Roundabouts & a bit of a driving rant

[Wendy]

"punkieshazam" wrote:
> Last week a friend from Denver came down here on business. <snip> 
> Anyway, she said that her experience was that the roundabouts in 
> Scotland were the most difficult because they are so poorly 
marked. 
> She also said that everyone who lived there that she talked to 
hated 
> them. While she was talking about this, it occured to me that what 
> she was describing was very similar to the function of the round 
room 
> in the Department of Mysteries. Does anyone with direct experience 
of 
> Scottish driving have any ideas about this? JKR comments on 
> schooling, government and personal relationships. Why not a 
lampoon 
> of driving and roadways? Or maybe not.
> 

Now me (Wendy):

While I'm preparing to tackle a response to the "BIG" discussion 
going on now on this list, I thought I'd write an "easy" little post 
in response to this one.

I doubt that JKR is complaining about the driving and roadways. I 
can't swear to it, but frankly, in my experience, driving in the UK 
is FAR more pleasant in almost every way than driving in the U.S. 
(at least in the parts of the U.S. where I've driven, which are 
varied and more than I want to name in this post, but I will say 
cover east, west and middle).

As for roundabouts, I'm really surprised that someone you know was 
ocmplaining about them. I lived in Scotland for two years, and I 
LOVE roundabouts. In my experience, it is a much quicker system than 
stoplights and stopsigns that are used in the U.S. You don't have to 
stop your car every time you come to an intersection, and rarely 
have to wait for any length of time even when you do stop. It's 
a "give way" system, so if there's no one else around, you don't 
stop - you just keep going. There are a few roundabouts with traffic 
signals, in cities and particularly busy areas, but in general it's 
much more efficient (IMO). I LOVE roundabouts, and I miss them very 
much now that I'm back in the U.S. Maybe there are some that are 
poorly marked (?) but that really wasn't my experience. Perhaps it's 
just that as an American driving in Scotland, your friend was 
already feeling confused by driving on the left, and so didn't have 
the proper attention for street signs. Then again, opinions differ 
on what constitutes "proper" signage, so that could be the trouble, 
too.

As for driving in general, I think that drivers in the U.K. tend to 
be more skilled on average than U.S. drivers. Before anyone flames 
me for this, let me explain. First of all, *in my experience,* it is 
much more difficult to pass the driving exam in Britain than it is 
in the U.S. (at least in California, where I sat my practical 
driving test many moons ago). When I moved to the U.K, I'd been 
driving for something close to 20 years, and I still failed my first 
practical exam. (Passed the second time, though). There is a 
different standard of skill expected in terms of the way you 
actually handle your automobile. Plus, in order to drive a standard 
transmission legally, you must test on a standard transmission 
(that's not how it was when I took my test in CA - everyone tested 
on an automatic, because they're so much easieer to drive, and then 
went out and drove standards anyway, whether they really know how to 
do it properly or not). 

I think there's also a bit of a different attitude towards driving, 
at least in some places. You asked specifically about Scotland, and 
I found Scottish drivers to be FAR more courteous, certainly VASTLY  
more curteous than the drivers I encounter on highways in the Bay 
Area now. And a lower percentage of things like "cell phone" 
drivers. And I can't remember ever seeing something that looked 
like "road rage" to me. Part of the reason is that you just have to 
pay more attention driving in Scotland. Both in cities (Edinburgh is 
the one I've driven extensively) and outside, there are lots of 
roads where two cars can't pass safely. And I'm not talking about a 
car each way - I mean there is only room for ONE car to go through a 
particular bit of road (especially when cars are parked at the 
curb). So, you get used to driving more carefully, paying a lot of 
attention, being prepared to stop at pretty much any time when 
you're not on a highway or particularly large road, and being very 
friendly about giving way when you're "playing chicken" with an 
oncoming driver. There's lots of waving thanks at other drivers, 
something you don't see a whole lot of here, even on those few 
occasions when the other driver actually *has* been courteous. (I'm 
talking California here, Bay Area and Los Angeles, because that's 
where I do my driving these days. People in other parts of the 
country may be lovely now). 

On the whole, I found Scotlnd a very lovely place to drive. 

Oh - and I just thought of something else. I doubt JKR would say 
much of anything about the driving conditions, as last thing I 
heard, she doesn't actually drive. She may not even be licensed. 
That's not particularly unusual. I know lots of people in the U.K. 
who simply don't drive because they don't need to. Public 
transporation is much better there than it is here, in general 
(there may be areas of the U.S. which have excellent public 
transporation. I have never lived in one, though). She may have 
gotten a license recently, though, so don't quote me on this.

Okay. So, there are my thoughts (hopefully not terribly 
controversial). If you are a U.S. driver and feel insulted, you 
probably should be. For the most part, I think we're rubbish 
drivers! <evil grin>. Okay - that's not entirely true . . . I would 
only think you *personally* are a rubbish driver if you are in the 
habit of tailgating, speeding up when you see someone signaling to 
change a lane in front of you, or talking on your cell phone while 
you drive. If you do these things, then rest assured that I think 
you're a rubbish driver, and I hope you don't live in my 
neighborhood.

Okay. Rant over. <G>

Wendy