Quote: George Kaplan @ 19th January 2016, 12:20 PM GMTGood luck with your test, Lee.
Thanks George!
Quote: keewik @ 19th January 2016, 12:22 PM GMTIt can be an idea, once you've passed the test, to take a couple of lessons on driving on motorways.
My instructor has offered that but then again I don't live near many motorways.
I'm creating a logic puzzle involving the location of several toilets. I have come up with some innuendo based locations: Honey Car Drive, Widdly Walk, Broken Hearted Street (named after the famous poem), Jimmy Avenue and Catching Short Square. I drew the line at Private Parade, though.
Quote: Lee @ 19th January 2016, 11:34 AM GMTI hate driving lessons though, they are not fun.
Maybe you should take them in the Netherlands.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/europe/driving-lessons-sex-netherlands/
Quote: keewik @ 19th January 2016, 12:22 PM GMTIt can be an idea, once you've passed the test, to take a couple of lessons on driving on motorways.
Nah! It's much more fun to just go out there and compete with the other loonies.
Did I tell you my daughter passed her test over 10 years ago but has never driven on a motorway because I put her off when she was a child by my anger and tantrums getting lost on the way to Wales?
Quote: Chappers @ 20th January 2016, 5:17 PM GMTNah! It's much more fun to just go out there and compete with the other loonies.
Did I tell you my daughter passed her test over 10 years ago but has never driven on a motorway because I put her off when she was a child by my anger and tantrums getting lost on the way to Wales?
Stupid yank question: what exactly qualifies as a motorway?
Quote: DaButt @ 20th January 2016, 5:19 PM GMTStupid yank question: what exactly qualifies as a motorway?
Basically it has three lanes instead of two with a dual (natch!) carriageway and there is no stopping, whereas a dual carriageway has lay-bys for people to pull onto.
Both are 70mph and also..........
A motorway is any section of road with a legal order applied to it which bans pedestrians (except by permission), holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters. No stopping is permitted (except in traffic or emergencies).
Surely a Highway. I suppose the Yanks couldn't get anywhere without them.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 20th January 2016, 5:34 PM GMTA motorway is any section of road with a legal order applied to it which bans pedestrians (except by permission), holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters. No stopping is permitted (except in traffic or emergencies).
That sounds very similar to our interstate highway system.
Quote: Chappers @ 20th January 2016, 5:40 PM GMTSurely a Highway. I suppose the Yanks couldn't get anywhere without them.
Sounds about right, but you can ride bicycles along most highways that aren't interstates, and many highways are divided (dual carriageway) but not part of the interstate system.
Yeah, we need a lot of highways and interstates to get around. We have 320 million people spread across 6 time zones, so we need high-speed (up to 85 MPH), wide roads to get from Point A to Point B. Texas is 3x the size of the UK, so we have some huge highways (and the traffic jams to go with them). A stretch of Interstate 10 in Houston is 26 lanes wide. It's practically a parking lot at rush hour.
Quote: DaButt @ 20th January 2016, 7:08 PM GMTA stretch of Interstate 10 in Houston is 26 lanes wide.
Jesus!!
And I thought there was a blanket 55mph speed limit right across The States?
**By the way, when we first had motorways, there was no speed limit.
Quote: DaButt @ 20th January 2016, 7:08 PM GMTWe have 320 million people spread across 6 time zones.
Does that speed things up?
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 20th January 2016, 7:15 PM GMTAnd I thought there was a blanket 55mph speed limit right across The States?
**By the way, when we first had motorways, there was no speed limit.
The federal 55 MPH limit was enacted in 1973. It was loosened in several states in 1987 and was repealed in 1995. Now states are free to choose their own limits. Our 85 MPH on certain stretches of Texas highways is the highest in the nation. I think Montana had no set speed limit 20 years ago, but I don't know if that's still the case.
Quote: Chappers @ 20th January 2016, 7:16 PM GMTDoes that speed things up?
No, but it means that we need higher speed limits than in congested urban areas. It's 550 miles from my house to El Paso in west Texas and there's not a town of any size the whole way. I almost lost my mind when I made the 2500 mile drive from Georgia to California in 1987 while the 55 MPH federal speed limit was in effect. It felt like I was standing still as I drove the straight, wide, deserted highways in the western states.
Quote: DaButt @ 20th January 2016, 7:38 PM GMTIt felt like I was standing still as I drove the straight, wide, deserted highways in the western states.
Yes, that's weird isn't it. I remember driving to Scotland many years ago and on one long straight stretch of new dual carriage way in open countryside, I had to keep looking at the speedo as it felt like I was doing 20mph even though it was 70.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 20th January 2016, 8:45 PM GMTI remember driving to Scotland many years ago and on one long straight stretch of new dual carriage way in open countryside, I had to keep looking at the speedo as it felt like I was doing 20mph even though it was 70.
Food, restrooms and gasoline can be a long way away. I had an allergic reaction back in the days of 55 MPH limits and no mobile phones, so I had to tough it out for 150 miles until I could find a hospital.
My parents' 60th wedding anniversary.
The three of us went to a local garden centre and had a nice jacket potato with sausage and beans plus three scoops of ice cream and then we looked at the wonderful goldfish who greeted us in the corners of their tanks.