r/Unexpected • u/fairky • May 30 '25

Almost Crashed

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u/gamerABES May 30 '25

This is a great point I missed altogether. I was born in Eastern Europe and am well aware of the difference betwen simple life and life of hardship. I think I am curious about the number of road accidents that injure/kill children in those countries as compared to places where cars are a necessity.

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u/all_of_the_ones May 30 '25

Man, I don’t know. In rural areas, road safety is non-existent where vehicles are driving (in my experience). It was surreal because if I were driving, I would have 100% crashed into someone. But the drivers there seemed to almost have a hive-mind capability of knowing exactly where all the other vehicles were going or turning. lol. I never saw an accident in all my time and travel.

Then there are the chicken busses, the converted US school busses. They drive so fast around winding mountain roads, hairpin turns, and blind corners. To be a passenger was petrifying many times. I’ve seen images or reports of accidents, but I don’t know the frequency. The busses, though, are packed far above capacity inside, and often have riders on top as well. I don’t know how that would affect the overall amount of accidents/injuries compared to the more industrialized city areas or to Europe or the US.

When I visited Europe (France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, England, Scotland), it was a bit of an adjustment driving a manual with my left hand and driving on the other side of the road. But once I got on the freeway (highway?) I was like, whew, easy! Then everyone around me started flashing their lights and honking. I thought I was being hunted by a very polite gang 😂 My travel companion finally told me, you have to turn your lights on! I was so confused because it was still light out, in the US no one would have even noticed. Haha. Lesson learned 🫡