Why you should wear armor while riding a bike (aka 90% of people here shouldn't drive)

So i’ve wanted to do a transportation blog for a long time. and i think i have finally gotten enough information to truly do it justice..

First: Driving here doesn’t seem as much of a privilege as it does in the States. I think I’ve seen 12 year olds on motorcycles. I also don’t think that its entirely too hard to get a license to drive here, if you really even need one at all. Plenty of people drive without bothering to get the license and sometimes risk the random police checks. Those tend to be few and far between but I get the idea that they are happening more and more. Which for the pedestrian, is a good thing.

Second: Driving here is an art; an art of not being killed. I know in the States we have drivers who probably never should have gotten their license (half the teenage drivers out there, I was one of them) Examples: The people with road rage who can’t seem to contain the rage that boils inside them when someone is “going slow,” aka the speed limit, the “race car drivers who think that the world is their race track (being in front of them is always nerve-wracking since they sit 2 inches from your bumper the entire time), and finally the oblivious ones who don’t really pay attention to anyone or anything outside of their car. Everyone deals with these people on a daily basis. Its not fun.. So imagine streets FULL of only drivers like this.. And no good drivers (I know good is a relative term because really whats good? But we shall say good (for this convo) is a person who follows the rules and generally doesn’t break traffic laws) Driving here is like playing the ultimate game of chicken and frogger combined (for those who DON’T know what those are.. google it..) Every day I go out “prepared” for the storm.. hah.. I don’t think there is anything you can do to fully prepare you for the chaos that is driving in Indonesia.

Third: Traffic rules. As said before, anything that you might consider a normal traffic law in the States, doesn’t really apply here. I am sure its written down somewhere so someone can read it, but since they don’t really need to take tests to get their license like we do, I don’t think people really know the rules. Yes there is a speed limit.. Do people follow it? Not at all. By me most of the roads are about 40kph or roughly 25mph.. And I can tell you.. NO ONE follows that.. Sure the odd one out, but they are being  passed by people going so fast, it’s crazy.. It’s pretty much like going 50mph or 60mph down a 25mph road in a residential neighborhood in town.. Not all that necessary and incredibly, incredibly dumb. I would never, ever want to drive here.. Getting on my bike to go to school is a big enough risk.. And I have nothing around me to protect myself from the imminent crash.. yeah..

After the speed, is the road lines.. Not sure why they even bother painting them in. Most people tend to drive in the middle of the road.. Which doesn’t make much sense to me but I guess it works for them. When you need to pass someone, (which happens quite often) all you need to do is move a few more feet to the right and there you go.. Though it does tend to cause some problems when there are cars on both sides of the street. Everyone wants the middle but who is gunna get it is the big question. The road right off my village street has no lines.. And I’m not sure if thats good or bad.. Most cars tend to view the road as a one way street, driving wayyy over the center of the road in order to “safely” pass the multitude of bikes and motorcycles coming and going. It’s always an adventure when I leave my house and sometimes (sorry mom) I’m not sure if I’ll make it back in one piece. Yes I follow traffic laws, but does it help me in a country in which maybbbee 1% does? No, not really..  Here is a video on Youtube that I found. It’s on a rural road, not really sure where, but you can clearly tell that the bus is in the middle of the road..  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCTY84QnRic 

