OT- Product Of The YEAR! -Somebody Should Get A Nobel Prize For This-

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:45:57 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:

> They're difficult enough, sometimes, even if the traffic stays on the
> right side of the road. The first time I encountered one in the UK, it
> felt like being in a demolition derby.

You should try going round the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. No rules, no
discipline, every man for himself, change lane at will without using
mirror.

--
"Electricity is of two kinds, positive and negative. The difference
is, I presume, that one comes a little more expensive, but is more
durable; the other is a cheaper thing, but the moths get into it."
(Stephen Leacock)

Fred Abse Inscribed thus:

> On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:45:57 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:
>
>> They're difficult enough, sometimes, even if the traffic stays on the
>> right side of the road. The first time I encountered one in the UK,
>> it felt like being in a demolition derby.
>
> You should try going round the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. No rules, no
> discipline, every man for himself, change lane at will without using
> mirror.

Yes thats one experience I would like to forget. I went round two or
three times trying to get to the outside edge. The swine don't think
anything about getting on the outside of you and forcing you into the
center. They all know where the horn is !

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

"Fred Abse" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed) d...
> On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:45:57 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:
>
>> They're difficult enough, sometimes, even if the traffic stays on the
>> right side of the road. The first time I encountered one in the UK, it
>> felt like being in a demolition derby.
>
> You should try going round the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. No rules, no
> discipline, every man for himself, change lane at will without using
> mirror.

I have. In a Renault Caravelle. And lived to tell about it. <g>

--
Ed Huntress

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:27:40 +0000, David Billington <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Ed Huntress wrote:
>> "Sylvia Else" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:00ea4fb5$0$17131$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>> On 7/02/2010 5:45 AM, Jon Anderson wrote:
>>>
>>>> T wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Interesting. A little disorienting, not used to driving on the other
>>>>> side of the road!
>>>>>
>>>> It's not that hard at first, so long as you focus and pay attention.
>>>> It's right when you think you've got it, that you'll pull out into the
>>>> wrong side of the road...
>>>>
>>> Or, as seems likely to have happened to a US couple on holiday here in
>>> Australia in a case reported on the news a while back, look the wrongway
>>> before pulling out in front of a truck
>>>
>>> Sylvia.
>>>
>>
>> Terror for an American driver is a roundabout in Britain. As I approach one,
>> my palms begin to sweat. Then my head begins to ache. Traffic diagrams
>> appear in my head. I bite my lip...
>>
>>
>What does this do for you then
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/conte...llery.shtml?15
>, Swindons "Magic Roundabout". I've not driven it recently but I
>understand it can still give drivers used to roundabouts a problem.

The last thing we need, recursive roundabouts.

"Bitrex" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:M4edncN7LelT3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Ed Huntress wrote:
>> "Fred Abse" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news(E-Mail Removed) d...
>>> On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:17:00 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:
>>>
>>>> Terror for an American driver is a roundabout in Britain. As I approach
>>>> one, my palms begin to sweat. Then my head begins to ache. Traffic
>>>> diagrams appear in my head. I bite my lip...
>>> Brits love going round in circles ;-)
>>>
>>> I think Garces Circle in Bakersfield, CA qualifies as a roundabout. I've
>>> come across a couple just outside Grand Junction, CO, and one in Balboa,
>>> CA,
>>> too. At least the traffic goes around those the right way.
>>
>> We used to have lots of them in NJ. There still are a few. We call them
>> circles.
>>
>> They're difficult enough, sometimes, even if the traffic stays on the
>> right side of the road. The first time I encountered one in the UK, it
>> felt like being in a demolition derby.
>>
>
> There are a lot in Massachusetts - we call them "Rotaries". Including
> this one at the base of the Bourne Bridge onto Cape Cod:
> http://www.capecodlivecam.com/bourne.shtml

That one doesn't look too bad. Actually, we still have one like that not far
north of here. I think the smaller ones are nuttier. As I recall, you used
to have lots of small, tight ones in MA. We had them in NJ, too.

--
Ed Huntress

On 2/9/2010 6:10 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:

(...)

> That one doesn't look too bad. Actually, we still have one like that not far
> north of here. I think the smaller ones are nuttier.

(...)

That is for sure!

There is a teensy rotary at the main entry to the Kaiser Medical
Center in Santa Clara California.

("700 Lawrence Expressway, Santa Clara, CA‎" > maps.google.com)

We have folks entering that parking lot, many in a heightened
emotional state. This results in lots of misleading driving moves
with almost no use of turn signals.

Several times, folks entering the lot start an un-signaled right
turn out of my path and then change their mind, seemingly aiming
for my left fender (it's metal) just as I'm about to enter the
rotary, to exit the lot. Most of the time, I'm reading their
facial expression in an attempt to divine their path (lacking
any other indication).

It is a "body shop owner's dream", a perfect combination of
distracted drivers having their first encounter with a busy,
confusing intersection in close quarters.
So far, only sheer luck has prevented dents. Somehow that
doesn't seem sufficient.

--Winston


--
Support the blind and deaf. Hire a building contractor today!

The Wisconsin DOT just sent out a flyer with my license plate renewal,
claiming "Crash statistics show that roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by
about 90%, reduce injury crashes about 75%, and reduce overall crashes by
about 35% when compared to other types of intersection control."
www.wisconsinroundabouts.gov
"Today's roundabouts are much smaller than the "traffic circles" of
earlier years."

On 2/9/2010 9:18 AM, David Courtney wrote:
> The Wisconsin DOT just sent out a flyer with my license plate renewal,
> claiming "Crash statistics show that roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by
> about 90%, reduce injury crashes about 75%, and reduce overall crashes by
> about 35% when compared to other types of intersection control."
> www.wisconsinroundabouts.gov
> "Today's roundabouts are much smaller than the "traffic circles" of
> earlier years."

About 82.54% of statistics are made up on the spot, though.

--Winston

--
Support the blind and deaf. Hire a building contractor today!

"Winston" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> The Wisconsin DOT just sent out a flyer with my license plate
>> renewal,
>> claiming "Crash statistics show that roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by
>> about 90%, reduce injury crashes about 75%, and reduce overall crashes by
>> about 35% when compared to other types of intersection control."
>> www.wisconsinroundabouts.gov
>> "Today's roundabouts are much smaller than the "traffic circles" of
>> earlier years."
>
> About 82.54% of statistics are made up on the spot, though.

Come on, 83% of people know that prime number percentages are more
believable.

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:52:47 -0600, "Tim Williams" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>"Winston" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> The Wisconsin DOT just sent out a flyer with my license plate
>>> renewal,
>>> claiming "Crash statistics show that roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by
>>> about 90%, reduce injury crashes about 75%, and reduce overall crashes by
>>> about 35% when compared to other types of intersection control."
>>> www.wisconsinroundabouts.gov
>>> "Today's roundabouts are much smaller than the "traffic circles" of
>>> earlier years."
>>
>> About 82.54% of statistics are made up on the spot, though.
>
>Come on, 83% of people know that prime number percentages are more
>believable.
>
>Tim


You could be 17% off though. :-)

Interesting that 100 minus 83, a prime, yields 17, a prime. There are
actually a couple of instances.