Sometimes living in a foreign country, you just cannot believe some of the things you see. Today was one of those days.
I left the house to head over to my friend's baby shower. I am about to turn left on a major 6 lane divided thoroughfare. As my double turn lane begins to make its way, I hear an ambulance. So, our turn lane slows. Wish I could say the same for the ongoing traffic trying to cross the street. One car really thought he could beat the ambulance. But, in the end, the ambulance ended up beating him, or should we say his/her car. The ambulance plowed right into the passenger side of the car. There was definitely an impact there. Personally, the idiot deserved it for not giving the ambulance the right of way.
Ok, so I continue driving because there were plenty of onlookers who presumably spoke Polish better than me and could serve as witnesses. I get to the next intersection to make another left. This is the one intersection that requires more patience out of me than any other.
In most places (even in Warsaw) when two cars in opposite directions are making left turns, you align your cars passenger side to passenger side. Simple enough, but not at this particular intersection. For some reason, no matter when I try to turn, drivers insist on aligning the cars driver's side to driver's side. What happen is that if you have more than one car waiting in line to turn left, they literally block the row of cars opposite them trying to make a left. Do you see logic to this because I certainly do not?
While living here, I have been witness and unwillingly taken part in triple car turn lanes that are more often than not made up by drivers rather than the transportation authority. Most recently, I was part of a triple U-turn. I was where I was supposed to be, but my Polish counterparts decided to make a U-turn in synchrony with mine. It is no wonder that they have signs like this one. They actually have signs warning pedestrians that they may be hit by a car! Really, they are for drivers, but no one seems to care. For some of the more amusing road signs, you can read this blog.
I am sure this is one aspect of Warsaw I will not miss. But, then again, I may wish I am back in Warsaw where the rules of the road are really just guidelines when I am stuck in traffic and wishing I could "legally" get ahead.
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4 comments:
This is what I thought too-- how wonderful it will be going back to Canada where our traffic rules make sense (ok, where we actually have traffic rules and we mostly follow them). And then I thought that I'll have to go back to parking in legal parking spots and not on the sidewalk or wherever I can manage to get my car (mostly) out of the way (although that's not even a requirement). And then I thought I might miss Warsaw a bit :-)
I don't know Ambra, but I totally agree! It sucks when you have to park legally - and back in your home country they don't care that you're a diplomat!
Oh, how I laughed at this post. I hate that left turn (for me) by the preschool. If someone coming out of the street I'm trying to turn on to is also trying to turn left it's a near accident EVERY DAY! Left turns are so easy in other parts of the world, but here it's like they sometimes are right hand drivers and sometimes they're left hand drivers, and it's up to you to figure out which rules apply where.
I also posted a pic of that sign on my blog back in August, when we toured with Dylan's dad:).
Just thought I would let you know that today, when waiting in line to make a U-turn, I decided to take advantage of the "guidelines" in Poland, and I completely jumped the median because there was no oncoming traffic or pedestrians, but more importantly because I could! I also thoroughly enjoyed parking on lawn outside the Blue Cactus today just because could! I will surely miss that!
Good on ya! You see, take advantage of the chaos. Although-- you know what happened to me one day while parked outside the Children's hospital (because what I was supposed to walk with my sick child for several blocks in the rain?) (Ok, so it was illegal, but I wasn't in the ambulance spot or anything, even I don't go that far). Anyway, I got a-- ready for this??-- PARKING TICKET. 50 PLN! I had heretofore thought that those little blue plates provided parking immunity. Be warned, though, they don't. I was pissed for a week.
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