Next is the horns.. I have used my horn in America.. As I’m sure most people have, at least once.. Here.. It’s a daily occurrence.. When I first got to my training village, during PST, I would JUMP out of my skin every time a motorcycle passed me because they would honk. It was worse when it was a car because it tended to be louder. I wasn’t really sure what was going on. I was minding my own business, walking as far on the side of the road as I could get. Did they think I was going to suddenly dash out into traffic? Beep Beep! I’m behind you! Beep Beeeeeeeeeppppp! I’m next to you! Beeep Beeeeeeeeepppp! Did you see me? I passed you! It was constant and I am surprised that I have finally gotten over it.. Riding my bike is the worst.. I think its incredibly distracting.. Most people have things called ears. They allow you to hear things all around you, thus being able to hear that a car, truck or motorcycle is behind you. I do not need a warning beep, or a passing beep or whatever beep you decide to throw out there.. I usually expect the horn so it doesn’t phase me, but sometimes, it distracts me from the task at hand: getting from a to b without drawing blood or crashing my bike.. My favorites by far are when someone on the other side of the road feels the need to honk at me.. Letting me know they are coming.. Well no duh, I can see you and really? Are you planning on swerving over to say hello? The horn is not needed.. And then the laying on of the horn.. This one.. Takes the cake every time. When you get cut off in America, some people (I’ve done it..) lay on their horn for a little bit making the person in front feel like an ass (though it usually doesn’t phase the cuttee (if thats a word)) But here! It’s all the honks rolled into one! It’s fantastic! It’s a “I’m here! I’m next to you! I’ve passed you! I’m leaving!” honk.. And you can hear them coming from wayy off.. It’s like they get you in their sights and man.. You are one crazy driver, they can tell, because obviously I’m swerving allllll over the road, so they announce themselves with enough time that I can settle down and manage to stay on the side of the road.. Sorry sir! The whole road is yours for the taking, since a bicycle and motorcycle cannot posssssibly fit in the same lane at the same time.. next time I promise I’ll learn.. And the last is the double take.. Which takes new heights here.. So, for those of you who don’t know.. I am white.. Yes.. Shocker.. I really didn’t come to realize how important that was, until I came here.. Pretty much every day, on my way to school or whatever, I get checked out by people on their motor bikes.. It’s awesome. Usually people pass me and then tilt their mirrors so that they can keep starring at me after they pass. But sometimes there are the really smart people. They do the double take.. Which ends up turning into a triple or quadruple take.. I am not joking.. Usually people will keep their heads turned towards me in an unending stare as long as they can. I get worried for them because they are clearly not playing attention to the task at hand which is.. um.. driving? I am going to cause a major pile up one of these days and its all because I’m white. I have a great example.. While its from a TV show and not quite what I get, it does show a hilarious example for my purposes. Its about a minute in so you can skip ahead if you want..  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56f8aVB_V7U&feature=plcp&context=C3cbbf18UDOEgsToPDskKvUw5QwWzLjERv_smqrKYi   (I love her by the way..)

Lastly is passing or overtaking.. I’ve started riding my bike a lot.. On sundays I try and go out for a long bike ride.. It’s usually not bad.. I get called out at and I may almost cause some accidents because of my “whiteness” but overall its enjoyable.. I get to burn off the fried food and see the sites.. Which are generally just fields but it’s refreshing.. Until someone decides to pass someone. Then it’s a free for all.. People here, I think, like to get to a to b as fast as they can.. And that includes passing all the slow pokes! I’ll admit.. Sometimes there are slow people out.. They tend to be massive trucks that probably weigh a billion tons and can only go so fast.. So passing them is ok.. Having a speeding race with a bus to pass one of these said trucks.. No, not ok.. On my many bike rides I have been flashed by cars on the other side of the road saying “Get out of my way! I’m passing this guy!” I always, always drive as close to the edge of the road as possible.. so.. My question to them is.. Where would you like me to go? If I go any further I would be in a field.. Driving through a couple inches of water.. But I can’t since most fields tend to be about 2 feet below the road. I’d have to fall over the side of the road.. And I’m sorry but thats not happening. I always laugh and shake my head because really? the road I ride my bike down is fairly wide. It is a normal two lane road and then it has a wide berm on both sides and then you have grass and then fields or houses or whatever. For cars to pass.. There is more than enough room. My favorite is when buses want to pass cars.. They couldn’t care less that they are intruding on your side of the road.. You are a fly that can be swatted out of the way.. And I can guarantee they probably won’t stop if they sideswipe you. Usually before people pass, they get within inches of the car in front of them. Sometimes you can be bumper to bumper for quite awhile before there is an opportunity to pass said slow car. I think there is a hope that if you ride almost in the backseat of the car in front of you, that they will speed up. Guess thats universal.. Tailgaters.. Finally when the time comes you gun it.. If you see an oncoming car, you honk and say “This is my show!” and flash your lights at them telling, THEM to slow down and watch out.. Even though you are on the wrong side of the road. Makes for an interesting game of chicken. I have yet to see an accident.. And I can tell you, if I do, there will be blood.. And I will be coming home. That would scare me enough that I probably would never be able to ride my bike/ use public transportation. As with the two passages above, I have some videos.. Again I did not take them.. But they show you clearly what its like to be on the roads here..

