Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
Like cyclists?
True friends stab you in the front.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
don't mention cyclists, two hours ago i crossed at a pelican crossing in folkestone road.
a car in each direction stopped, a lone cyclist just carried on as if it did not apply to him.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
what side of the road was the cyclist on howard.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Cyclists are probably the worst road and pavement users as regards at sticking to the rules of the road (and pavement).
Wrong way up one-way streets, ignore traffic lights, ride on pavements etc. Even cycling up Cannon Street and Biggin Streets without a care in the world, even though there are signs both ends saying no cycling.
Roger
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
without tarring all cyclists with the same brush, i agree with roger that they do seem to be of the opinion that laws that apply to other road users do not apply to them.
Guest 687- Registered: 2 Jun 2009
- Posts: 513
Driving in the south of Germany yesterday I saw a car overtake a tanker and then swerve in front of it to exit
the autobhan. Unfortunately the car driver miscalculated and the tanker drove completely over the car,result a 20 kilometre tailback. There was then a 5 kilometre gap and another accident resulting in a death. I was on the other carriageway so witnessed the carnage. The only conclusion I could reach was that the accidents would be driver error resulting in these deaths.
In England the police would totally close the roads to ascertain what caused the accidents whereas in Germany and other European countries they would ensure the road was cleared as soon as possible, I make no further comment,
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
And at the end of the day, what would be the benefit of us all driving on the right? The carnage I dread to think, insurance claims through the roof. Now the railways............
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
funny you should mention the railways colin.
many moons ago it transpired that spain had a different gauge to their railway wagons against the whole of europe.
there was a company called transfesa if my memory is still correct that had trucks with interchangeable gauges to move rail freight from france into spain.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
That`s right Howard, and Transfesa were bought by DB Schenka (German Railways) recently along with our own, English, Welsh and Scottish railway, (EWS), my employer. I`ve never actually gone into the history of why Spain went broad guage. Ireland is still broad guage by the way. Our last broad guage went in 1892, when the Great Western Railway converted to standard guage, to facilitate easier exchange of wagon load freight amongst other things.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
thanks for that colin, my memory must still be working, in the days i speak of train ferry was the main mode of freight transport in europe.
the only road trailers then were mainly from the old czechoslovakia and hungary.
I agree Brian far to sensible an idea , we are british and we must be different aparantly .
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
mark,differant we may be but why be awarkward with it.
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
Brian
Following your train of logic.........
If we drive on the right we become the same Euro clone as everyone, therefore we would no longer be different. Is is therefore being awkward just wishing to retain one's own identity?
True friends stab you in the front.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.
Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.
In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver's seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon's wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.
In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made compulsory in 1793.
Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. The states that had resisted Napoleon kept left - Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. This European division, between the left- and right-hand nations would remain fixed for more than 100 years, until after the First World War.
Although left-driving Sweden ceded Finland to right-driving Russia after the Russo-Swedish War (1808-1809), Swedish law - including traffic regulations - remained valid in Finland for another 50 years. It wasn't until 1858 that an Imperial Russian decree made Finland swap sides.
The trend among nations over the years has been toward driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenisation. With the expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in Britain in 1835. Countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit. This is why to this very day, India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. An exception to the rule, however, is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
Although Japan was never part of the British Empire, its traffic also goes to the left. Although the origin of this habit goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867) when Samurai ruled the country, it wasn't until 1872 that this unwritten rule became more or less official. That was the year when Japan's first railway was introduced, built with technical aid from the British. Gradually, a massive network of railways and tram tracks was built, and of course all trains and trams drove on the left-hand side. Still, it took another half century till in 1924 left-side driving was clearly written in a law.
When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1596, they brought along their habit of driving on the left. It wasn't until Napoleon conquered the Netherlands that the Dutch started driving on the right. Most of their colonies, however, remained on the left as did Indonesia and Suriname.
In the early years of English colonisation of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies drove on the left. After gaining independence from England, however, they were anxious to cast off all remaining links with their British colonial past and gradually changed to right-hand driving. (Incidentally, the influence of other European countries' nationals should not be underestimated.) The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws were passed in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813
I hope this detailed history now puts the matter to bed!
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
andy with your train of logic we could allbecome americans/canadians,with a paranoid thing about driving your car 5 feet down the road to pick up the daily planet.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Thank You Marek
Roger
