We have standard transmissions as well. Not as popular here as there, that's true. Partly because of the increased insurance rates. And partly because they're just the normal now unless you're intending to race,
Highway Interchange
- Thread starter santaman2000
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We have standard transmissions as well. Not as popular here as there, that's true. Partly because of the increased insurance rates. And partly because they're just the normal now unless you're intending to race,
The bit about the mirror was meant tongue in cheek. But the bit about "manoeuver" was absolutely fact. If somebody mentioned that word in a court the judge would likely stare at him as if he were from another planet.
......Roman roads were very good indeed. They were something of an innovation in a country that either walked, rode, or shifted heavy stuff by water though. The camber/drainage throws folks when they see a real one, or a proper reconstruction of one.
Roundabouts are good thingsI believe the antipodeans call them Turnarounds and make a lot of use of them too. They keep traffic flowing.
Spaghetti junctions are fine if you're sure where you are going and are in the right lane
M
From what I understand about the Roman roads they were also mostly for foot traffic; the marching Roman legions. If I'm wrong, I'll stand corrected.
Yeah I like roundabouts too. There. It's the rest of the world where they don't seem to work so well; mainly because of lack of understanding about how they're supposed to work (by non UK drivers) it seems.
Regarding the spaghetti junctions, you're right about needing to know what lane you need to be in. It requires watching the signage carefully. I've never driven in one as complex as either of the ones we've posted, but the principle doesn't really change.
Moving away from the intricate highway systems in the developed world, there's always this:
[video=youtube_share;Hpkx4AqifpI]http://youtu.be/Hpkx4AqifpI[/video]
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The Roman moved a lot of stuff on their roads. We know they used carts because the wheels wore ruts in the road stones.
Incidentally the Romans drove on the left (at least in Britain, from the evidence from quarry roads), and we know that Romans and Greeks marched on the left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic
M
Incidentally the Romans drove on the left (at least in Britain, from the evidence from quarry roads), and we know that Romans and Greeks marched on the left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic
M
..... I drive down to the Moot and I'm shattered, and it's only 8 hours and a bit away. My Australian sister in law lives in Brisbane and drives down to the south coast for the crossing to Tasmania where her parents and her daughter live. It takes two days…..I'd take a camper van and make a holiday trip of it, but she just nips down for a couple of days.
Driving 50 miles to go the the shops for the messages is pretty rare here. Cheaper just to phone it in or get it delivered using the internet ordering
That's another point; petrol is cheap here just now, but it's still an awful lot more than the Americans pay.
M
50 miles to the shops here is on the outside limits and rare. I mentioned it because though rare, it does exist. The norm for rural areas is 20 miles or less. And generally nobody delivers groceries.
Gasoline (petrol) is cheaper here than it's been in a few years as well, but still not really cheap. It's started back up this past week but at it's lowest it was only slightly less than $2 per US gallon (about 1.56 pounds per British gallon) I won't call it cheap until/unless it falls below $0.30 per US gallon.
Last month (at the higher fuel prices of around $3.50 per gallon) we drove just under 200 miles each way (about 3.5 hours each way) to have lunch (a low country shrimp boil) with extended family. That was out and back the same day. Anything under 400 miles one way is an easy enough drive for a weekend trip. Beyond that I'd either stay longer or fly.
Fair enough then. I don't really remember reading that the Roman roads were only for foot traffic. Just that the single important reason they were built was to quickly and easily move the military (legion foot soldiers) around the empire.
They certainly did that, and it was soldiers who built a lot of the roads too. Thing is though, the Romans encouraged Trade, and trade needs reliable, and safe, routes. That's what the roads and harbours they built offered.
These days the three and a bit hours up to Inverness is enough for me on a non stop trip. I'd rather take the train than fly. It's generally cheaper and less fuss.
M
These days the three and a bit hours up to Inverness is enough for me on a non stop trip. I'd rather take the train than fly. It's generally cheaper and less fuss.
