Stoptional

Riding to the airport this morning, I was reminded that I wanted to blog about driving in Brazil. Now, I've been driving for 21 years, and I like to think I'm fairly intelligent, but I cannot figure out (a) if there are traffic rules, and (b) how there aren't accidents left and right.

My husband has a running joke that he taught a friend of his how to drive, and he explained to her that if a stop sign has a white border around it, it's a "stoptional" - an optional stop. That's a joke in the US, but it's actually pretty dead-on for Brazil. Pare (Stop) is more a suggestion than the law. If there aren't cars in the intersection, you can breeze through.

White lines are similarly treated as suggestions for lanes. Some drive directly on top of the lines - as though they are a cable car. Others weave back and forth, indecisive about which lane they prefer. And of course, when the roads are bumpy or pitted, it's quite acceptable to drive in the oncoming lane. Motorcycles are exempt from lanes - they can drive between vehicles at any rate of speed and despite have zero clearance on either side.

Roundabouts are everywhere. But whereas our rule is that the person in the circle has the right-of-way, here it's questionable. I haven't figured out when the person in the circle has preference, and when you need to stop to let others enter. There are also half-rounds that are used to make a left turn off the highway. Instead of turning left from the lane, you take a small turn to the right, where the street loops back to the highway, and you wait there for the opportunity to cross both lanes of traffic to make the left turn.

And as far as pedestrians - forget about it. You're on your own to cross the street. There's no right-of-way, even if you're in a crosswalk. Just look both directions (even on one-way streets), and make a dash for it.

Amazingly though, despite the appearance of chaos, I didn't witness any accidents. Pretty impressive, I'd say. Or, it's just a country of very lucky drivers.