(pbenven) John, Well said!
(Now I choose to describe the driving experience over there as invigorating, not terrifying.)
My anual buisness trip itenerary (Software delivery, installation, and training for the folks who communicate via satellite, ELF,and VLF to submarines, both ours and the British Royal Navy) included Yokosuka in Japan, Naples in Italy, London in England as well as Pearl Harbour in Hawaii and Norfolk in Virginia) I didn't drive outside the US. I was happy to not get run over as a pedestrian. I took taxis and busses and in London the underground. I got lost, OK, would you believe a scenic detour for over an hour on the underground (if you go far enough astray it isn't actually under the ground anymore, a clue that I had gone astray)
Although I didn't drive in England I was driven in England. An interesting experience that illustrates the difference between logical and emotional understanding. Logically, I knew that as we went zipping along a country lane south of London near Petersborough (sp?) to go from HMS Mercury (not a ship, Her Royal Majesties research establishment out in the middle of sheep grazing and thatched cottage territory) to a local village pub for lunch, that the cars we met on this narrow stone lined twisting path were not trying to hit us head on. Logically, I knew that my driver and the oncoming driver would each place one wheel on the grass and one on the pavement and pass each other in safety, as civilized gentlemen. I was seated on the left, in front where by previous experience there was always a steering wheel and control pedals and a certain expectation of having to be responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle.
Logically, I knew that I could just lean back and enjoy the nice ride through the English countryside past vine covered stone fences (they wouldn't allow them this close to the pavement in the USA, would they!) and vine covered thatched roof cottages down to the quaint little vilage pub for some nice English lunch (plowman's and a pint or whatever the especiality of the house might be... NOTE: English pubs serve some good hearty lunches)
Standard practice, and it is logical, is to drive in the middle of the road since it is only one car wide and then if by chance you meet someone else motoring along in the opposite direction at the last moment you both swerve to the left and pass driver to driver. NOTE: you wait until the last moment so as to not lose momentum with one set of wheels in the grass as it might be soft from rain and the conserved momentum serves to get you back on the road before the drag pulls you to a stop.
Of course if you are a I-only-drive-in-the-US driver, you would expect the driver to swerve to the right and when he cuts to the left you expect a high speed head on collision. Subconsciously you are trying to put a foot on the non existant brake pedal and grope for the non existant steering wheel amid the laughter of your support contractor riding in the back seat (not his first trip to England). I have a sense of humor, I recovered with dignity, I laughed at myself, I noted the difference between logical understanding of the actual situaton and the emotional understanding of the situation (I was going to be killed in about a fraction of a second!!!)
I had finished chuckling and my heart rate was down to that of an aerobic workout (down from humingbird pace) when we encountered the second car. I saw it at a greater distance than the first which had sudenly appeared from around a blind (darned rock fences) curve. I braced myself, cleared my mind, prepared to die rather than flinch, and then was distracted for just a fraction of a second by a glimpse of something out the window on my side that I wouldn't have been able to examine so closely if I had been accompanied by my wife. As my head and eyes came back round the approaching car was right there and as we dodged to the left, I grabbed for the non existant steering wheel and felt for the non existant brake, A G A I N.
Later, after lunch with a nice pint of "gyrostabalization fluid" (their best bitters) I was able to relax and face certain death without giving outward signs that I was preparing for a collision.
I could probably learn to drive "over there" but really don't want to do it as eventually one day, to quote Allen Funt, "when you least expect it" there will be an errant lorry and my reflexes and the overwhelming weight of previous American experience will win out over logic and he will dodge to his left and I will dodge to my right directly into a head-on collision. Again, I was happy to not get run over as a pedestrian. Lots of Americans step off of sidewalks directly in front of oncoming traffic and are hurt of killed. Years of looking left, looking right, then left again just as you step off the curb, only works if the traffic is driving on the right. In London they paint big signs on the street, alligned so pedestrians can see them, they say "LOOK RIGHT". I guess so many of us walked out in front of busses that it began to impact their schedules so they put out the signs.
At least in London they don't drive on the sidewalks very much and I was relatively safe there. Italians don't let pavement go idle. They drive on the sidewalks and or park on the sidewalks forcing pedestrians to go out in the street with the cars.
For those of you who thought Chevy Chase in "European Vacation" exaggerated the "roundabout" scene, well, not much.
Patrick
