Just Pass Me Please

Driving in Europe

I was driving in the center of Porto, Portugal when it suddenly hit me that I was having the same feeling I used to have when I would drive the Bumper Cars in the fair when I was a child. The purpose for me was to avoid getting bumped… instead of bumping. I realize that wasn’t the point… but nevertheless… that’s what I did. The reason behind it was because I had once bumped someone so hard that I hurt my own mouth… I remember my lip bleeding and all… after that I was always afraid to do that again. So it came to me that the Bumper Cars trained me for driving in cities in Portugal and Spain like Vigo, Porto, or Braga. These places are old and driving in them is challenging. There are many one way and narrow streets, sudden stops, fast turns, unexpected sharp turns, crazy merging, and a lot of pedestrian traffic… and they always have the right of way. It’s funny how I can see the connection now.

I am now accustomed to the driving here so I have gone from being cursed at to doing the cursing! (Haha…I don’t curse…not really). In the highways, everyone drives on the right lane and the left is only used for passing. It’s supposed to be that way in the United States but it isn’t really enforced like it is here… and it actually works very well. Most highways have only two lanes and sometimes they will have three for a short period of time. In those cases, the right lane is where you can go as slow or as fast as you wish, in the middle lane, you will have a minimum speed of 70 km and in the left lane there will be a minimum of 90 km per hour. I have not seen a policeman nor an accident. I believe the speeding tickets are done by radar and will be sent to your home if you are unlucky enough to get caught. If you have to merge, the car coming will always move to the left so that they don’t have to slow down, and you merge easily and stress free.

Although I must admit that sometimes a car will pass me so fast that it gives me the heebie-jeebies! I can’t help but wonder…how much in a hurry can they possibly be? Yes…just pass me please!