Traffic enforcement

Thanks Dennis.

How do you feel about driving on the motorway at 85+ and know you have tourists also on the motorway who just got off the plane at Heathrow and are now driving an unfamiliar rental car on the wrong side of the road and they probably haven't slept for 24 hours.

Check your life insurance policy.

I suppose it is no different than being around those who drive under the influence.

I have been one of those tourists in the past and I drive in the slow lane at about the speed limit so as not to endanger anyone.

I think a lot of the Brits live on the edge when it comes to driving (aiming) a car.

Just to say that I agree 100% with everything Jim said above.

Quite frankly i'm bemused to learn that people fear driving. You might say that I dont have the 45th sense of fear.   but still I just dont understand, whats there to fear when driving. I'm sorry, if i'm 'hurting' or disregarding anyone's fear of driving. I know bad things that can happen when driving e.g. Accidents. but if you are careful (and i mean real due deligence care, no crappyness) and sane i dont see much problem in driving.

Its one of tose things you enjoy.I thoroughly enjoy my driving.  I mean i drive very well and especially when i get to do 70 and 30 miles per hour. .....By the way, the law book allows you to drive at 70 miles per hour and 30 miles per hour. Its good fun, and something i enjoy (i'm sure alot of people do not just me). Perhaps someone can explain or try and convince me, that there is something to fear when driving.

Though i do understand the difference in individual driving habits. For example, some idiot who has loud music spewing from the car speakers and does some 'rough' driving on the streets. I dont see this sort of driving as cool or good. I see that as crap driving.

But, i dont mind a sane driver on the motorway pressing the foot on the accelerator abit more than usual and keep flowing with the traffic. Not jumping lanes, crazily. Just normal driving even if its above 70. I know it would get you home or wherever quickly. Just before some tries to poke me about safety, of course safety is paramount, no neglect. Thats why i said sane driver. Someone Able Not Essentric/erratic = SANE. Hows that?

ETA: A note on the policing. I'm convinced, that this traffic officers (not all, but at least a few) who issue tickets do so selectively. Yes, and i mean this, they pick who to give ticket to. Not only is this unfair, it stinks of ******* (whatever you'd like to add,  , i'd leave it to your imagination).  The down side is, even if there is truth in this, how do you prove it?

I know, issuing tickets to bad drivers, sets an example to others, and stops mayhem. Which i agee with. But, the way the policing is done, is definitely, not fair. I dont know if some body  exists that scrutinizes this sort of policing. One needs to be in place.

A van this week rolled on the interstate near here. One person was killed. There were 11 in an 8 seater passenger van. The basic cause was a tire(tyre) separation. The driver slammed on the brakes when this happened.
I bring this up because the driver did not drive correctly when the tire blew. It's not a perfect world.
I think and I'm guessing that Dthe, you are a younger person and many of us have enjoyed miles of carefree driving punctuated by some mishaps. I now like to have other people drive me at this point in life.

A van this week rolled on the interstate near here. One person was killed. There were 11 in an 8 seater passenger van. The basic cause was a tire(tyre) separation. The driver slammed on the brakes when this happened.I bring this up because the driver did not drive correctly when the tire blew. It's not a perfect world. 

sorry to hear that, its sad that accidents like this do happen.

I think and I'm guessing that Dthe, you are a younger person....

  Yes, you've guessed that correctly.

I'd love to visit the US. I have friends there too, all scattered in different places and some are married. I know that in the US its left hand drive (is this for all (most) states?). Are there roundabouts there? Here (in the UK) its clockwise (most), i'm sure my head would spin if had to go anticlockwise in US. I'm used to RHD and wonder how i' do in US, perhaps i'd get disorientated after driving a few miles. That would give my friends something to laugh about, its usually me laughing at them. 

I know that in the US its left hand drive (is this for all (most) states?).

