Taking to the Road

Luis with daughter Brandi - making cheese deliveries
Brandi does not pull the helmet down because the tinted face guard makes it hard to read her tablet. 

Roatan is experiencing a wheel explosion! Depending on your point of view, it is either a real advancement, or a wheel problem. People are trading in their walking sandals for motorbikes, pickups, cars, and bicycles and have taken to the road, and the side of the road, and the middle of the road, in droves.

You don't have to be here long in Roatan to experience some adventures on the road. Everyone can recount a harrowing ride in the back of a taxi. Many of us can recall images of motorcycles zipping along with odd shaped cargo fastened to the bike, or the driver, or carried by a passenger who may be facing to the front or back depending on the need.  Frequently, taking a picture isn’t what you’re thinking of as an accident-waiting-to-happen careens around you – you’ll have to google a picture for yourself!

Old timers will recall the good 'ol days when the road wasn't paved and water taxis were used to go from place to place. Although using a water taxi is now the alternative to waiting in the line for the paving/concrete work that is being done on the island, impatient workers (and tourists) are not likely to choose the scenic route for day-to-day travel.

The number of vehicles on the road has increased dramatically in a few short years. With this is a roadful of inexperienced drivers. To become a licenced driver at this time in Honduras, a written test, a medical test, and a psychological test are required. Once these are completed and the required payment is made, the new driver is released to the road. Happily, our winding and hilly roads limit speeds somewhat.

Just this year, we have begun to see more and more women drivers. Woohoo!  Except – oo-oo! At this point, babies and children are not required to be placed in a child car seat, or to be buckled in, or to even be in the back seat.  The picture below shows how some moms are solving the driving with baby problem.

One of our families leaving church.

The moto (scooter or motorcycle) is the vehicle of choice for the emerging working class. There are many really good, cautious, courteous moto drivers. And, there are some that value speed over life. Daily, we cringe to hear of serious motorcycle accidents. 

Non-moto riders like we are also are horrified to see little children riding with adults on the motos. By children I mean sometimes a child, and sometimes more than one child – on a single moto. Yikes!

The happiest new-ish wheelie we are seeing is the bicycle. While a bicycle is a common type of transportation in many countries, the steep hills here limit their usefulness. Bicycles are less costly on the mainland but here the price is prohibitive.

We were excited to see Javi come to class here riding his bike. Javi’s dad works at the dump. His bike reminds us of the many bikes we rode when we were kids. Javi’s pedals are missing the rubbery part, his chain is prone to fall off, and it is lacking fenders but Javi is the envy of all the other boys.

Javi with his bike. The boys all wanted to hop on.

We know there is no going back. Traffic jams at the triangle and during noon and cruise ship days are likely to only get worse. Accident victims are going to continue to fill the hospital beds. It will be interesting to see if municipal and national leaders fill in the gaps with rules of the road to protect. We do know though -like everything else our Latin American friends do – they approach driving with much passion! And...... they're off!

Natali on her in-the-house bike. The hills are too steep for Natali's leg muscles.