Traffic in Ethiopia

Hi Priscilla,

i live in the capital city of Ethiopia i.e. Addis Ababa. You can normally find the traffic hours between morning 08:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. and evening 05:0 p.m. to 07:00 p.m.
Even though the roads are not jammed but still you can find the roads a bit busy during this time as compared to other hours.

Thanks,
Avinash

Very good question. Traffic here is absolutely terrible! I've never experienced such bad traffic and driving in my life. Having been in other African countries like Zambia, Kenya, Benin, Gambia, Ghana (which was also pretty bad), Ethiopia is on another level. 

I commute from Legetafo to the AUC area, which I believe is about 15 miles, but it can take up to 2 hours to reach my destination. Not only are the streets congested with other vehicles and herds of people walking across the roads, but the lack of basic driving courtesy substantially slows down everything. Almost every single individual drives like they own the road and this results in many accidents hence delays in commuting. There's also a popular railway which disrupts the flow of traffic as people exit on the same highways meant for driving.

Hi,

I also know of the countries that you mentioned in your first paragraph, very true, but they are all tame examples, when compared to Cairo (no rules apply!!), Delhi or Rome !!

Think yourself lucky, you also have a world class Metro Rail AND excellent coffee on every street corner !

I've been in Addis for about a year now and while there are peak and low traffic times, traffic always moves. Compared to traffic in the DMV area that I come from, which can have 5 minutes of idleing in one place, this is a smallest of inconveinances in my book.

Yes, I've heard Cairo traffic is also quite chaotic. Just to clarify- my previous post is just what I've experience during the peak hours of traffic 7:00am- 9:00am/4:00pm-7:30pm. It is different after these peak hours, but still believe there can be much better driving etiquette, and respect for rules. I'm also coming from the DMV area- but more recently, which is probably why I'm still amazed at some of the stunts drivers pull here.