The first one is a van passing some cars and yeah pretty much playing the life and death game with the oncoming cars.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW-leEa6X6Y&feature=related check out at about 6 second in.. 

This next video is kinda boring until around 45 seconds in.. There you will see a car passing on the other side and almost hitting the car that is taking the video.. Near misses are what its all about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kKE77JwLZo&feature=related

Last video, which I like because it encompasses everything, shows typical traffic. I could do without the commentary typed in the video but it gives you a good idea of what happens.. Most of the stuff I can see around where I live but some of it only happens in busier areas in the cities.. So before some times to check out for. Around 30 seconds in.. It’s pretty typical and happens all the time.. ALL THE TIME.. Next is at 2:05, crossing the street.. While this is pretty anti-climatic (I’ve seen MUCH braver people) it does portray how interesting it is to cross the street. At 2:40 this is the best part about driving here.. Trying to count how many people are on a bike.. highest I’ve seen is 6.. Lastly is around 4:50. This is typical passing.. And no the blue truck did not slow down..

I have an excerpt from a book I just started that I would like to share. Its about this guy who goes to China. While he is in China, and I am in Indonesia, I cannot help but see the similarities. I have thought and seen the same things. I have also been to Beijing (where this book starts off) and I can say that it is a very accurate depiction of travel and getting around the city. Pleaseeee pick up this book. Its awesome.. Info is at the end of the blog..

Excerpt : “Elsewhere in the world, a four-lane highway suggests that no more than four vehicles can move forth side by side. Yet somehow, in China, seven cars manage to share a space designed for four. There was an unforgiving frenzy to get ahead. We leapt forth, swerved, smited competitors for position, and in leaps and fits made our way into the city. The taxi driver drove without consulting his mirrors, and often, far too often, we’d swerve into another lane, sending cars screeching and swaying in every direction, and as my heart palpitations threatened to turn into a full-on cardiac event, the driver calmly sipped tea from his thermos, smoked his cigarettes and unleashed the clamor of his horn. Chinese drivers, I was discovering, speak with their horns. They blast it when their about to pass someone.They blast it while they’re passing. And they blast it when they’re done passing. Then they blast it some more, just because. Then there are the other horn blasts, the short ones that convey mild irritation, and the long Munchian screams that reflect a troubled soul. Together, the blasting horns converge into one endless sonic wail ... We careened around a corner, scattering pedestrians and cyclists. Why did he do that? I wondered?  They had the right of way. Was my driver an asshole? He did not seem like an asshole. This was perplexing. He drove as if to kill.”

This excerpt is about crossing the street. I think China might actually be worse than Indonesia when trying to cross the street. I can remember one of the first times my friends and i attempted to ha, cross the street in Beijing. Even though it was “all clear” to cross you still had to dodge cars, and bicycles and whatever else they decided to throw at pedestrians.. It was nuts.. I think the first time we had to turn around and regroup and strategize just how to get across the street.. It was a nightmare. One of the biggest differences though, that I’ve found, is sidewalks.. Beijing had them.. Indonesia.. not really. In some places you will find something thats like a sidewalk but only on the main main roads in cities.. The side roads (which are still main roads) have nothing and you have to walk on the side of the street. Sometimes its nerve-wracking because people get so close to you.. I occasionally wonder if they even see me because of how close they get to me.. Anyways.. This passage sums up trying to cross the street..

Excerpt: “It was after crossing a street that I came to my second observation about life in Beijing: Do not play chicken with the Chinese drivers. Even if they see you, they will not slow down. Even if the pedestrian light is green, they will not slow down. So do not play chicken with Chinese drivers. Or you will die. A moment later, I made my third observation about life in Beijing: Do not play chicken with Chinese cyclists. See observation 2. Same applies. You will die ... Never before had I left so fearful as a pedestrian as I did on that morning. After dodging loogies that came whistling past, I’d find myself at an intersection. I would dutifully wait for the pedestrian light, the flashing man, to turn green, and then, assured that I had the right of way, I would confidently take my foot off the curb, only to nearly lose it a moment later as a car hurtled past, sending me sputtering back toward the sidewalk. A moment later, while the little man still flashed green, I’d spy an opening in the traffic and again set forth, only to find myself dangerously entangled amid a dozen cyclists, who may or may not have been cursing at me. How, I wondered, was one expected to cross a four-lane road in China, a road shared by cars lined 6 abreast, with another 2 lanes carved by a sea of bicycles and mopeds? How does does one navigate through the mayhem that is a Chinese city? Very, very carefully, I deduced. Crossing a street was no straightforward wander from curb to curb. It was a problem to be broken down into 6 parts. First, I’d dart through the mass of bicycles and mopeds that hugged the road near the curb. From there, I’d cross the street one lane at a time as cars whished by just inches from my being, and I’d try very hard to not linger on the noteworthy fact that China has the worlds highest per capita rate of vehicular fatalities. And so I moved, a quick leap at a time, as fleets of cars zoomed around me, driven by people who, it occurred to me, probably hadn’t been driving for all that long. “

