point in me ranting on about two accidents. Well, for the same reason that I´ve gone to the trouble of translating this article into spanish for any reading Argentinians - because in a country with no seatbelt laws, in a country where zebra crossings are very much optional and in a country where cars regularly create their own lanes centimetres away from others, the next out of body experience is never far away.

Am I going to curb my critiscm and be diplomatic? Not really - if I did, i wouldnt be getting the point across. Having travelled to many countries, the driving here is the worst i've seen and that includes Israel and Rome. Is it the fault of the government? Again, not really - they could clamp down on dangerous driving and tighten up laws but I doubt that would happen and it doesnt really get to the root of the problem - people need to take more care on the road, not swerve in and out of traffic like your playing Crazy Taxi and maybe act like petrol is in short supply even though its cheap out here.

Its not long before a foreign national (ahem) gets injured and a road safety incident blows up..



Next up, something a bit lighter - Interlude 13: Tango.