Road Rules Ghana

So I have some free time at the office today, because a meeting got canceled, so I have decided to post some of my random musings from my journal onto my blog.

So driving and getting around here in Ghana is a lot different than in the states. I have had fun getting to know the transportation system and most of the odd little things about it are quite funny. Here are some of my driving and traffic observations so far:

1. Sidewalks are viewed as extra car lanes.
   
2. There are only two speeds at which you travel, about 75mph when you are not in traffic or 5mph when you are. You never ever travel at 30mph, this speed is only ever seen when accelerating or decelerating.
3. Lanes mean nothing. A three lane highway usually has five lanes of cars plus the sidewalk.
4. You will spend 2+ hours in traffic daily.
5. You will almost die 8 times per day while traveling in a trotro.
6. Stop lights exist, but are either turned off or not obeyed. Stop signs are not present. Crosswalk exist, but are used at your own peril.
7. Car will not yield to anything. Not to pedestrians, not other cars, not to bikes, not to people in wheelchairs trying to cross the road.
   
8. Very few street signs exist. You must know where you are going by the landmarks that surround it.
9. Honks have meanings. One honk means hurry up or go faster. two short honks means move out of my way. three short low honks means room for passengers.
10. You will at some point be in a vehicle that is completely encircled by 8 other vehicles whose fronts are all facing you. You do not understand how this happened or how you got out of it.
11. A vehicle you are in will break down. It will then be repaired with a piece of tin foil.
12. You will at some point get into a vehicle, sit down and then realize there is a huge hole in the floor and you can see the ground moving beneath you.
13. You can in fact fit 5 people into a cab. One of you will just have to get out at the police checkpoint walk 10ft and the get back in.
14. You can take a mini-van to work with 22 other people.
15. Bike lanes are for motorcycles.
16. Pot holes are filled with dirt.
17. You can by almost anything out your vehicles window. Here is a short list of what I see for sale on a normal day of travel: water, eggs, flashlights, candy, umbrellas, a live chicken, laundry soap, condoms, jewelry, soda, beer, hard alcohol, matches, towels, screwdrivers, FanIce, shoes, and fried dough balls.