There is a profound disparity in motorized vehicle driving norms around the world. The difference is even more pronounced when observed from a motorcycle. Can the driving customs of a particular country provide insights to interpret societal culture? I leave potential explanations to that question for the reader in the comment section below. 

I first started riding motorcycles fifteen years ago in Indonesia. These early misadventures lead to a passion for piloting anything with two wheels and a powerful engine. 

The contrast in driving norms between countries comes into more light when observing two cities like Kuta, Indonesia, and Montpellier, France. 

The former, when measured in terms of adherence to driving laws is for all intents and purposes lawless. Void of speed limits, adherence to intersection traffic lights a kind of death-defying chaos ensues while driving. By some indiscernible madness, the flow of traffic gels together, but how and why are any ones best guess. This short video illustrates the point. Of course, the tragic reality is there are many traffic-related fatalities, but such is the case around the globe.  

On the other hand, in the city of Montpellier driving is governed by rules of the road so exact they seem robotic at times. This is especially evident in passing vehicles, remaining in the “flow” of traffic or driving in the slow verses fast lanes. 

I don’t have a preferred preference for driving in either system. Both offer a kind of unbridled freedom when on the driver seat of a motorcycle.

Happy trails