Driving in Istanbul 101

For the longest time I've been meaning to write about my driving experiences in Turkey. I think its absolutely insane and I'm always met with shock when I tell people that I drive so I guess I'm not alone in that thought. But how else am I supposed to get anything done? So I've decided to compile a helpful list of tips while driving in Istanbul...

1. The traffic here sucks. That's just a given. You just have to plan on it and accept it because there's really no way around it.

2. I'm not sure that there are ANY driving laws here. And if there are, I don't think they're enforced. (except one law...refer to tip #3)So keep your cool and go with the flow. Even if the speed limit is 80 and everyone is flying past you while you're going 120. But keep in mind this will rarely happen (refer to tip 1). 

3. When there is traffic, you will without fail see several drivers zoom past you on the shoulder. I recommend staying out of their way and not joining them. This is the only thing I have seen people get tickets for. But regardless, it happens A LOT. 

4. If you have claustrophobia beware. A two lane road is more often than not converted to four lanes. So don't be alarmed when you're packed tight like sardines. Completely normal.

Now that we mention packed tightly....once on our way to church, Jordan and I looked over and saw this little tiny car jammed full of people. I tried to snap a picture of it but couldn't really get a good shot on the sly. Try to guess how many people are in this 5 passenger car....

If you guessed NINE than you are right! Three in the front. Three in the back. And three on the laps of those in the back! Now back to the tips..

5. If by some chance there isn't traffic, you will eventually hit it. When that happens, the person in front of you will turn their hazards on signaling that they are about to slam on their brakes. Apply your brakes and turn on your hazards if necessary. 

6. We learned the hard way that if you miss your exit or take a wrong turn it will take you at least half an hour to correct your error. Several times we've witnessed people just suddenly move over, turn on their hazards, and slowly reverse to their desired turn off. We used to be perplexed (and sometimes even a little annoyed) by this but now we TOTALLY get it. And a couple days ago on our way to Ikea, Jordan did the most Turkish thing he has ever done before. We had just missed our exit and didn't know where to turn around so he pulled over to the shoulder and started to reverse.... on the highway.

Now remember when I said that people sometimes like to use the shoulder as a lane??? Well that whole reversing to our exit stunt that he pulled was probably one of the most terrifying driving experiences we've had here. But I'm so proud of my husband for adapting to a new environment and driving like a local. Way to go babe! 

7. Invest in a GPS system. I've relied solely on my cell phone for directions and boy have I paid the price for that. 

8. Be assertive AND defensive. We live on a pretty busy hill. When we drive home from the market we have to make an unprotected left hand turn to our building. If you wait for the oncoming traffic to clear up, everyone behind you will blare their horns and you'll be waiting a very very long time. So what do you do? Turn on your blinker and slowly but assertively inch your way forward. If you are assertive enough, the oncoming traffic yields to you (but only inches away from hitting you). In my short experience here I've learned to:
        8a. Yield to taxis (because those drivers are crazy)
        8b. Yield to cars that are either bigger or more banged up than yours -they have less to lose
        8c. An expensive luxury vehicle will yield to you - they have more to lose (duh) 

9. Avoid looking at the gypsies (or at least don't get caught looking!) I'm just curious and a complete people watcher. So at first I always got caught looking at the gypsies who are standing in the middle of the road selling food, water, flowers, baked goods, or whatever it might be. I learned that if you are looking they think you want to buy. And some of them can get extremely aggressive about it. So to avoid a long painful red light with them...just don't look. 

10. And lastly, beware of window washers. Several times we've had people walk up and wash our windows when we were vehemently saying no. The trick here is to avoid eye contact (refer to tip #9) and if they still try to wash your windows, turn on your windshield wipers. At least thats done the trick for us! Unless of course you want your windows washed. Then in that case, go for it! 

Lastly, this entire post was typed with one hand while holding Kawika with the other. So I hope you enjoyed it haha.

Happy driving in Istanbul!