THE DRIVING DANGERS IN NAIROBI TO BE AWARE OF AS A NEWBIE ON THE ROADS

I’ve been saying since August last year that I was ready to get a car here in Nairobi.  But with my pending trip at the time to West Africa it didn’t make much sense to buy a car to use for 4 weeks and then have it sit in the carpark for 4 months while I was on my travels. Being ready implies that I am ready to tackle what dangers there are on the roads here as like any roads in the world, which besides the usual bad driving and crazy matatu’s (local minivan taxis), there are additional things that one needs to be careful of here.  I have friends that will not drive after dark and Steve over the last few months has been showing me the ‘safer’ roads and the more ‘unsavoury’ ones to not travel during the day at some at night.  It is funny the things you take for granted in a country like Australia on roads that you can travel safely on 24 hours a day and here you have to be on your guard every time you are on the road. 

Being a member of the NES (Nairobi Expat Social) Facebook page, you see posts and threads from people letting other members know of their experiences on and off the road.  Some of them included:

• People that have been mugged (yes in their cars) including politicians, no-one is immune.
• The paying of bribes to corrupt policemen for non-existent misdemeanour’s. 
• Motor bike gangs that seemed to be rife.  Before I left there were a duo’s on motorbike’s that would follow you until you had to stop and with guns they would rob you at gunpoint.  
• There is also a scam while you sit in traffic that a motorbike would knock your side mirror so you would have to wind down your window to fix it and then when your window is down they have accomplices that rob you, in traffic!!!! 
• If you are in an accident you have to hope that you get an honest police officer.  Even if you are not in the wrong due to the colour of your skin things can get a little hairy.
• Road rules are in place and adhered to at a whim but you can still get booked if seen breaking them by a policeman.
• You always have to be on your guard by oncoming traffic leaning onto your side of the road swerving foot traffic and people sharing the roads.
• Matatu’s pushing in and overtaking in bad spots and having to randomly squeeze in front of you.  There are no painted lines on the roads (not that it would change anything).
• Traffic lights have been introduced in the city but the traffic police do not work with the timings so you are traveling through roundabouts on red lights and are advised to not stop at these lights at night, even on a red. 
• Never stop for a policeman during the night unless you have broken the law.  They will chase you if it is urgent.  There are people dressed as officers that are thieves ready to rob the unsuspecting.  Imagine not stopping for the law!
• Dodgy mechanics 
• Sitting in traffic you are a target.  People have been held up while other cars are around in gridlock.  Their advice id people start to surround your car is to hold down the horn constantly as it will alert other drivers and any police officers close by hopefully making them run away. 
• If you are car-jacked or held up with a weapon never resist. Give your money, belongings, whatever is demanded. Most people are hurt because they do not cooperate with demands made.
• Don't look too obviously lost even if you are. You can always walk purposefully into a shop, bank or hotel to ask for directions or to consult a map.

These are just a few of things that you think about every time you get behind the wheel of a car in Nairobi.  I have friends that won’t drive after dark and I can understand to an extent, but you just need to have your wits about you, don’t stop for anyone, even police-unless they chase you after you for an obvious reason and pray that you don’t breakdown or get a flat at night.  Steve and I have only had one incident at night where a car was following us after he had picked me up after a dinner and they had blatantly switched off their lights behind us, so we drove around for a few minutes (never drive straight home as they then know where you live) until they lost interest and turned away.  I read one woman just starting blaring her horn when it happened to her for about 10 minutes one night until the people stopped following her!!!!  When I do get my car I am going to get the darkest window tint possible so that people can’t see who is driving and how many people are in the car.  I can’t even personalize my car with anything as it just makes you stick out and be noticed, which you don’t want.  There are certain parts of the city that Steve and I drive through when we are in traffic and we both make sure that my window is wound up and my bag is stowed on the floor.  Once we are moving again it is safe enough to wind your windows back down.  We were driving once at 8am in peak hour traffic through the city and I had my window down and a policeman sitting in a 4WD was next to us in the gridlock and he told me to wind my window up to be on the safe side, in peak hour, on a weekday, in the city. 

I can go on and on about the stories that you hear and read about and this is what had put me off getting a car so early on in my move.  But I can’t be afraid forever, so it was time to get my own set of wheels and I am so glad that my good friend and driver Steve is going to help me find a good reliable car.  As I am a female I know jack all about cars and also my knowledge in the process of buying a car in a foreign country, in Kenya for that fact, and to have someone on my side is going to be a blessing.  Steve has bought and sold cars for himself and a few expats so I know I am in good hands and when I asked Steve if we could have something by the end of the month he was absolutely sure this would not be a problem.  January is a good time to be purchasing cars as the market is flooded with cars from expats leaving the country.  In saying that I am not after a corporate sponsored gas guzzler, so it will limit my options, but I am not going to be super fussy as I can’t see the point of buying a new car, or better conditioned second hand when driving in a city that has chaos on the roads at the best of times, crazy matatu drivers, expat drivers (the not so good drivers), motorbikes and add in little regard for road rules, a second hand car with a good engine is all I really need.  Anything else above that will just be a wish list of ‘girly’ add-on’s that are a necessary. 

Last but not least you have to have patience.  Nairobi traffic is rated as one of the worst in the world and having had several experiences myself it is something that just comes with the territory of living and now driving in the country.  Kenyans are very religious people –and having experienced Nairobi traffic first hand I can quite see why.  Only people who have an absolute faith that there is a divine presence protecting them against their own stupidity (and that of other road users) would make some of the driving manoeuvres you see on the roads considered normal. In fact I would go so far as to say that the most dangerous thing you can do in Nairobi is to drive cautiously!  I have little doubt that much of the atrocious driving is provoked by frustration at Nairobi's paralysing traffic congestion as the road system is hopelessly under designed for the current volumes of traffic. 'Traffic calming' is achieved primarily by a series of roundabouts which are frankly useless once traffic significantly exceeds the design capacity, since the roundabout principle assumes that the traffic has somewhere to go once it exits. Nairobi in rush hour is proof positive that this simply doesn’t work given current traffic volumes and the congestion cascades back up through the system.  For example, we travelled to Junction on a Friday night which is a 20km journey and it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes and that was with Steve and taking some ‘short cuts’ to get me to my dinner 40 minutes late.  The good thing in these instances is that nobody is immune to the traffic and everyone was late.  Crazy times and you need to take travel time and possible traffic times when getting to your destinations.  Especially on Fridays and Tuesdays which are the 2 busiest days on the roads.  The condition of the roads doesn’t help.  Some of the main roads are littered with pot-holes that play havoc with the car's suspension and congestion.  They are filled in periodically, but this gets dispersed almost as soon as the holes are filled in.  You need to take care and just try to manoeuvre around the worst ones.  The economy of Kenya does not allow for Tarmac-ing of roads, other than the main ones.  I am lucky I live on a side of town where the roads are not so bad, but the second you head to where most of the mzungu’s live the roads are truly atrocious, which is ironic when all the foreign people live that side.  Go figure.    

So with all that said I am ready to tackle it all.  Let the hunt begin.  I know I make a big deal about driving in this crazy city, and that other people (mzungu’s) do it every day.  But for me it is a BIG deal and you just need to make sure you have your wits about you, your common sense at all times and I am sure everything will be fine.  You need to be vigilant and not drop your guard.  Being a mzungu I am a prime target for the above scenario’s as they think that we are guaranteed to have a lot of money on us, so be diligent and know your surroundings has been the best advice I have been given.