Bad news for "Half Fast"

A buddy of mine grew up in Connecticut and was totally blind. After a frat party at UConn, his buddies convinced him to drive home since he was the most sober. One guy in the front seat gave directions, and they somehow made it. Maybe more of that goes on than first thought
 
GaryM said:
Based on my experience driving in Boston, it’s hard to believe drivers ed has ever existed in Massachusetts.
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pblttttt

so there!

;-)
 
First time I drove in Boston, I got into the Roundabout outside Logan on the way to GE Engines in Lynn Mass. I went around about 3 times before I realized they weren’t going to LET me out, I had to GET out. Always made sure I had insurance on the Rent A Car after that.
 
X3 Skier said:
First time I drove in Boston, I got into the Roundabout outside Logan on the way to GE Engines in Lynn Mass. I went around about 3 times before I realized they weren’t going to LET me out, I had to GET out. Always made sure I had insurance on the Rent A Car after that.
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yup - around Boston, drivers don't understand that the vehicles in the rotary (it's a rotary, not a roundabout) have the right-of-way. Go about 60 miles or so west and it's like a different country. ETA: it's gotten so bad that the some of the rotaries have been switched to having traffic lights (badly timed lights, but still...)

supplemental info: The wreck has the right-of-way... and rentals also have the right-of-way (because nobody* treats the rental like it's their own car)

*well, almost nobody
 
You haven't lived til you've driven a roundabout in the Middle East. The theory there is if you enter it fast enough, you blend with the flow of traffic already in the circle. This goes well with the theory that the largest, heaviest, fastest vehicle "wins" the collision.

It is also not uncommon to see traffic circles with 5 or 6 lanes. I am still mystified how those are supposed to work. One in Amman, Jordan sticks in my mind as particularly insane. 6 circles of chaos.
 
Ed Haywood said:
It is also not uncommon to see traffic circles with 5 or 6 lanes. I am still mystified how those are supposed to work. One in Amman, Jordan sticks in my mind as particularly insane. 6 circles of chaos.
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Sounds like the Arc d’Triomphe in Paris.
 
Ed Haywood said:
You haven't lived til you've driven a roundabout in the Middle East. The theory there is if you enter it fast enough, you blend with the flow of traffic already in the circle. This goes well with the theory that the largest, heaviest, fastest vehicle "wins" the collision.

It is also not uncommon to see traffic circles with 5 or 6 lanes. I am still mystified how those are supposed to work. One in Amman, Jordan sticks in my mind as particularly insane. 6 circles of chaos.
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Look, kids! Big Ben, Parliament!
 
X3 Skier said:
Sounds like the Arc d’Triomphe in Paris.
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My wife was on a business/vacation trip, to France, starting in Paris, France. We rented a car very near the Arc du Triomphe (sp?) and I was evidently the designated driver. She was reading the map and giving directions. Yes! Right through the Etoile at rush hour, in a car new to me, after about six blocks of driving in that car. And around and round we went. My Boston training, even though I wasn't a Boston lifer, stood me well. Three times around and then, unscathed, launched into the intended direction.

I survived by following Ron Levy's* rule of Italian Driving: What's behind you doesn't matter!

-Skip

*For those who don't know of him, he used to participate here on POA a lot. He was the local authority on the FARs, but got caught in the usual POA nonsense and left in a Huff.**

**I didn't even know he had a Huff!
 
Ed Haywood said:
You haven't lived til you've driven a roundabout in the Middle East. The theory there is if you enter it fast enough, you blend with the flow of traffic already in the circle. This goes well with the theory that the largest, heaviest, fastest vehicle "wins" the collision.

It is also not uncommon to see traffic circles with 5 or 6 lanes. I am still mystified how those are supposed to work. One in Amman, Jordan sticks in my mind as particularly insane. 6 circles of chaos.
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As I recall, the one around the Arc d' Triumph in Paris has 10 lanes. It doesn't help. I have a video I was shooting on a Sunday morning back in 1992 and there is a loud "crunch" in the audio. The only two cars in the circle had managed to hit each other.

Then there is one in the UK where there are 5 circles around the perimeter of the larger center circle. The locals were convinced the damn thing would breed!
 
Ghery said:
As I recall, the one around the Arc d' Triumph in Paris has 10 lanes.
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Optical illusion. The place d'etoile has no lanes. It's just a free for all where you want to exit to the right, but must give way to cars on the right. Fun for all.

Apparently they officially renamed it the place de charles gaulle at some point, but I don't care.
 
AvNavCom said:
He probably went on to have a long and illustrious career as an NHL referee.
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interesting bit of trivia. Years ago someone tested the eyesight of NHL refs, NHL linesman, baseball umpires, NFL officials (the on-field guys in stripes that throw flags). And guess which group had the worst eyesight

NHL linesmen.

No, I don't have a reference for it... this was from before the interweb.
 
Bob Noel said:
interesting bit of trivia. Years ago someone tested the eyesight of NHL refs, NHL linesman, baseball umpires, NFL officials (the on-field guys in stripes that throw flags). And guess which group had the worst eyesight

NHL linesmen.

No, I don't have a reference for it... this was from before the interweb.
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Nowadays there are so many cameras that people are doing frame-by-frame analyses of pucks crossing lines in some challenge cases. I suppose that's about as fair as it gets, but I can't imagine it's much fun for the linesmen to have a split-second decision dissected on live TV. There was an interesting podcast I listened to some years ago about referees and such. The consensus seemed to be that they got it right most of the time, and had an interesting "fairness" phenomenon in that when they got it wrong, they'd try to get it about equally as wrong (or at least give some other kind of grace) for the other team on another call to even things up.

I love it when fans dress up as refs, complete with striped shirts, black sunglasses, and canes.
 
Bob Noel said:
interesting bit of trivia. Years ago someone tested the eyesight of NHL refs, NHL linesman, baseball umpires, NFL officials (the on-field guys in stripes that throw flags). And guess which group had the worst eyesight

NHL linesmen…..
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IMHO NHL linesman are the best out of all of those.
 
Ed Haywood said:
You haven't lived til you've driven a roundabout in the Middle East
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Or in one with me around. I usually take the shortest route to get to where I want to go. That means I may right turns, or left turns, whichever is shortest.

Just FYI. Roundies are rare in New Mexico, and used even less.
 
Zeldman said:
Or in one with me around. I usually take the shortest route to get to where I want to go. That means I may right turns, or left turns, whichever is shortest.

Just FYI. Roundies are rare in New Mexico, and used even less.
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That explains what happened when you went to California.

 
Ghery said:
I suspect that the people in a few states would take exception to that map. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota (and others, I'm sure) value their rights under the Bill of Rights too much to join Canada.....
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Guess you have never seen our Charter of Rights! We can swear on frequency and not get fined!

Not a huge flex, but it's all I got without reading it myself......
 
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