Driver's Ed

Monday, September 26, 2011

 I finally got to drive in Kabul traffic.  It felt good to get behind the wheel again, even if it meant maneuvering the truck among what seemed to be a group of maniacal drivers who seemed clueless as to the rules of the road. Since coming to Afghanistan, I had been the “shooter” in the right front seat of the vehicle.  As such, my duties were to sit somewhat askew, looking out the right side of the truck, constantly scanning the surroundings, looking for anything suspicious.  Acting as another set of eyes for the driver, I would call out vehicles that were passing on the right, cars parked in the roadway, pedestrians, bicycles, donkey carts, push carts, beggars, and anything else that could pose a traffic hazard.

It’s definitely a control thing, but since driving in a convoy requires one to follow the vehicle ahead very closely, I felt more at ease determining just how close or far away we should be from the bumper in front of us.  In these conditions, some were definitely better suited for driving than others.  In the short time I’d been here, I had plenty of opportunity to witness “cowboy driving” among other contractors.  While it’s true that in order to maintain the integrity of the convoy one must drive somewhat aggressively so as not to let another car in between the convoy’s vehicles, there’s a limit to how aggressive one should be.  Having seen so many examples of poor self-control exhibited through bad driving, is prompting me to consider suggesting that the company administer a practical driving test as part of the psychological assessment.

Finally! Behind the wheel again!

When we arrived at the compound, I found that I would be assisting “Butch” from Arkansas, in teaching vehicle operations. The patrol vehicle of the Afghanistan National Police is the Ford Ranger.  With my apologies to Jim Dunne, a long-time friend who has a career with GM, the Ranger is a nice, peppy little pick-up.  

 Me and the Ranger, to which I've taken a liking.

After dividing our assigned students into smaller groups, Butch and I each began our respective instructions with a familiarization of the truck and explained the importance of vehicle maintenance – instrument panel acquaintance, fluids check, correct tire pressure, etc.  While at first I didn’t think this would engender much interest, the students seemed curious to learn about all the “gadgets”.  I checked often with Hashimi for his assessment of how the instruction was going.  From my observations of their non-verbal gestures, I seemed to be keeping their attention but I was glad to get his “thumbs up” none the less.  I was thankful for his appraisal of how the overall teaching was progressing.

While the training seemed to be going well, he cautioned me from becoming too confident in the abilities of some of the students.  He warned me that many of those in the group came from very primitive backgrounds; and that other than donkey carts, many had never driven before.  To emphasize his point, he told me of how he had to show someone the proper way of entering the trucks.  Apparently, after I directed a group to enter one of the trucks, Hashimi had to show one of the students how to use the door handle to open the door.  Hashimi did this after he stopped the student from climbing through the open window in his attempt to get inside the truck. 

Clearly, there were some in the group that were more acquainted with vehicles than others.  Bearing in mind that ultimately, we were to mentor Afghans to lead other Afghans, after providing some initial instruction, I handed over the teaching reins to a student who seemed to know his way around the vehicle.  Evidently, my first choice of “instructor” was a good one.  He eagerly took to his task, and in no time, had the students peering over the shoulders of others as they followed his instruction. Instead of Hashimi interpreting my English to the recruits’ Dari (one of the languages spoken primarily in Kabul); he interpreted their Dari into English so I could follow along and ensure that the lesson was being properly presented.

Introducing myself to the first group of students.

Following the “show-and-tell” phase of vehicle operations, we’d soon move behind the wheel.  Since it was difficult to cram all the students into one truck to introduce them to the clutch, brake, and gas, I did the best I could with stones that were readily available.  Once again, using one of the Afghans who knew how to drive a stick shift, most seemed to grasp the idea – or so I thought….  

Doing the best we could with what we had - can you spot the clutch, brake, and gas?