As a born Jamaican, I can definitely say this is how some of the bus drivers drive there. Horrible, uneducated and senseless drivers.
My parents were in Jamaica in the '70s, and they said that the bus drivers were downright scary on the roads.
It amazes me that I don’t hear of more bus crashes back there. The way they drive there I should be hearing of 10 bus crashes per day. That’s why I don’t take the bus back there.
They could make some Hella race car drivers, quick reflexes and nerves of steel… lol
I wonder how long the brakes last vs normal driving??
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He does not seem to be driving any worse than the guy following him with the camers and some of the people he was passing were driving slowly on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!
Not really. Jamaicans follow the UK tradition of driving on the left. The bus and following car are passing vehicles stopped on the shoulder to their left. The shoulder is narrow though.
A long time ago, I learned a lesson from a business associate. I was in Jamaica in the early 90s, staying at an all-inclusive resort. You’re insulated from the real world there and subjected to the tourist traps. Sometimes a good thing if you’re not careful. At any rate, I wanted to sample the local cuisine one night so took a cab. When he asked where to? I said someplace good to eat. He asked what I liked and I just said- take me where you would go to eat. Off we went. At breakneck speed. In the dark. Narrow roads with the occasional large animal appearing in the lights. Definitely scary ride. We ended up at what appeared to be a house with a small picnic table area lit up by string of lights. He said he would be back in 30 minutes and off he went into the dark. That was some of the best food I ever had and definitely the best I had while on the island. And insanely cheap, I paid double the amount they requested. Ask a local- where would you go to eat?
We honeymooned at an all inclusive resort at Montego Bay. One night we went to a nice restaurant about 2 miles from the hotel. It was a beautiful night and when the hotel bus arrived we started to get in and then decided to walk back. The driver strongly insisted that we get in. We did and I thought he just wanted a tip. When we got to the hotel he refused the tip.
The video is sped up by about 3.5 times per the clock on the dash.
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All it needs is to have Yakety Sax playing, like in a Benny Hill video.
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Good to see some of you had a great time in Jamaica. Our signature foods are often ackee and salt fish, oxtail, jerk chicken and roast pork. I’m surprised to hear a Jamaican bus driver refused being tipped. The economic back there is horrible and is why most taxi and bus drivers race to pick up the next passenger they can make a little cash.
The American culture is ingrained in me having lived here for the past two decades and I always offer tip wherever I go, even at hospitals garage I’d tip the guy who goes to get my car.
There was a kid ( no more than 14 years old ) on the street selling fruits and newspaper. He would stand in the middle of the street with a sign advertising his business. When I got up to where he was, I told him I wanted a single branch of guinep which cost $300 ( about $2usd ) and handed him $1000 ( about $8 USD) and told him to keep the change as tip. He was so happy and started to say things like God will bless you.
Friends for water for the world would take a bus from the hotel to a village in Guatemala they were setting up a water system for. Bud sent a pic, wheels were missing at least 1/2 the lug nuts. Very hilly or mountainous.
He was making a point about the danger of walking in many places of Montego Bay. This was 1983. It must have been a questionable neighborhood between the restaurant and hotel.
Ohh, montegobay only gets worse. Very dangerous place to walk around.
We were told that Kingston was the worst. A few years earlier I went to Negril with other friends and we saw a lot of soldiers with M16s, especially at a club we went to one night. Didn’t see soldiers in Montego Bay though.
Now I am more than a little confused, was not most of the traffic he passed driving on the right?
Oncoming traffic is on the right, lead bus in the center, slow moving truck on the left:
The road is descending a mountain grade; freight traffic is moving very slowly.
In the original posted video, click on the gear in the lower right of the screen, the video speed can be played slower, closer to real time.
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My grandma used to tell me about those J$ buses, drivers ripping round corners like they owned the road. Felt like a rollercoaster, honestly. You’re second guessing every turn, right? I remember clutching the seat until my knuckles bled. Crazy times