What's it like to drive in Managua, Nicaragua?
Mike Quinn - Farmstay El Portón Verde
In order to explain what it's like to drive in Managua, imagine a video game where you are driving a car; buses are going either way too fast or way too slow. in which case you are tempted to pass them in a no-passing zone. But don't do that as a transit police may be there to fine you and take your driver's license away until you pay the fine.
Scared yet?
There are lots of potential hazards driving in Managua. Unregulated, non-licensed horse-carts...
Scared yet?
There are lots of potential hazards driving in Managua. Unregulated, non-licensed horse-carts...
In order to explain what it's like to drive in Managua, imagine a video game where you are driving a car; buses are going either way too fast or way too slow. in which case you are tempted to pass them in a no-passing zone. But don't do that as a transit police may be there to fine you and take your driver's license away until you pay the fine.
Scared yet?
There are lots of potential hazards driving in Managua. Unregulated, non-licensed horse-carts abound. They are especially difficult to see at early dawn and late dusk as they have no lights and sometimes no reflectors on either horse or cart.
Loads of people in the streets. the Mercado Huembes area is one of many areas that can have lots of people crossing the roads, playing a game of chicken or so it seems.
That's nothing. Here's a scenario for you: You are driving behind a bus. It could be a local city bus or one coming in from the departments out in the countryside. Since you are a good defensive driver, you decide to give the bus some space as it stops often and maybe look to change into the left lane if possible. Now comes a taxi who first passes you on the left (sometimes as you are just thinking about changing lanes yourself). As he passes you, he simultaneously jumps right in front of your vehicle and hits the brakes to come to a dead stop!
Why? Because now the bus you are driving behind, the one you were giving space to, has reached its next stop and is letting passengers on and off. That's when the taxi driver is like a fly on doody for those people exiting the bus. He wants to be the first on the scene to grab that quick fare to a side street some blocks off of the main road.
Did I mention motorcycles? They have no concept of staying in a lane and maintaining position like a car would. They are in and out of lanes and love to straddle them, too. At stoplights they sometimes give you a bad look if you happen to be blocking their way to get to the front of the line of cars waiting for the green.
In general, drivers aren't that great here, the traffic laws are only minimally enforced, and when accidents happen that block roads, the transit police do not get to the scene as quick as they probably should in all fairness to the victims of the accidents. Check this video out if you want to see how people drive here. Look on the left side of the screen starting at about 45 seconds in to the video. That's reality folks. Stay safe out there!
Scared yet?
There are lots of potential hazards driving in Managua. Unregulated, non-licensed horse-carts abound. They are especially difficult to see at early dawn and late dusk as they have no lights and sometimes no reflectors on either horse or cart.
Loads of people in the streets. the Mercado Huembes area is one of many areas that can have lots of people crossing the roads, playing a game of chicken or so it seems.
That's nothing. Here's a scenario for you: You are driving behind a bus. It could be a local city bus or one coming in from the departments out in the countryside. Since you are a good defensive driver, you decide to give the bus some space as it stops often and maybe look to change into the left lane if possible. Now comes a taxi who first passes you on the left (sometimes as you are just thinking about changing lanes yourself). As he passes you, he simultaneously jumps right in front of your vehicle and hits the brakes to come to a dead stop!
Why? Because now the bus you are driving behind, the one you were giving space to, has reached its next stop and is letting passengers on and off. That's when the taxi driver is like a fly on doody for those people exiting the bus. He wants to be the first on the scene to grab that quick fare to a side street some blocks off of the main road.
Did I mention motorcycles? They have no concept of staying in a lane and maintaining position like a car would. They are in and out of lanes and love to straddle them, too. At stoplights they sometimes give you a bad look if you happen to be blocking their way to get to the front of the line of cars waiting for the green.
