Driving in Bermuda, or an analysis of idiots.

There are a few things here in Bermuda that make driving - especially in town - really interesting and different from in the states.

1. Turn Signals
Incidentally, cars/bikes are not required to have turn signals. Now, virtually everyone does, and if you have turn signals on your car/bike, then they have to be in working order or the vehicle won't pass the TCD inspection. But really, nobody uses turn signals (or shall I say "indicators") basically at all. It's really interesting because you sometimes have to guess where the car is going, which side you should pass the car on, or, in the case of a roundabout, where the hell the car is going to exit.

2. Horns
You almost never use the horn to signal to someone that they are doing something stupid or about to hit someone. Instead, you beep your horn vigorously whenever you see someone you know (your friend, family member, someone you saw once at a bar, someone you don't know but would really like to know, someone who looks vaguely like someone you know, etc). This makes driving in town really noisy, as everyone knows everyone (there are 65,000 people on this island - you're bound to know someone). Eventually, you get used to the horns and never think anyone is ever honking at you - a bit of a problem...

3. The "bike" lane
Appropriately, this is number 3, because the bike lane is like the 3rd lane on the road. The third lane extends about 6 inches on either side of the center line - this is where motorbikes drive if there is any kind of traffic, passing cars by the dozens. It's really dangerous, and probably horribly illegal - especially going around tight corners where you can't see the traffic coming.


...it's still better than driving in DC.