Last thing, because this is getting long.. is lines.. One thing I’ve noticed, and I’m sure its not only here, in fact I experienced it in China as well, is the fact that lines.. They mean nothing. Normally when you stop somewhere to grab something to eat or whatever you get in a line to pay.. Well here.. You kinda do the same but man, most people ignore the fact that you were there before them and go right to the front.. It’s frustrating.. I’ve gotten use to it but I just wonder. You gotta be fast and sometimes, you gotta shove to keep your place. The worst place is at the bus station.. In Surabaya, you have to pay 200 rupiah (which is less than a penny.. really makes no sense) to enter into the main part of the station to catch a bus. There are ‘ticket’ windows which you shove your money in get a little ticket from the teller and then give it to the guy sitting in front of the entrance.. Makes no sense but whatever. First time a bunch of us got in the “line”. So many people just shoved in front of us.. It was frustrating because at first, your not sure if thats ok or if they are just doing it because your white and probably have no idea whats going on.. But no.. It’s just normal.. Now when I go, I hold my own and get right up there and make sure I don’t get cut by more than 2 people or else I’ll be there all day.. So the last reading!

Excerpt: “Lining up in China, I soon discovered was played as a contact sport. Men and women, young and old, cigarettes dangling from their lips, used their elbows and shoulders to muscle their way to the cabs. With knobby elbows in my ribs, strange hands on my arms, and my back feeling the amassing weight of the hundreds who had not yet slinked ahead of me, I began to ponder the idea of personal space, and whether the Chinese have a character for personal space, and after being shimmied aside by a grandmother who could not have been more than three and a half feet tall, concluded that no, such a concept is evidently alien to the Chinese. And so I, too, began to dig in against the line hoppers, flinging my shoulders to contest the passage of three businessmen behind me. A shoulder here a foot there, soon I was moving like a heaving linebacker. Some fifty people had managed to bypass me in the scrum, but now that I knew that lining up and getting bruised were intertwined, I was determined not to let this troika of businessmen pass me by. If I hadn’t begun to regard the queue as a forum for physical sport, it is quite likely that I would still be there today, for lining up in China is not for the meek”

Yes this was a long blog, I apologize.. I am on page 6 of a word document.. So I know its long.. but I need a final thought so bear with me..

I am not talking down Indonesia at all. I want that noted.. It’s not like America is perfect.. But there are stark differences. I’ve come to notice that some of these differences could put me in danger a lot faster than they would in the states. Does something need to be done? Yes. Is it safe to come to Indonesia? Yes, but you should be prepared. Sometimes I am afraid that I’m going to be hit but you run that risk every time you get on the road.. Here it just seems like more of a reality..

Indonesia can be a pretty awesome place.. It can also be extremely frustrating. Comparing America and Indonesia is pretty impossible, and while it’s still a struggle for me to stop comparing whenever I see something “wrong” to me, its gotten better. I try not to judge what I’m seeing as something that would never fly in America because lets face it.. I am on the other side of the world and if we really wanna get technical, America has had a lot more time to fix up rules and laws. As countries go, Indonesia is pretty young. It became an independent state in 1945. Seeing everything that they have done well though, you would never know that. Yes there are still things that need to be fixed, but doesn’t every country have something that needs to be fixed?

So there.. I’ve covered everything.. traffic, lines, crossing the street and my opinion.. again id like to remind everyone that this is MY opinion.. :)

heres the book mentioned above:  Troost, J. Maarten. Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid. New York: Broadway, 2008. Print.


kk this better be good enough for the next month haha..

love you all :)