An accident and reaction

I have traveled in two developing countries: Guatemala and now Kenya. I am not sure if my following statement holds true in all developing nations, but it certainly is the case in these two countries: Driving is fast, crazy, and dangerous. The driving was crazier in Guatemala, but the roads are worse in Kenya. Massive potholes that could fit a Prius in them line the streets.

In Kenya, People drive exceedingly fast, and the roads are very narrow. Most everyone drives in an SUV or a van, because it would be difficult for a car to traverse these roads. Drivers will pass each other despite another car barreling down the road towards them, not 40 yards away. It’s dangerous and very frustrating. Many car accidents occur in Kenya, and the speed and reckless driving is a big reason for it. For being a laid back and slow moving culture, they drive as if they are racing to put out a fire.

With that said, Peter, Luke, and I were driving home from work last night at about 8pm, which is dark in Kenya. They get about a solid 12 hours of light, from 6am-6pm, so it’s pitch black by 8pm. As we are driving, we see traffic slow down in front of us and, apparently, right before we got there a pick up truck had attempted to pass and realized it couldn’t, cut back hard, and come back too far to the left (because they drive on the left), and it’s two left tires went off the road, which because of erosion and lack of care, has giant holes and the truck tipped on it’s side. We probably missed the accident by 30 seconds, and as we slowly passed the truck we saw a flock of people running towards the truck, trying to rock it back upright. Peter said, ‘Oh, it looks like they need our help,’ and pulled over. As we parked the car and started heading towards the scene, I was astounded to see the number of Kenyans pulling over and running over to the accident.

Getting to the accident itself was a difficult task, because, as I said before, erosion and other factors create large holes and deep tire tracks that are knee to waist deep, and are in random places. So heading to the accident with only headlights to guide you, did not prevent Luke and myself from falling a number of times in an attempt to get to the truck. When we arrived a huge crowd of 30-40 people were desperately trying to upright the vehicle. We would have helped, but there was literally no room to position ourselves to help push/pull the truck. We soon found out why people were rushing to lift the truck as we learned there was a man pinned to the ground, under the truck.

They then had a small car pull up next to the truck and attached a rope from the top side of the truck to the back of the car, and pulled. They lifted it just enough to pull the man out from under the truck. The man appeared dazed and sore, but not fatally wounded (at least I think). He was then surround by other men trying to make sure he was okay, and to just sit with him.

I was blown away at the number of people who stopped to help, as I have never experienced anything like this in the United States. Peter told us that whenever there is an accident, this is how Kenyan’s respond (one small part is because it may take up to 4 hours for an ambulance to arrive, but it’s mostly because it’s in their nature to help). It’s discouraging to see that accidents such as this one do not detour Kenyan’s from driving so recklessly, but it is amazing and encouraging to see their responses to accidents.