LHD vehicles and driving on the right is the norm throughout the Union.  And across all of Canada too, although a couple of Canadian provinces changed from driving on the left to the right in the 1920s, and, if I recall correctly, driving was on the left in Newfoundland up until it became part of Canada in the 1940s.

Are there roundabouts there?

Yes, although nowhere near as common as in Britain.  They seem to have started to become more widely used recently in some areas, as a modern replacement of the older-style traffic circles.

This site has some interesting information about the development, along with some history:

http://www.alaskaroundabouts.com/index.html


On the issue that Jim raised, I have to agree that some driving in the U.K. seems to have become crazy.  One of the nice things about living way out in the sticks where I am is that on the whole the driving is much more sensible and relaxed.  The last time I ventured back anywhere near London and the surrounding area I couldn't believe how manic it had become.   

Hiya,

Jim, As you've just explained, most tourists in an unfamiliar car, on the other side of the road they're used to and tired mostly I'd like to think, would purposely stay in the slower moving lanes of traffic at probably significantly below the speed limit as to be as safe as possible. Any tourist thinking they can immediatley just blend in and driver quicker than what theyre normally used to are probably stupid. There are other driver 'groups' who also come in for regular criticism and ribbing - Older drivers, Woman drivers, newly test passers, middle lane dawdlers, boy racers etc etc etc - truth is you never know which one of these you'll be on the road with!- So no, I don't have any thoughts of newly arrived tourists on the motorways around here - they just get bundled into the 'possibly incident causing drivers' I have for myself group and that's it!

Paul - I agree, driving around here in London can and often is very frustrating with the congestion and unecessary risk taking etc - you really do have to be on top of you're driving skills in and around many parts of London, especially central !

Dthemigrant - like anything, driving does have some potentially fearful elements - most people, with experience and familiarity overcome those fears in a practical sense. However, there is STILL the risk no matter how experienced you are that something 'could' happen - freak accidents, another careless driver, drunk driver, erratic driver, mechanical failure etc etc - which some people have an irrational fear over - I think it's similar to tose who just will always be totally petrified to fly. Also the USA does have some roundabouts, not many and yes, they'd go anti clockwise around them!much the same as roundabouts in Europe, I do remember going on a few In France and luckily they weren't busy as I found it comical and having to keep my wits about me when going over/through them! - More than likely though, you'd probably not come across the ones in the USA, they are very very rare indeed.

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

 

Also the USA does have some roundabouts, not many and yes, they'd go anti clockwise around them!much the same as roundabouts in Europe, I do remember going on a few In France and luckily they weren't busy as I found it comical and having to keep my wits about me when going over/through them!

With the general priorité a droite rule in France, at one time it was the case that if you were on the roundabout you had to yield to traffic entering it from a side road (which with counter-clockwise driving would be coming from your right, of course).  They gradually changed over and put Cedez le passage signs up on the approaches, so that most (all?) now work on the principle that approaching traffic must yield to vehicles already driving around the circle. 

Strange as that may seem to some today, originally British roundabouts had no specific rule, just the general "nobody has specific priority" traffic rule which would apply at any other junction not marked with stop/give way lines.   It wasn't until 1966 that the law specifically gave right of way to cars already on the roundabout.

Do you still have that rule on the motorway for not passing on the left? (inside) Unlike in the US where you can pass on either side of a vehicle.

Also I don't think you can turn on a stop-red light as can be done in most of the states. Right or wrong?

Do you still have that rule on the motorway for not passing on the left?

Contrary to popular belief, there has never been an actual traffic law which prohibits passing on the left.  The Highway Code suggests that you do not pass on the left except in specific circumstances, just as there is the suggestion of "Slower traffic keep right" in the U.S., but it's not illegal to pass on the left here.

Also I don't think you can turn on a stop-red light as can be done in most of the states. Right or wrong?

Right.   The concept of turns on red has never been introduced in Britain - Except where there's a separate green filter arrow, of course.   Flashing red lights (stop, then proceed when clear) have never been used at intersections either.