Cars and Buses
Dear Friends,
This is what I have observed about Israeli driving: They like to drive fast and honk.
They drive fast, but it is not the same as Italian fast. The Italians drive recklessly fast; they cut corners as they speed by and woe betide to parked cars’ side mirrors. Speed everything for the Italians until there is a pedestrian in the road, and then hit the brakes! Israelis, on the other hand, like to accelerate hard and get the full race car effect as the light turns green. I have not observed broken side mirrors, so that inspires more confidence in fast Israeli drivers than the Italian drivers…But, this could be a function of street design. Haifa is a much younger city than Rome. The roads here are significantly wider and straighter than the Roman streets.
All drivers (car and bus) honk. The honks are not angry honks like in NYC. Rather, it sounds like the drivers are saying “Hey!” to each other. Most of the time they’re friendly honks to pedestrians or other cars, “Hey, friend!” Occasionally, they honk at female pedestrians, “Hey, girl!” Other times, it is an indigent, “Hey!?! Watch it!!!” Buses regularly honk, “Hey! Hey! Look out! I’m coming!”
The buses are nicer than Italian buses, but not as nice as Swiss buses (go figure). Within my first week of arriving, I had my ticket randomly checked by the transportation people (the guys who get on buses and check if you actually have a ticket). This means Israel has already checked my bus ticket 100% more times than Italy did in the four months I lived there.
The roads are very nice; they are not cobblestones, and they are not cracked from continual freezing and melting.
Drive safe, friends!
Ds

