Sharing the Road

Before I got down to some serious sight-seeing, I had to get acquainted with road travel « Sri Lankan style ». The fact that cars drive on the left didn’t bother me; living in Jamaica as a teenager and visiting English friends over the years has long since corrected the optical illusion that the cars coming toward you are in your lane. But Sri Lankans have a driving style all their own which requires a little getting used to.
At first glance, it would seem an easy place to drive in. Main roads are paved. Country roads, though unpaved, seem in good condition. All roads, except near Colombo, are two-lane and, except near the cities, there is only moderate traffic. But Sri Lankans share their roads with a wider variety of vehicles and other users than the average European or North American. And Sri Lankan drivers seem genetically programmed to pass as many vehicles as they can during any given journey.



Let me give you an example. Lankesh and I are driving along on our way to our tourist destination. We find ourselves behind a rice lorry.



Lankesh eases out to pass. Oops – a bus. He eases gracefully back behind the lorry.



Then he eases out again. Oops – a tuk tuk.



The next attempt is luckier and on we go -- until we get behind another lorry.



This one is not fun to be behind. Lankesh explains to me that there are pollution standards and military checkpoints to enforce them. “But sometimes people pay the soldiers.” So, away we go again, carefully avoiding



We travel for a short time behind



until Lankesh decides the time is right. Staying just a couple of centimeters (an inch) away from the lorry in order to give room to



we continue to the next village.







In the evening, others occasionally use the road.





Neither drivers nor pedestrians – either two-footed or four-footed – exhibit anger fear or stress. All those who share the road simply do what they want to do while making sure others have the right to do the same.
“Aren’t there a lot of accidents?” I hear you asking. Not really. I only saw one in two weeks – a car which, judging by the amount of glass on the road, had plowed into the flatbed lorry that was stopped just in front of it. No one seemed hurt.
There are fatalities, of course. Statistics I found listed 2304 of them in 2005 (for a total population of about 19 million people.) Those affected, in descending order were
• Pedestrians
• Passengers
• Motorcycle riders
• Cyclists
• Roadside businessmen
Last (less than 8% of the total fatalities) were car, lorry and bus drivers.
As an Irishman I met put it, “Sri Lankans are so good at driving badly!”
But enough. The sun is shining. The scenery is beautiful. And we’re pulling into the parking area of my first tourist site.