Job Discussion Forums

water rat · Joined: 30 Aug 2014 Posts: 1098 Location: North Antarctica

Can anyone tell me of a country we ESL teachers can live in where they don’t drive like the Chinese? I know that’s a tall order and many countries are just as bad or (I can hardly believe so) worse than China in this respect. I can vouch that Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are no better, and that even in Japan a driver will honk at a pedestrian on a narrow muddy road, as if the walker ought to step into the mud to let him pass. Nevertheless, I am asking in all seriousness. Is there a country where the drivers are not so totally oblivious to the people around them and even their own driving safety? I was thinking the Vietnamese are nice, intelligent folk, but I can guess that driving conditions are like the rest of Southeast Asia. I discount Singapore because there is no ESL work there. Please. I need to know.

schwa · Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 164 Location: yap

Yap Island! Just a few hundred cars here, seeing five on the road at the same time is "rush hour" & the general speed limit is 20 mph. The only beeps you hear are drivers saying hi.

MotherF · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:39 pm Post subject:

Mexico!
The road surfaces are so bad that no one can ever get going faster than 40 KM an hour in an urban area but usually is much slower like 20KM per hour so walking if faster than driving and can usually walk between cars at peak traffic times with no risk to your person.
Razz

In the heat of the moment · Joined: 22 May 2015 Posts: 393 Location: Italy

CTravel32 · Joined: 01 Mar 2017 Posts: 85

billbob · Joined: 19 Nov 2009 Posts: 55

f you use common sense almost anywhere is safe to walk the streets, not sure I really get the question...[/quote]

Isn't that the truth? There were always some other natives in PL who kept on about having run-ins with cars as pedestrians. I was like, "duh, just learn to cross a road here." I must've worked it out within my first week.

1st Sgt Welsh · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:45 am Post subject:

It's only a tiny country, but, the drivers in Brunei are very courteous and definitely the best I've seen in Southeast Asia. A bit like the Irish (that may have changed, I haven't been back in Ireland in years). The Bruneians do tend to open a bit too much for my liking on the highways though....

voyagerksa · Joined: 29 Apr 2015 Posts: 140

Dangerous traffic and drivers actually deadly. This is one more reason not to work in Saudi Arabia. The school placed us in an apartment complex just of a high speed highway. You had to cross the highway to get to a mini store. An Arab teacher's wife was killed by a car while walking going to it.