The last time someone tried to share my lane, I objected quite vehemently and maybe that's because I was travelling at 80 m/h (128 km/h for metric readers) and I'm quite sure the silly twat didn't see me which was very disconcerting as I wasn't driving a white car.
Here in Addis, sharing lanes is the norm and despite the lanes on the road being clearly demarcated, Addis drivers hold them in complete disregard. It's as if you're in a live series of Bumper Cars except the aim is to avoid hitting the encroaching car and I'm yet to see any cars with rubber round the front. There are near misses a plenty accompanied by a tooting horn, but the only "accident" I witnessed was when a chap who was parking his car made a misjudgement and went into the side of a stationary car.
In Addis, the pedestrian is king unlike New York or Atlanta. Addis is a jaywalkers' paradise as pedestrians cross the word anywhere and everywhere, and the onus is on the driver not to hit them. The pedestrians here cross the road while looking away from the oncoming traffic - they assume they've been seen.
Let's just say that driving in Addis requires one to be fully alert, but the scenery and the landscape more than make up for those infernal pedestrians.
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