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Random Opinions & Observations by; Pedram Moallemian

Archive for the ‘Driving’ tag

Tehran’s Crazy Traffic

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I know we have all seen crazy driving. Heck, people new to Los Angeles always tell me how crazy it is to drive here and they are right. I have had the opportunity of driving in a few other super crazy cities also. Places like Rome and Milan where lanes become meaningless and you try to squeeze into every space you find orMumbai, where a cow blocks one side of the road while you get attacked by beggars and stray dogs on the other.

But I dare you to watch the piece below and maintain a steady heart beat. Ready? Go!

How are you doing? Wasn’t that just insane? That’s Tehran style traffic, in an ordinary day, in an ordinary but busy intersection. What was your favorite part? The “Oh my god, Oh my God! OH MY GOD! THE BUS IS GONNA GET HIM!” part? Mine too!

It’s just unbelievable that nobody dies in that 2+ minute clip. But of course, people do. And do often, unfortunately. When you risk it so often at doing every day stuff multiple times each and every day for year after year, is it any wonder that life becomes cheap after a while?

A few years back, one of my uncles hit a pedestrian while riding his motorcycle to work. It was a 12 year old boy and he hit the ground hard passing away on the spot from internal bleeding. My uncle was taken to the station where he posted bail, later accepted all responsibility, paid a fine and also paid some restitution to the family.

Then everything was back to normal, very quietly and quickly, as if nothing had happened. Except for the boy who never became 13. Hope his family has healed from his loss.

Thanks to Iran Affairs for the link.


Written by Pedram

August 14th, 2008 at 1:25 pm