There si, however one other sort of Georgian drivers - and they're called "Machos". Two fine examples:
The first one doesn't require any description since the picture will tell you more than a 1,000 words:
The second one would deserve a picture as well, but, unfortunately, I didn't have a camera at that time. An account will have to suffice.
So I was on my way to from Zugdidi to Mestia (Svaneti), when we had to stop because of a mud slide in the middle of the road. The slide was very viscous and as a result of 5-day rain it was very wet and contained only small parts. No car was able to pass through although it was not terribly deep (less then knee deep).
But there comes a Georgian driver, the "Macho" kind. He is driving a 60-year old russian cargo van more than full of odd pieces of furniture (you wouldn't be able to fit anything more on the van, not even a pin). Of course, he believes he can scale the mudslide (even much bigger trucks didn't attempt it). And there he goes, plunging into the mud at full speed (which, with his technology, translates to about 35 kph). Some people are even helping him!
Well, what happens? Just as he gets to the middle, where it is deepest and the rear wheels (old cars where RWD) are not in contact with the road anymore, all efforts fail. While we are waiting for heavy equipment to come from Zugdidi to clear the road, some guys are trying to help the driver out of the predicament. Several attempts fail; there is a guy who plunges knee deep into the mud to tie a rope around his shabby vehicle (I wonder who's paying him to do that?) The attempts include pulling the car out by a truck (an ill-fitted rope always snaps), pushing the car by several people (how pathetic!) and pulling it back by a 4WD Nissan with a winch. This time, the Nissan gets pulled forward as it tries to wind the rope, even though its brakes are fully engaged and some people put stones at its wheels to keep it from sliding (how pathetic again!).
Finally, heavy machinery arrives. It takes now special kind of rope and very good fastening to pull out the stranded car out of the mud by a truck from Mestia, which delays the rescue operation for all other passengers by about 45 minutes. The machine starts to work and it is a laborious 75 minutes until the road is cleared sufficiently enough, so that cars can pass through a one-lane clearing. The driver, who wanted to be in Mestia so desperately soon, gets some harsh talking to, while we pass him in marshrutka short distance away from the mudslide on our resumed way to Mestia.
