[thechat] Driving in America

Sabrina Dent, Apperception sabrina.dent at appercept.co.uk
Wed Feb 28 20:35:25 CST 2001


> From: "Kevin Stevens" <kjs at ratking.co.uk>
> To: <thechat at lists.evolt.org>
> Subject: [thechat] Driving in America

Congratulations :o)

As an American living in England, the "driving thing" is a source of
constant confusion for me. Never mind, I just drive anyway. My one
concession to my confusion is that I do drive a left-hand car here. I just
can't cope with shifting from the "wrong side" of the car.

Here's the exact reverse of what you're looking for, which may actually help
you. Actually, probably not.

1/ Right on red. Now, I don't know if you can turn right on red on Cali, but
you sure can where I come from. WHY you can't turn right on red here is
something that makes no sense to me. Apparently, though, according to the
nice police officer who last pulled me over, you can't. Go figure.

2/ Roundabouts. What a silly idea. What's wrong with traffic lights? Or
four-way stop intersections? There are very, very few rotaries in the US.
The only one I ever encountered was one when I lived in Rhode Island. I
never got the hang of that, either. So I'm sure you'll be just thrilled to
know there aren't any really in the US and you don't need to deal with that.
Isn't the relief just huge?

My father only gave one piece of advice when I learned to drive:

"The other drivers will do their best not to hit you."

..and so far, I haven't hit anything more exciting than a post box, one cow,
and my garage. So don't worry about it!

Oh, and if you're not used to city driving... don't try to learn in LA :o)

--Bri





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