One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Amman is the fact that there are absolutely ZERO laws regulating the driving scene. Shoot, there aren’t even cops regulating the driving scene! All things considered, we were excited to finally get a car so we wouldn’t have to take an Uber everywhere, but we were definitely nervous to take the wheel and get out in the fray of endless traffic lines and mindless horn honking. Luckily, we live in the capital city of Jordan, Amman. And since the distance between work and our hotel was heavily trafficked, we didn’t actually have to drive very fast. And since we were in our hotel for about two months before we moved into our house, we had plenty of time to practice driving and get used to some of the craziness that comes with the Jordanian driving experience. The following are a few lessons we have learned while driving in Jordan…
LESSON 1 – Lines painted on the road are like racing stripes on a car; they may look great, but they sure aren’t doing much. But I guess it’s alright. I mean, honestly, what’s the big deal? What are lines for anyway? Lines try to define you. They’re confining. They’re always telling you where to go, where not to go, when you’re headed toward danger. That kind of thing. WELL, NOT HERE BABY! Here, it’s normal to have 3 to 5 lanes of traffic on a two-lane road. It’s normal here to drive down the middle of the road as if you’re the only person on it. And a left-hand turn lane? What’s that? (more on this later) Lines! Pffft. Who needs ’em?!?!
LESSON 2 – I actually use this lesson quite a bit..like everyday. It’s easy to learn, if not so easy to execute. Simply stated, if your hood is in front of or first, you have right of way. Hands down. No contest. You win! Need to get over there? (remember, lines are lame. ‘getting over there’ is what we do now, not changing lanes.) Make sure your hood is in front of theirs, turn the wheel, and go. You’re good. Congratulations! You’ve just seized the right of way! I like to call this rule “My Hood’s Longer Than Yours” or “Might Makes Right.”
LESSON 3 – (We had to learn this one fast as it happened everyday outside our hotel) The inside lane of a traffic-circle trumps all. This is something that still, one year later, boggles my mind. Let’s say you have entered a traffic-circle and you want to get out on the last possible exit. First thing’s first, head directly to the inside no matter how many lanes of traffic there are supposed to be (because, you know, you’ve read lesson one and are well aware that lanes are just a figment of your imagination anyway). When it’s your time to exit, just plain exit. Remember Might Makes Right? Stick that hood out there and go! It’s a bit of a jerky matter the first few times, but you learn quickly. Pretty soon, you’ll be parting the traffic-circle seas like a modern-day Moses.
LESSON 4 – This rule was mentioned above briefly. The rule is….turn from any lane you like! There are no right-hand or left-hand turn lanes. I’m not over-exaggerating here. I’ve seen trucks turn left from 4 lanes to the right! As stated above, just make sure your hood is in front and you’re good to go. You can even cross 4 lanes of traffic. No one bats an eye and you don’t even hear a honk. (Honking here is pretty much reserved for taxis. They honk at you as you’re walking down the street so as to catch your attention in case you want a ride. There are other times you hear honking but those times are pretty much reserved for certain egregious errors that we have yet to determine.) As with most things in life, I didn’t realize how much I loved turning lanes until they no longer existed. 😢
There are a myriad of other driving-related stories we could tell here, but we’ll wrap this up by saying that even though the driving situation here is VERY different from those we’ve encountered in the past, we’ve adapted well (for instance, I walk to and from work often; good for the health and anxiety free!). Honestly, it’s not that bad once you start doing it and are constantly aware of what others around you are doing or what they may do. Good advice in life overall, really.
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