On Wed, 5 Feb 2003, at around 18:55:47 local time, Kinderlehrer
<kinderlehrer@mindspring.com> wrote:
>> 3. Be ASSERTIVE, but not aggressive. English drivers tend to drive fast
>and
>> expect everybody else to drive the same way. They will not appreciate
>> indecision or timidity on roundabouts.
>
>I'll have to try this with my wife next time she accuses me of being an
>aggressive driver - "No Dear, I'm just assertive - they appreciate that in
>England" :-)
Places where there are plenty of roundabouts develop a style of driving
that is somewhat intimidating to foreigners and other non-locals.
Milton Keynes is a "new city" designed from the ground up to be served
by a grid-pattern of dual carriageways (not sure whether these are what
Americans call "four-lane highways" or "two-lane highways" - two lanes
in each direction, anyway), with roundabouts where the roads intersect.
Typically, I find that a local driver will expect to hit the junction at
45 mph, assuming there are no cars between him and the roundabout. There
are clear lines of sight in place to allow him to see on-coming traffic
from the road on his right, and he has just enough time to slow down (or
even - heaven forbid! - stop) in time to avoid hitting the on-coming
car. This is pretty terrifying until you get used to it, when you
discover that it is possible for cars to whizz past each other at great
speed on roundabouts with only a few inches between crossing cars, and
for very few people to have accidents thereby. I worked in MK for five
years, and never saw a crash on a roundabout. By the time I'd been
working there for a few months, I was treating the "Give Way" lines on
the road at roundabouts as meaning "be prepared to slow down from 45"
too.
ATB
--
Mike
Ellie - 1963 White Herald 1200 Convertible GA125624 CV
Connie - 1968 Conifer Herald 1200 Saloon GA237511 DL
Carly - 1977 Inca Yellow Spitfire 1500 FH105671
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