In general, drivers aren't that great here, the traffic laws are only minimally enforced, and when accidents happen that block roads, the transit police do not get to the scene as quick as they probably should in all fairness to the victims of the accidents. Check this video out if you want to see how people drive here. Look on the left side of the screen starting at about 45 seconds in to the video. That's reality folks. Stay safe out there!
Posted April 9, 2014
Carlos Roman Gutierrez Solis - Casa Granada Properties
Managua is a classic case of a city that is trying to grow fast and big, so you have more roads, more streets, more compilations, traffic is very heavy, and obviously, we are not as educated like in the States as to how to drive. You have to be careful driving in Managua. You have taxis, you have public transportation busses that just drive seemingly without caution, you have pedestrians who don’t respect the rules, etc. As a result, it’s...
Managua is a classic case of a city that is trying to grow fast and big, so you have more roads, more streets, more compilations, traffic is very heavy, and obviously, we are not as educated like in the States as to how to drive. You have to be careful driving in Managua. You have taxis, you have public transportation busses that just drive seemingly without caution, you have pedestrians who don’t respect the rules, etc. As a result, it’s more complicated to drive if you don’t know how to do it. But for me, driving every day between Granada and Managua is much easier.
From what I know from TV and movies, driving in Managua is not as crazy as driving in India. Driving in Managua is more like driving in New York, except that in Managua, the people are more polite.
I’ve lived in Managua all my life. In the 1980s and 1990s we did not have as many cars as we have now, so it used to be very easy to drive. You would laugh at how minor was the Rush Hour in Managua back in 1989. Now, we have what seems like five times the quantity of cars here. In addition, we have bicycles, pedestrians who don’t use common sense, busses, etc.
Posted August 15, 2014
Frank Martínez
Some people are scared of driving in Managua, because Nicaraguans do not have a culture of sharing the streets. We all try to get in front of the other and we do not give up our space on the road. We see a lot of accidents here in Managua, particularly involving motorcycles because people tend to be careless on the streets. But if you have driven in any major city in the US, you can drive safely in Managua.
Traffic is fluid most of the day, so it will only...
Some people are scared of driving in Managua, because Nicaraguans do not have a culture of sharing the streets. We all try to get in front of the other and we do not give up our space on the road. We see a lot of accidents here in Managua, particularly involving motorcycles because people tend to be careless on the streets. But if you have driven in any major city in the US, you can drive safely in Managua.
Traffic is fluid most of the day, so it will only take you about 5 to 10 minutes to get to anywhere within the city of Managua, although the traffic is increasing nowadays because of the car imports coming into the country.
Posted December 20, 2014
Alan Makurat
I have driven in every one of the lower 48 states, Germany, the Low countries, Canada, and many major cities in the US. Driving in Managua is different. In fact, I had a tee shirt made with the saying: You don't have to be suicidal to drive in Managua, but it helps.
Driving in the daytime in Managua is like driving in any big city in the daytime. EXCEPT Managua doesn't have a beltway or interstate type system to get around the city. You might...
I have driven in every one of the lower 48 states, Germany, the Low countries, Canada, and many major cities in the US. Driving in Managua is different. In fact, I had a tee shirt made with the saying: You don't have to be suicidal to drive in Managua, but it helps.
Driving in the daytime in Managua is like driving in any big city in the daytime. EXCEPT Managua doesn't have a beltway or interstate type system to get around the city. You might be driving down a narrow street and see a semi coming at you. Or worse yet, you might cruise over a hill at the speed limit and find you are right behind a horse cart!
Driving defensively is the only way to drive in Managua. The problem most Americans have is that the majority of cars here are manual transmissions and a lot of Americans have never driven one before getting here. If you should have an accident here, DO NOT move your car (even if blocking traffic) and expect the police to take at least an hour before they show up. If you have an accident, that is the time you want to be fluent in Spanish, or to be with someone who is. The police also expect you and the other driver to have discussed the accident and determined who is at fault. That being said, I have been driving in Managua for 8 years now and have had only one accident in that time.
Posted January 17, 2016