M
Over here there generally aren't any trains outside the Northeast Corridor. Where they do exist a train trip will take days as opposed to hours on a plane. I just looked up the Amtrak schedule and here's an example for a coast to coast (Washington, DC to Los Angles, California) trip:
Embark from Washington, D.C. at 4:05pm (Eastern Time Zone 23 Feb. and arrive in Los Angeles, Ca. at 8:15pm (Pacific Time Zone) on 26 Feb after changing trains once and crossing two additional time zones; with a ticket price of $446 one way for an ordinary seat, or $953 for a sleeper bunk. Add to that the expense of two days meals. Total travel time (accounting for time change) of 55 hours and 10 minutes. Date chosen because trains only run any given route once or twice a week.
Compare that to $276 for an airline flight departing Washington, D.C. at 3:35pm (Eastern Time Zone on 27 Feb and arriving at Los Angeles, Ca. at 8:28pm (Pacific Time Zone) on the same day. Travel duration Accounting for time change) of 7 hours and 53 minutes. Add the recommended security processing time for boarding of 2 hours (It usually doesn't really take that long)and you still only have 9 hours and 53 minutes. Airline flights are several time a day so more flexible than trains.
Of course trains do have a more generous free baggage allowance (domestic flights here have no free checked baggage allowance and usually charge about $25 per checked bag. Train travel is also generally more comfortable (unless you are sleeping both days in your seat)
However train travel is extremely limited. The nearest passenger station to me is just under a 300 mile drive anyway, and it only has trains to limited destinations.
Embark from Washington, D.C. at 4:05pm (Eastern Time Zone 23 Feb. and arrive in Los Angeles, Ca. at 8:15pm (Pacific Time Zone) on 26 Feb after changing trains once and crossing two additional time zones; with a ticket price of $446 one way for an ordinary seat, or $953 for a sleeper bunk. Add to that the expense of two days meals. Total travel time (accounting for time change) of 55 hours and 10 minutes. Date chosen because trains only run any given route once or twice a week.
Compare that to $276 for an airline flight departing Washington, D.C. at 3:35pm (Eastern Time Zone on 27 Feb and arriving at Los Angeles, Ca. at 8:28pm (Pacific Time Zone) on the same day. Travel duration Accounting for time change) of 7 hours and 53 minutes. Add the recommended security processing time for boarding of 2 hours (It usually doesn't really take that long)and you still only have 9 hours and 53 minutes. Airline flights are several time a day so more flexible than trains.
Of course trains do have a more generous free baggage allowance (domestic flights here have no free checked baggage allowance and usually charge about $25 per checked bag. Train travel is also generally more comfortable (unless you are sleeping both days in your seat)
However train travel is extremely limited. The nearest passenger station to me is just under a 300 mile drive anyway, and it only has trains to limited destinations.
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I've driven and/or ridden in a lot of places/countries.
Nothing ranks higher in terms of "high pucker factor" (an involuntary muscle contraction at the end of the alimentary canal, usually brought on by high stress.) than Tijuana, Mexico.
'Nuff said.
Nothing ranks higher in terms of "high pucker factor" (an involuntary muscle contraction at the end of the alimentary canal, usually brought on by high stress.) than Tijuana, Mexico.
'Nuff said.
Highway 401 in Ontario is an interesting one. Busiest highway in N. America. In parts around Toronto it has four separate carriageways: two express ways and two collector ways carrying up to 16 lanes of traffic.
Thats right, Bearbait, bring up the Magic Roundabout...
...Anyone would think it was hard to use.
(I avoided it at first, until I went across late at night, went rond several times and got used to the system.)
In Cornwall (land of busy junctions which would be improved by roundabouts, that and frightening unclassified roads...Dont go down a place called `Blue hills`...) we have a special bylaw.
Not to overtake unless you are on a blind bend, and if you cannot find one, to make sure a vehicle is comming the other way.
...Anyone would think it was hard to use.
(I avoided it at first, until I went across late at night, went rond several times and got used to the system.)
In Cornwall (land of busy junctions which would be improved by roundabouts, that and frightening unclassified roads...Dont go down a place called `Blue hills`...) we have a special bylaw.
