Strap on Your Seatbelt

It would be a total disservice not to include a posting with regards to the driving in St. Thomas.  It’s so glaringly hazardous that I simply can’t avoid writing on this topic.  And, I'll admit that it would probably be cathartic for me to share my feelings on this subject.

There are a variety reasons why driving is dangerous down here.  Mainly, the terrain is so hilly that the roads tend to have steep inclines and declines and several sharp, winding turns.  Almost all of these roads are two lane highways that have been squeezed into the side of a hill.  With this in mind, there aren’t any shoulders to pull over, and there are many blind driveways.  Since the island landscape determines where roads can go, they tend to meet at very odd angles.  There are several 30 degree, or even 15 degree turns, none of which have 3 way stops.  Among other things, this creates a difficult blind spot when turning left, especially since we all drive on the left side of the road - in cars designed to be driven on the right side of the road.  Throw in the occasional dog, iguana, goat and/or drunk in the road, and it’s a miracle that anyone survives down here.   

Island driving etiquette is another puzzling matter to be discussed.  Apparently, the Islanders use their horns to communicate that they are allowing someone to turn in front of them.  In return, the person turning honks as a ‘thank-you’.  So, when approaching a tough 3-way intersection where only one road has a stop sign that may, or may not be facing the actual road it’s intended for, someone just might be nice enough to honk and let you turn.  If this happens, then you can only hope that you’ve pulled into the opposite lane enough to maneuver your car around a 30 degree turn without hitting any on-coming traffic as you turn onto the next road.  In the meantime, you better somehow remember, while you’re making this death turn, to honk back a friendly ‘thank you’.

The most confusing part about driving in St. Thomas is the speed at which people insist upon, because it severely contrasts with the Islander’s personalities.  ‘Island Time’ is prevelent down here, which basically means that there isn’t a sense of urgency to get things done.  For example, when I called someone for help getting local auto-insurance, the outgoing voicemail said she would get back with me within 24 hours.  After leaving at least 2 more messages for her, I still haven’t heard from her, and it’s been about 2 weeks.  So, 24 hours to one person is 2 weeks to another person.  Yet, when performing the most dangerous thing we do everyday (driving), urgency is endless.  The other day, we were driving along the road when someone raced passed us at 50 mph by going into the opposite lane around a sharp turn, barely avoiding an on-coming car.  It was a total suicide mission.

Of course, I’m completely terrified to be out on the roads.  I find myself gasping and grabbing onto things in a fit of panic when cars cross the double yellow line, which happens often, and I obsessively stare at and hug the white line on the side of the road.  In addition, I’m making a conscience effort to drive very slowly - adding to the pressure since this tends to encourage tailgating.  Finally, I’ve found naming roads eases my anxiety and helps with my sense of direction, because most of the roads don’t have road signs.  Some of these road names include Death Hill, Speed-bump Alley, Coconut Corner (Coconutty is more like it) and K9 Straightaway.   

In fact, I’m so preoccupied with the risk of driving down here that when meeting some of my co-workers for the first time, I was in awe of how long they said they had been living here.   When some of them told me that they had been here for 20 or 30 years, I immediately took solace in the fact that they had survived driving on these roads for that long.  Upon bringing up the subject of driving several times with them, they casually agreed that some people are crazy drivers.  Their advice was to go slow, avoid the pot holes, keep it in 2^nd gear on the down hills and park far away from other cars when in a parking lot.  That seemed way too simple to me.  There must be more to the story.  I’m convinced they're wearing helmets.