Day 16: Traffic Laws

I mentioned earlier that we have our car (albeit a bit dented now), and we've begun to venture out in the city, mostly to and from work. The experience of navigating streets and avoiding drivers seems worth a mention as it has been a note-worthy part of our adjustment.

I've traveled in other big cities in the world, such as in Mexico, in which traffic overwhelms the streets and drivers make more lanes out of the indicated lines than intended. That traffic is intense and aggressive, but reliably so.

Traffic in Astana can be simply stated as unpredictable. Most people drive monster SUVs and the roads are wide and well-constructed for the most part. The infrastructure is not at all problematic. However, the behavior of drivers is very erratic. Drivers change lanes without looking and well-executed use of blinkers is rare. You really have no sense of whether or not a car might turn in front of you or change lanes until it actually happens. Cars ride on the line and weave between lanes, even when there aren't many other cars on the road. I get the impression that local drivers find the road lanes constraining and would rather freely wander the Steppe as nomads. We have to be very attentive - you just never know what unexpected vehicle might end up in front of you.

Another related aspect of driving here are the traffic police. During rush hour, the city turns off the traffic signals and puts policemen in important crossroads to direct traffic. Using a combination of aerobatic signals with colored cones, the police attempt to keep things in order. For the foreigner, the signals are not always clear. Today, I apparently turned on the wrong side of the traffic cop after misunderstanding the signal. It's learnable, I am sure...

Are there a lot of cars on the road? Yes. It seems that Kazakhs love big cars much like Americans. Parking lots are filled with SUVs and the roads of the new capital buzz with traffic all day long. Public transit consists of mostly bus routes, and, although taxis and gypsy cabs are easily available, locals seem to prefer the freedom of their own set of wheels. It appears Kazkahs have this in common with Americans, for better or for worse. I would welcome the addition of more public transit as an alternative to a personal vehicle, especially when winter comes around.