Traffic

Actually, the picture in the previous entry wasn't a typical Tehran street at all, because the traffic wasn't insane.

My Lonely Planet Iran guide says, “Try not to think of Tehrani drivers as ‘hopeless,’ ‘crazy’ or ‘stupid,’; it will just make you more afraid.”

They are definitely determined, however. So many of the cars are coated so thickly with dust, the drivers can't possibly see where they are going (which may be an advantage); there are motorcycles bearing entire families weaving in and out, and traffic signs and signals are mostly ignored.

Tehrani drivers have also taken the concept of the u-turn to new levels. Not only do they make u-turns in the middle of eight lanes of crazy traffic, they will, if necessary, drive over the island in the middle. Or anything else that happens to be there.