Exactly which law is it that states one should stop in the middle of the
interstate when one is a bit confused? Also, I believe in several states
the Law is that one should be in the left lane only for passing. I agree
that exceeding the limit is against the law, and there is no excuse/reason
that would support that behavior, period, though it is a reality. There are
also miriad laws stating that one must signal when changing lanes if the
lane change might affect traffic. Judging from Atlanta traffic, I doubt
many would notice if that funny stalk on the left were ripped out of their
cars...
I've found that European drivers are generally better in some ways and
worse in others than American. However, given my druthers, I wish American
drivers were as courteous and uniformally road-educated (again, generally)
as Europeans. My experience has been that European drivers follow the road
laws pretty closely, whether they're from England, Germany, Belgium,
France, and yes, even Italy. Conversely, Driver's Ed is really down-played
over here, while retaining's one's license is treated as though it were a
God-given right. I think many Americans are fairly ignorant of traffic
laws, or simply don't view them as important enough to bother with.
Ticketing is just a game to them, and they certainly don't think one should
lose a license for habitual violations, as seen by state legislatures'
inability to put any teeth into moving violation penalties.
At 2:47 PM -0500 8/24/98, Keith Turk wrote:
> Maybe I should let this go but I don't have it in me.... You sound like a
> Classic German driver with the expectation of the Road open only to you...
> Although several of the faults of American drivers you noted where valid..
> they were in fact obeying the Law of this country... (of which I fought to
> defend) as well as being less then intelligent in your estimation... Any
> thoughts on a prolonged stay in the beautiful weather of home?
> I apologize up front for my attitude.. with the understanding that a car
> barreling down on you 20 miles over the speed limit can be pretty
> UN-nerving
>
> Keith Turk BN2, BJ8, AN5, AN9
>
> ----------
> > From: Daniel Thompson <dthompson@gbc.ca>
> > To: 'spridgets@autox.team.net'
> > Subject: tales from a 1700 mile journey (long, low LBC content)
> > Date: Monday, August 24, 1998 11:52 AM
> >
...snip...
Now on to my favorite topic: American driving style. I am from Canada,
...snip...
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
http://www.molvis.org/molvis
Mailto:jboatri@emory.edu
404-778-4113
|