Asia's worst drivers

I enjoyed and appreciated the article in the By the Way column of The Jakarta Post of Jan. 31, 1999, entitled "The art of trafficking in Jakarta."

Of course, I felt a bit overwhelmed by traffic in Jakarta especially, but also on the toll road to the airport and on rural two-laners. However, it was not the longitudinal gap between cars that was remarkable for me but, rather, the lateral use of the commercial district streets and the toll road, too. The lane markings meant little; if a four-lane road would accommodate five cars abreast, then so be it. The article's author could attribute that to roadway-usage efficiency, as, indeed, it was.

JIM TRACY

Sacramento, California