Another Eventful Day on the Road…
Ok… so this morning was another Kenyan first. I was involved in a small fender bender. Nothing to serious, but definitely a cultural experience.
Traffic is here has rules but no one follows them… everyone “fends” for themselves while driving. Matatu drivers are the worst! They always make thier own road, cut you off, drive on the shoulder, and switch lanes often without warning. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come close to being in a traffic accident. Well…today my luck ran out.
To set the seen… the best way that I can describe the chaos is constant Atlanta rush hour…more like slow hour traffic, combined with the worst road halting construction ever! I had kinda settled in and was ready for a 45 minute drive to school at 6:00 a.m in the morning, pop tarts at the ready and a cold box of chooclate milk and was minding my own business, trying to avoid the Matatu, when i felt my car jerk forward and heard a loud “Crunch”! I had left about 3 feet of space between me and the car in front of me and a Matatu driver coming off the shoulder onto the road thought he would be able to squeeze through.
(Quick note…I complain about Matatu driver and their craziness alot because its alot of unnecessary risk they take in order tot make money. However, they are some of the most maneuverable drivers that I ever seen. They can fit in spots you would never imagine)
With that being said this guy pushed his luck just a little to much. The conductor of the Matatu got out took a quick look at my front left finder and said “No problem just drive off!” I wasn’t about to just drive off in case some major damage was done. A small hook on the Matatu was up under the car and I was afraid it would rip the bumper if he drove off. After about 5 minutes of broken Swahili he understood I wasn’t going to drive off. The driver got out and we talked… similar conversation. (Oh I was still sitting in my car at this point). Getting out of my car, I finally convinced the driver if we would give me his information, insurance, license, etc then we may be able not to involve the police, but only if we could unhook the cars. Reluctantly he gave me his information.
We then very carefully and slowly unhooked the cars hoping no serious damage had been done. After about 3 minutes of careful maneuvering the cars came unhooked and “pop” went my fender… the dent had popped back out. Obtaining the information and little damage I was satisfied, and not involving the police the driver was satisfied so we both went on our way. I finally arrived at school 2 hours later!
What a morning!
