Driving in Kigali
A friend recently wrote about her experience driving in Kigali, so I was motivated to share my daily adventure when I get behind a wheel.
There is one main understood rule of driving in Kigali: the biggest car will always have the right of way. Unless, you flash your lights and pull out in front of someone, which happens often.
Driving here makes me exhausted some days. I am constantly watching--watching for a person to step out in front of me, a car to pull out in front of me or decide to whip around me thinking I'm not driving fast enough, or my favorite road annoyance--moto drivers! There are motorcycle taxis who pretty much feel that they have no rules on the road, so they are constantly cutting in and out of traffic. Ugh they are frustrating.
There are always people lining the side of the road, walking somewhere. Sometimes they feel they have the right to walk on my side of the white line. It is customary to give them a little beep of your horn and keep going.
Horn usage: You can beep to say Hi, you can beep to say your are passing, you can beep if someone pulls out in front of you, you can beep. When buying my car, one of the things the mechanic checked was to make sure my horn worked. I thought it was funny at the time, but now I understand why.
Driver's licenses from any country are accepted here, so I didn't have to do anything extra to be able to drive. I didn't have to take a test, or prove to anyone that I am a capable driver.
So what I have learned about driving here has been mostly word of mouth or hands-on experience. I had one of those hands-on experiences yesterday. I have always been told it is illegal to talk on the phone while you are driving, which I try to be careful of. Or at least, drop my phone in the other seat when I pass a traffic officer standing on the side of the road. It is common myth that the police officers don't pull over muzungus (white people). Some are not real strong in English and some have been told not to harass the "investors". Well, my phone rang yesterday while I was driving, I didn't remember any upcoming police posts, so I answered it. As I came around the corner, there he was. I saw him, he saw me...on the phone. He blew his whistle and signaled for me to pull over.
Side bar: the traffic police do not have an transportation. They simply stand on the side of the road, blow their whistle and motion their arms for you to pull over. I always wondered what would happen if you just keep driving.
Trying to respect the police officers of my host country, I obliged and pulled my car over. The police officer asked for my permit and registration. I dug around and found both and handed them over. He asked what country I was from, I proudly said, "America". Hoping this would get me a free pass, it did not. He asked how long I had lived in Rwanda, I honestly responded, "about 11 months". From his demeanor, I knew I was in trouble. He explained my offense of being on the phone, while driving and I thanked him for explaining the law of the road to be and appreciated his time....but I wasn't going anywhere.
He explained that he would be keeping my license until I paid a fee that was my punishment for my phone conversation. I asked, "Isn't it illegal to drive without a license, so if you keep my license, wouldn't I be driving illegally?". I wasn't getting anywhere with my reasoning, he was not going to give my license back, I was not comfortable with that. So I did it, "Sir, you can not keep my AMERICAN driver's license." He reluctantly handed it back, but was still holding my registration. He explained the offense was not made by the car, but by me and so he should keep my license. And then he made a mistake, he explained that as a police officer he could either forgive me or punish me and at this point, he was going to punish me. A light went off..loophole! "So, kind sir, you can forgive me, right? I think you should forgive me." I could see I was getting somewhere so I pleaded my case for forgiveness. He finally broke (still holding my registration), "I will forgive you, but I am going to explain how you deal with your punishment." I nodded intently, reached for my registration and told him how much I appreciated his explanation.
So there you go. Driving in Kigali..always an adventure. As I passed back by the kind police officer, the other girls in my car and I gave him a kind smile and big wave. He smiled. I think this gentleman will be keeping an eye on my bright red "hot rod".
There is one main understood rule of driving in Kigali: the biggest car will always have the right of way. Unless, you flash your lights and pull out in front of someone, which happens often.
Driving here makes me exhausted some days. I am constantly watching--watching for a person to step out in front of me, a car to pull out in front of me or decide to whip around me thinking I'm not driving fast enough, or my favorite road annoyance--moto drivers! There are motorcycle taxis who pretty much feel that they have no rules on the road, so they are constantly cutting in and out of traffic. Ugh they are frustrating.
There are always people lining the side of the road, walking somewhere. Sometimes they feel they have the right to walk on my side of the white line. It is customary to give them a little beep of your horn and keep going.
Horn usage: You can beep to say Hi, you can beep to say your are passing, you can beep if someone pulls out in front of you, you can beep. When buying my car, one of the things the mechanic checked was to make sure my horn worked. I thought it was funny at the time, but now I understand why.
Driver's licenses from any country are accepted here, so I didn't have to do anything extra to be able to drive. I didn't have to take a test, or prove to anyone that I am a capable driver.
So what I have learned about driving here has been mostly word of mouth or hands-on experience. I had one of those hands-on experiences yesterday. I have always been told it is illegal to talk on the phone while you are driving, which I try to be careful of. Or at least, drop my phone in the other seat when I pass a traffic officer standing on the side of the road. It is common myth that the police officers don't pull over muzungus (white people). Some are not real strong in English and some have been told not to harass the "investors". Well, my phone rang yesterday while I was driving, I didn't remember any upcoming police posts, so I answered it. As I came around the corner, there he was. I saw him, he saw me...on the phone. He blew his whistle and signaled for me to pull over.
Side bar: the traffic police do not have an transportation. They simply stand on the side of the road, blow their whistle and motion their arms for you to pull over. I always wondered what would happen if you just keep driving.
Trying to respect the police officers of my host country, I obliged and pulled my car over. The police officer asked for my permit and registration. I dug around and found both and handed them over. He asked what country I was from, I proudly said, "America". Hoping this would get me a free pass, it did not. He asked how long I had lived in Rwanda, I honestly responded, "about 11 months". From his demeanor, I knew I was in trouble. He explained my offense of being on the phone, while driving and I thanked him for explaining the law of the road to be and appreciated his time....but I wasn't going anywhere.
He explained that he would be keeping my license until I paid a fee that was my punishment for my phone conversation. I asked, "Isn't it illegal to drive without a license, so if you keep my license, wouldn't I be driving illegally?". I wasn't getting anywhere with my reasoning, he was not going to give my license back, I was not comfortable with that. So I did it, "Sir, you can not keep my AMERICAN driver's license." He reluctantly handed it back, but was still holding my registration. He explained the offense was not made by the car, but by me and so he should keep my license. And then he made a mistake, he explained that as a police officer he could either forgive me or punish me and at this point, he was going to punish me. A light went off..loophole! "So, kind sir, you can forgive me, right? I think you should forgive me." I could see I was getting somewhere so I pleaded my case for forgiveness. He finally broke (still holding my registration), "I will forgive you, but I am going to explain how you deal with your punishment." I nodded intently, reached for my registration and told him how much I appreciated his explanation.
So there you go. Driving in Kigali..always an adventure. As I passed back by the kind police officer, the other girls in my car and I gave him a kind smile and big wave. He smiled. I think this gentleman will be keeping an eye on my bright red "hot rod".
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