Not to overtake unless you are on a blind bend, and if you cannot find one, to make sure a vehicle is comming the other way.
Yep. And the Roman military guaranteed the "Pax Romana" which in turn also aided trade.
And the Magic Roundabout a couple of you have mentioned...
Yep, that's it. Looks like a very low traffic flow though; I remember it being a bit heavier. As Tengu says, once you suss out the flow it works a charm.
Toddy; what about this? LOL
AOPA Photo of the Day: Member Marko Kempas's 3 week old daughter reminding us it's never too early for flight training! #flywithaopa #aopa
I have to say for all that our native Spaghetti Junction in Brum has to take the prize because not only is that a motorway junction it has to take account of the railways and the canal that run underneath. At 5 different road levels, it is not bad at all for a contender.
Always found that once you get outside the likes of New York the standard of driving in the USA is absolutely abysmal.
Folks are that used to long straight roads at such sloooowwwwww speeds that they just don't concentrate.
But saying that in the 15 years i've been living outside the UK i've also noticed a major drop in the standards of driving.
I blame the speed cameras and speed jobsworths.
IMO they have drilled into the public's conscience that speeding is bad and that speed kills, so folks just plod along now without a care in the world thinking if they don't speed then they're save.
Wow behold anyone that has the audacity to overtake as well.
The driving here in Greece is some of the worst i've come across.
Athens especially is an absolute nightmare, you cannot drive more than 15mins without someone cutting you up.
Always like driving and riding in Italy, they're crazy but at least they do it with a bit of flair.
Makes laugh though when you are driving with cruise control on, you catch a car on the motorway and start to indicate to overtake, then they speed up.
10km later you go through the same scenario but this time you've caught 2 more cars.
So you seem to end up catching groups of drivers that will NOT be overtaken
Germany isn't bad but you have to be careful if you are doing high speeds on the Autobahn these days as folks just seem to stick on their indicators and pull out.
Oddly enough it always felt safer on the Autobahns years ago before they started restricting vast sections, at least then the Germans had experience with cars approaching at fast speeds.
Folks are that used to long straight roads at such sloooowwwwww speeds that they just don't concentrate.
But saying that in the 15 years i've been living outside the UK i've also noticed a major drop in the standards of driving.
I blame the speed cameras and speed jobsworths.
IMO they have drilled into the public's conscience that speeding is bad and that speed kills, so folks just plod along now without a care in the world thinking if they don't speed then they're save.
Wow behold anyone that has the audacity to overtake as well.
The driving here in Greece is some of the worst i've come across.
Athens especially is an absolute nightmare, you cannot drive more than 15mins without someone cutting you up.
Always like driving and riding in Italy, they're crazy but at least they do it with a bit of flair.
Makes laugh though when you are driving with cruise control on, you catch a car on the motorway and start to indicate to overtake, then they speed up.
10km later you go through the same scenario but this time you've caught 2 more cars.
So you seem to end up catching groups of drivers that will NOT be overtaken
Germany isn't bad but you have to be careful if you are doing high speeds on the Autobahn these days as folks just seem to stick on their indicators and pull out.
Oddly enough it always felt safer on the Autobahns years ago before they started restricting vast sections, at least then the Germans had experience with cars approaching at fast speeds.
I think it has a lot to do with what you are used to. When I learned to drive I was living on the inside of Coventry's notorious ring road, so I could not avoid it in my driving lessons. However when I have had to negotiate the ring roads of other cities it has been a complete nightmare. I also used to drive fairly regularly in central London, and I learned that you had to take an agressive approach toward the taxis and move out before they do. Not sure I would like to go back to that style of driving though.
LOL. You actually believe that NY drivers are good drivers!? California is the home of the true auto culture while the southern states have always been the feeders for new NASCAR talent.
"Slow" speeds? The speed limit on most Interstates is 70mph with a 10mph grace before the police bother to pull anybody over. That said, on those "long straight roads" (they're mostly out west) the average speed is in excess of 85mph. There is no speed limit in a couple of western states.
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