Analytical Essay‏

The Difference between Driving
in California and Turkey

When I arrived in the USA I knew many things would change in my life, including how to drive. Actually, it was scary at the beginning. I wasn’t familiar with the rules and their enforcement by police officers in America. Within my first days of driving in the USA, a police officer stopped me and asked, “Are you aware of how your driving is?” I said, “Sure,” I thought that I was driving well, so I was comfortable with answering his questions. He was really upset with me and he said, “No, you were not doing well. You didn’t stop completely at the stop sign. You just passed through it, without waiting.” I was shocked; he was right according to him, but I was right too for myself because I was pretty sure that I checked around before I passed the stop sign. He said, “No, you have to stop completely at the stop sign before you move on.” I just realized that the difference was coming from the fact that we didn’t have stop signs in Turkey, so you decide where you should stop even though this situation may cause an accident. At the time when I was stopped by the police officer, I realized it would be really difficult learning the rules in the USA because we have so many differences and I have to figure out all these differences while driving in the USA.
That was not the only thing that I realized about the driving rules in America. In Turkey, yellow lights last longer than here. It means that more cars can pass with the yellow light. I made a couple mistakes until I learned that I need to prepare to stop as soon as possible when I see the yellow light. I almost had a bad accident a couple of time. Back home in Turkey we don’t have as many traffic signs like here. We have our own auto control through the traffic. But the system here is better than in my country regarding traffic rules and in that way the risks of accidents decrease. You feel safe in the expectation that everyone knows and will follow the rules. I now know to stop at stop signs and check around totally and then pass without taking risks. The other thing is that in Turkey we cannot turn right on a red light. Of course, I didn’t know that is different here. One day I was waiting for a red light to turn green and the driver behind me was so mad at me because the road was empty and I could have turned right, but I didn’t. Then I learned it’s okay to turn right on a red light, if the road is clear.
The second and one of the biggest issues here are pedestrians. You have to be really careful and aware of them all the time. Pedestrians are always right here, no matter what. If you hurt someone someway you may go to jail. You have to be cautious all the time while you are driving. You cannot be sure any time that they will not suddenly jump out from the middle of the road and it is not in your power to stop them. You have to be careful; that is the only thing you can do. There are traffic lights for pedestrians too. Fortunately, most of them obey the rules. But back home there are no rules for pedestrians; they can jaywalk any time and you have to stop. At this point if something happens that won’t be only the driver’s fault like in the US. So you can’t just blame the driver if a pedestrian gets injured because pedestrians should be careful and cautious, too, like drivers.
And the third thing I realized regards the police officers in America. American police officers are pretty strict with people who seem dangerous on the road. If they catch you for some reason they rarely forgive you. You don’t have right to say anything against them. If they find you guilty they give you ticket and you cannot discuss about this ticket or even say something. You can’t even think about bargaining in this case. That would be the worst thing one could do in this country. Many people are afraid of police officers here. In Turkey, if police officers catch you, you can make a deal about your position before they give you a ticket or something else. You can offer them a bribe to get rid of this situation. That’s why many people feel comfortable driving. We are not truly scared of our police officers. Therefore, many of us are not really concerned about the rules, which is bad because in this case our life is in danger; we don’t really follow the traffic rules and our graphs of statistics of accidents are increasing day by day.
In conclusion, I really feel more comfortable and safe driving in the USA than in my country because everything is in order and people generally obey the laws. Drivers try not to break the rules; if someone breaks the rules no matter what she or he says or offers to the police here you might go to jail or a ticket. It is unacceptable to offer something to the police officers. And now I am aware of so many things about traffic rules, police officers and pedestrians which now makes me feel safe. The point is that I feel safe and more comfortable about driving here now, but I am still afraid of coming across police officers. They make me a little bit nervous.