The last six weeks has been one long "Ooooh Sheeeeeiiit!", because cycling around Nairobi is like playing a stupid video game in which hazards pop out of nowhere, for no discernable reason. Nobody has heard of "right of way", so vehicles launch at you from every single turning, slip road and roundabout exit. They genuinely believe it's their right to pull out and force you to emergency brake. It's everyone: cars, motorbikes, buses, but worst are the matatus - the independent shared taxis used by 12 million Nairobi commuters. There are about 1,000,000 matatus in the city and they speed like hell to out-compete the other 999,999, to get more 25p fares for the driver.
<------ A pre-collision matatu.
Matatus also overtake on blind corners, force their way through junctions and take roundabouts in the wrong direction. They cause 90% of RTAs, most of which are head-on collisions. 1288 cyclists die here per year, compared with 135 in UK. It's fantastically hazardous.
<------ A post-collision matatu.
Most common Oh Shit moment:
Traffic here often moves at 5mph or less, as there's crazy congestion. Matatus will overtake all these queued vehicles for kilometres at a stretch, essentially driving on the wrong side of the road indefinitely. If I'm coming in the opposite direction, it becomes a game of chicken. I hold my palm out straight ahead, trying to magically stop their advance, which works occasionally. Usually they accelerate (clearly conveying that they don't intend to stop) and I'm forced to veer off the side of the road and hope that I'm not rapidly decelerated by an unsuspecting fruit vendor.
The last six weeks has been one long "Ooooh Sheeeeeiiit!", because cycling around Nairobi is like playing a stupid video game in which hazards pop out of nowhere, for no discernable reason. Nobody has heard of "right of way", so vehicles launch at you from every single turning, slip road and roundabout exit. They genuinely believe it's their right to pull out and force you to emergency brake. It's everyone: cars, motorbikes, buses, but worst are the matatus - the independent shared taxis used by 12 million Nairobi commuters. There are about 1,000,000 matatus in the city and they speed like hell to out-compete the other 999,999, to get more 25p fares for the driver.
<------ A pre-collision matatu.
Matatus also overtake on blind corners, force their way through junctions and take roundabouts in the wrong direction. They cause 90% of RTAs, most of which are head-on collisions. 1288 cyclists die here per year, compared with 135 in UK. It's fantastically hazardous.
<------ A post-collision matatu.
Most common Oh Shit moment:
Traffic here often moves at 5mph or less, as there's crazy congestion. Matatus will overtake all these queued vehicles for kilometres at a stretch, essentially driving on the wrong side of the road indefinitely. If I'm coming in the opposite direction, it becomes a game of chicken. I hold my palm out straight ahead, trying to magically stop their advance, which works occasionally. Usually they accelerate (clearly conveying that they don't intend to stop) and I'm forced to veer off the side of the road and hope that I'm not rapidly decelerated by an unsuspecting fruit vendor.