chicks dig unix

Bangladesh is 7th most populated country and also the 7th most densely populated. One of my drivers told me it was the the most overpopulated country in the world but I can’t find data to corroborate that fact (assuming that overpopulation is about more than population density).
The population is currently at 144 million and growing by 2.6 million a year and this is one of their biggest problems.

Traffic is amazing. Everyone beeps their horns all the time. Most of the roads have 2 or 3 lanes but the traffic of sedans, trucks, buses, rickshaws and auto rickshaws often drive 4 or 5 abreast and no attention is actually paid to lanes.

Horn blowing (there are no-honking signs in some places) is used as a way of ensuring you’re not invisible to both pedestrians and other drivers. There are few pedestrian crossings so people just walk or run across the road/street where they can, putting their hand out as an, usually, ignored signal to rapidly approaching traffic. On almost every vehicle can be seen bruises and dents, so much a part of driving in Bangladesh that the vast majority of cars have an extra set of chrome or body coloured bumpers on their cars.

Most commercial vehicles have intricate and unique painted patterns on them, this includes the auto rickshaws (3 wheeled mopeds with cage for the driver and a canopy for the passengers), the large trucks that swamp the streets with high and wide roads of produce and other stuff I couldn’t recognise and the buses most of which are privately run. There are lots of lots of buses on the streets, packed full of people, including people standing or hanging out the door. People at the door often bang the side of the bus to alert pedestrians and other drivers of their presence.

I saw some trains the other day and there were a few people on the roof!