5 hours ago, Jude Bradley said:

I'm guessing you're in the Isle of Man? 

In Ireland, we have a mixture of different driver-types. They appear more aggressive in the North of Ireland,but I've seen good and bad drivers on both-sides of the border.

 

 

Nope... Channel Islands.👍

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by martin-w

10 hours ago, Major_Bloodnok said:

Far too much traffic and totally inadequate road system in the UK -

 

Yep, crazy speed limits too on some roads. Some of the roads in the Cotswolds are stupid. Narrow roads, bends, country lanes with cyclists and pedestrians and national speed limit applies. Its insanity. BRAKE the road safety charity has been complaing about it for years but nothing is done. 

Trouble with speed is that adrenaline naturally increases and when adrenaline increases people over react to situations. Fight or flight very easily flips to fight.

6 hours ago, birdguy said:

Absolutely!  Almost 30 years ago I moved from the metropolis of Denver Colorado to the small city of Rowell New Mexico and found an order of magnitude difference in the behavior of people

 

I got a taxi the other day to go to the dentist, only a short trip but didn't feel like walking. Need TWO crowns, 1600 quid! No NHS here. 🙄

Anyway, I digress. On the way, down a narrow one way street, a guy in a white van swung his door open and jumped out right in front of us. Quickly the taxi driver braked. The taxi driver didn't say a word and the expression on his face remained the same, zero emotion.

I remarked to him that in the UK horns  blaring and uttered profanities would be the liklihood.

What are the highway speed limits in the UK?  Here in New Mexico on Interstate Highways it is 80MPH or 129KPH.  On four lane highways it is 70MPH or 112 KPH.  On 2 lane highways it is 65MPH or 104KPH.  In cities as posted.

But driving the 40 miles from Roswell to Hondo on Highway 380 (4 lane divided) I might see anywhere from 30 to 60 cars going the other way and maybe 2 or 3 'speeders' will pass me on the way up.  At night cut that down to less than a dozen cars going the other way.

Noel

46 minutes ago, birdguy said:

What are the highway speed limits in the UK?  Here in New Mexico on Interstate Highways it is 80MPH or 129KPH.  On four lane highways it is 70MPH or 112 KPH.  On 2 lane highways it is 65MPH or 104KPH.  In cities as posted.

But driving the 40 miles from Roswell to Hondo on Highway 380 (4 lane divided) I might see anywhere from 30 to 60 cars going the other way and maybe 2 or 3 'speeders' will pass me on the way up.  At night cut that down to less than a dozen cars going the other way.

Noel

Speed limit? Oh yea, around here that’s the posted speed you drive at to PO everyone else behind you.

11 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Nope... Channel Islands.👍

That's basically France, isn't it? or as good as.

;-)

7 hours ago, birdguy said:

What are the highway speed limits in the UK? 

70mph for the motorways (highways) and for dual carriageways. For straight open country roads its 60mph; then 40mph, 30mph and 20mph depending on the location of towns, hospitals and schools etc. 

These speeds vary though for large trucks and buses etc 

Interesting fact: "Speed limits were first introduced in the UK in 1861 as part of the Locomotives on Highways Act, and limited vehicles to 10mph".

 https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/speed-limits/

2 hours ago, FlightSpinner said:

For straight open country roads its 60mph; then 40mph, 30mph and 20mph depending on the location of towns, hospitals and schools etc. 

 

Except in the Cotswolds and other country locations where its 60 on narrow twisty roads and no regard for pedestrians and cyclists. 

 

https://roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/rural-speed-limits-putting-road-users-at-risk/

 

Quote

 

Fewer than a quarter of respondents (23%) stated that 60mph is a safe speed for a vehicle on a road where there may be people on foot, bicycles and horses. 

The majority of drivers (81%) either wanted, or were ambivalent, about a reduction to the default 60mph limit on rural roads, with 19% objecting to a reduction.

However, Brake says many of these roads are ‘unsuited to high speeds’ as they are often narrow, with blind bends, brows and no pavements or cycle paths.

 

 

10 hours ago, birdguy said:

What are the highway speed limits in the UK? 

 

Depends what you mean by UK. Channel islands are a Crown Dependency so British Isles but not UK. No motorways here. In Guernsey our speed limits are 35 mph and 25 mph. That's it. 

You could drive faster but you'd end up in the sea. 😁 Or morphing the front of your vehicle into a different shape as it hit a granite wall.

Roads are VERY narrow, pavement on one side of the road (if you're lucky) and we often have to drive up on the pavement to allow busses (that are too big for the road) to pass. Buses are good though £1 anywhere on the island. 

We also have a VERY peculiar system on some junctions called "filtering". Its weird. basically its first come first served. The person that gets there first can go first and then its each in turn. Trouble is, when two or more vehicles get to a crossroads at the same time confusion ensues, until someone decides to go first. 😄 Luckily people are very polite here and they just wave you on and then smile at you once a decision is made. Its mad though, everyone complains about it but the authorities don't look like changing it. 

Edited October 6, 20214 yr by martin-w

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

The person that gets there first can go first and then its each in turn. Trouble is, when two or more vehicles get to a crossroads at the same time confusion ensues, until someone decides to go first.

Over here we have rules about intersections.  The car that gets there first has the right of way.  If two cars reach the intersection at the same time the car on the right has the right of way.

Noel

This topic is a trigger. I am a victim of road rage. Every time I ride with my wife I have to remind her, "Honey, they can't hear you." And she has a genetic predisposition to liberally employ the national Irish adjective. That's what she calls it, anyway.

37 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Over here we have rules about intersections.  The car that gets there first has the right of way.  If two cars reach the intersection at the same time the car on the right has the right of way.

That sounds almost as complex as the Uk's 'mini roundabout' system, where more often that not, drivers don't have much of a clue as to who has the right of way, especially if two mini roundabouts are linked together, as in this video

 

Back in the mid-fifties (I was around 8), my parents and I traveled to Cuba for a week's vacation. There were no traffic lights or even stop signs at that time. Drivers would approach an intersection and then blow their horn. We found out on the first day from one of our cab drivers that their custom was "Whoever blows their horn first has the right of way." 😬

In the early sixties, my parents and I stopped over in Japan for a few days whilst returning to the US on bi-annual "home leave" from my dad's duty station in Tehran. While in Tokyo we made several shopping trips to various parts of the city. On one such trip, we actually had to take three cabs in a row because of accidents the first two cabs had while on the way to our destination! 🤣

I was stationed in Japan during that period Fr Bob.  We had purchased a Toyota at the Tachikawa BX and we drove all over Tokyo and it's environs.  When my wife was admitted into a Tokyo hospital  Every weekend and once during the middle of the week U drove from Yokota AFB to the hospital near Tokyo Tower.  While I saw some accidents, almost all of them fender-benders, I never saw multiple accidents on the same day to my recollection.  You had to drive very defensively but I never found it to be much of a problem.

BTW:  After my wife died and I returned to the United States I brought that Toyota back with me.  It was one of the first Toyotas brought into the States.  It was a Toyopet Tirara.

Noel

Disrespectful and abnormal driving invokes road rage:

• Force merging without signaling or waiting your turn.
• Going under the speed limit.
• In the city, passing at high speed on the right that is the parking lane, not a true lane.
• Running late yellow to red stop lights.
• Weaving in and out of traffic.
• Rolling coal.
• Construction dump trucks or semi's being every 3rd vehicle on the road.