Friday, April 25, 2014

This Ethiopian Intersection Is A Beautiful Example Of Organized Chaos


           
      
Engineers have attempted for years to design the perfect intersection, with no traffic lights, and no signs. Their attempts have met with varying levels of success. What they should've done is just watched drivers in Meskel Square, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Then they would've known just to say "screw it."P

There are very few things I would not attempt to do behind the wheel, at least once. Skid plate racing, for example, looks awesome. I'm not sure I'd try a trip through Meksel Square, even if you gave me a Volvo, a roll cage, a helmet, a helmet to go on top of my helmet, a nomex firesuit, and just for good measure, some bubble wrap.

Because while you're waiting for the intersection to clear, you might as well entertain yourself by popping some bubble wrap.


What's amazing is that of the hundreds (millions?) of cars that pass through the square in this video, and of all the pedestrians that seem to be crossing all willy-nilly, and all the buses just putting blinders on and plowing through, and all the bikes scooting in between many, many pounds of steel, there doesn't seem to be a a single collision.

Clearly, Finland's got some competition for best/craziest drivers in the world.
http://jalopnik.com/

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