Driving in Honduras 1.01

While I've always known driving in Honduras to be a somewhat dangerous activity, I've still presumed that the rules of the road are somewhat universal...but, boy am I wrong on that!!

Driving Tip #1  When turning to the left on a country road, put on your left turn signal, pull to the right, look for cars coming from the opposite direction and look for cars coming behind you, if no cars are coming then turn left.  If cars are coming from either direction, wait for them to pass, then turn left.  Reason:  Cars will try to pass you on the left, even though they 'know' you are turning left.

My wife has long told me to do this, but in my stubbornness, I believed that if you are turning left, that if no cars are coming from the opposite direction, then just go on and turn and the cars behind would slow down or stop...But no.    They will pass on the left, even though on the surface that seems suicidal.

I learned the hard way.  Not too long ago, I was turning left, I put my blinker on, slowed down to turn and started turning.  At that point I saw the car spending up behind me to pass on the left-hand side, so I immediately slammed on my brakes in order to let him pass.  At the same time  the driver behind evidently realized I was going to turn so he slammed on his brakes too, and a third car coming from behind plowed into the car behind me.  Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, and I didn't get hit.

I bet the other two drivers will be more careful in the future.