Author Topic: A brit got it right?  (Read 733 times)

Offline lazs2

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A brit got it right?
« on: July 21, 2008, 07:57:07 AM »
Yep.. this guy gets it and so do some other euros...

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/traffic

Pretty much, if you make enough nanny laws.. not only will people ignore them but they will ignore their own safety because they think it is all taken care of for em.

lazs

Offline straffo

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2008, 10:14:18 AM »
I learned something new : the 4 ways stop.

But I can't understand the concept behind !

Offline Cthulhu

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2008, 10:38:39 AM »
I've felt this way for years.
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Offline Angus

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2008, 10:49:57 AM »
Never been to the states, but the people I know say that the driving is ok.
Been driving in Germany and France, and Sweden as well. France was sometimes on the funny side...
But...I'd never drive in some parts of the UK....
It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

storch

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2008, 11:03:49 AM »
for real driving experience one must drive in italy and especially in naples

Offline Cthulhu

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2008, 11:54:37 AM »
Never been to the states, but the people I know say that the driving is ok.
Been driving in Germany and France, and Sweden as well. France was sometimes on the funny side...
But...I'd never drive in some parts of the UK....
Depends on your definition of driving. If you can't do it without talking on your cell and beating your kids, then welcome to the USA. If you tire of left lane bandits going 50mph, you'll go insane.
"Think of Tetris as a metaphor for life:  You spend all your time trying to find a place for your long thin piece, then when you finally do, everything you've built disappears"

Offline zarkov

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2008, 12:35:38 PM »
Not sure about the Brits but the French concept of driving is insane.

I've never seen such insane, aggressive drivers.  The women are not exempt.  French drivers aren't bad as Israeli drivers but that's damning with faint praise.  There seems to be a part of the French national character to bottle up all their rage and then let it explode in a barely restrained show of homocidal intent once they get behind the wheel.

Offline CAP1

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2008, 12:45:45 PM »
for real driving experience one must drive in italy and especially in naples

nah....drive in south philly for a bit.......you'll love I95 after that experience,,,,,

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Offline AKIron

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2008, 12:50:18 PM »
Signs, signs, everywhere signs.
Here we put salt on Margaritas, not sidewalks.

Offline Pooh21

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2008, 02:06:44 PM »
Here in Portland the commie cyclists are getting uppity, I think we should be allowed to run them over. Get your childrens toy off the road you spandex wearing homo.
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Offline Toad

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2008, 02:32:37 PM »
Signs, we don't need no steekin' signs!

I think the Brit has it right. There is this additional article in Wired on tests and actual design in Holland.

Quote
We pass by the performing arts center, and suddenly, there it is: the Intersection. It's the confluence of two busy two-lane roads that handle 20,000 cars a day, plus thousands of bicyclists and pedestrians. Several years ago, Monderman ripped out all the traditional instruments used by traffic engineers to influence driver behavior - traffic lights, road markings, and some pedestrian crossings - and in their place created a roundabout, or traffic circle. The circle is remarkable for what it doesn't contain: signs or signals telling drivers how fast to go, who has the right-of-way, or how to behave. There are no lane markers or curbs separating street and sidewalk, so it's unclear exactly where the car zone ends and the pedestrian zone begins. To an approaching driver, the intersection is utterly ambiguous - and that's the point.

Monderman and I stand in silence by the side of the road a few minutes, watching the stream of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians make their way through the circle, a giant concrete mixing bowl of transport. Somehow it all works. The drivers slow to gauge the intentions of crossing bicyclists and walkers. Negotiations over right-of-way are made through fleeting eye contact. Remarkably, traffic moves smoothly around the circle with hardly a brake screeching, horn honking, or obscene gesture. "I love it!" Monderman says at last. "Pedestrians and cyclists used to avoid this place, but now, as you see, the cars look out for the cyclists, the cyclists look out for the pedestrians, and everyone looks out for each other. You can't expect traffic signs and street markings to encourage that sort of behavior. You have to build it into the design of the road."


http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html
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storch

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2008, 03:03:02 PM »
I've driven in philly and in italy.  while philly, boston and new york are all interesting places to drive they pale to my beloved miami.  my beloved miami is a drive in the park compared to southern italy

Offline Holden McGroin

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #12 on: July 21, 2008, 03:07:35 PM »
Well, I've never been to England but I kinda like the Beatles.
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Offline Angus

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2008, 03:25:26 PM »
Forgot to tell you...my maiden voyages in France were with a wagon full of cattle, and then some week later with a wagon to pick up the carcasses.
Some of the crossings were odd. My ride was a Nissan patrol with blinded back windows....booo
It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Toad

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Re: A brit got it right?
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2008, 05:01:02 PM »
Well, I've never been to England but I kinda like the Beatles.

Well, I headed for Las Vegas, only made it out to Needles
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!