Hazardous to Your Health

Traveling by road in Bangladesh is not for the faint-hearted. There are no more than two lanes and a hell of a lot of cars, buses, trucks, and rickshaws (in the urban areas) to share them. Driving long-distance consists of 90% passing, accompanied by beeping horns. As the shoulders are always occupied by rickshaws or other pedaled modes of transportation, the cars, busses, and trucks conduct a constant game of “Chicken,” waiting to see who will swerve first. This is usually decided by whoever honks the longest and loudest. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the size of the vehicle. Small cars will stare down 2 ton trucks. It is harrowing, to say the least. On our way out to Shirzgaz, we came upon a recent head-on collision between a truck and a bus. Ten people were killed.

I claimed the only seat in the car with a three-point seat belt, claiming my status of a single mother as a reason. The downside is that it is in the front of the car, which means I see everything. Probably would have been better to sit in the back with the others. I can’t imagine anyone surviving a collision with one of these busses or trucks, seat belt or not…