On 7/2/2011 7:06 PM, Douglas McKinnie wrote:
>
> I regularly drive rural roads in New England that are a pretty close match to
> roads I drive in Surrey UK. The US narrow two-lane (single carriageway) with
> blind curves and occasional adverse camber are marked 30 or 25 MPH, the rural
> Surrey roads are "national speed limit" which is 60 MPH (~100) for that class
> of road. I'd never consider driving on a road with tight bends at 60 without
> seat belts, but at 30 it would be manageable.
>
> So that is my answer -- the driving style in much of Europe would have you
> sliding off the seat without restraints, whereas Americans expect not to
> spill
> a drop of the coffee from the mug they have placed in the cup-holder.
I found it terrifying to ride in the UK with a UK driver on those lanes. The
hedge is right next to the road, so there's no visibility around the curves. I
asked why this was so and was told that the hedges are protected because of the
wee bunnies and hedgehogs needing them. Here in Murkia, there's at least a
50-foot "right-of-way" so you can see around the bends. We don't care that much
about the bunnies and we don't have hedgehogs.
-Rocky Frisco
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