continental driving
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Mortimer on 7 Jan 2010 08:00 "GeoffC" <me(a)home.invalid.com> wrote in message news:80dfe$4b45d8e9$5351e322$28564(a)cache6.tilbu1.nb.home.nl... > Brimstone wrote: >> I'm thinking about taking myself off on a tour of western Europe a >> bit later in the year, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium etc. >> >> >> Any pointers to potential pitfalls would be useful as well. > > I'd like to draw attention to something not yet mentioned AFAIK. Trams. > You'll find them in many European cities. > They almost always have right of way. > They can't swerve to avoid you. > Being relatively quiet they can creep up on you. > They are hard and heavy if you hit one. Where a tram track crosses a road in European cities, are there usually traffic lights to stop the cars? I think the Croydon Tramlink does for the on-street section, but I'm not sure about other cities like Manchester and Sheffield.
From: Adrian on 7 Jan 2010 08:05 "Mortimer" <me(a)privacy.net> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: > Where a tram track crosses a road in European cities, are there usually > traffic lights to stop the cars? I think the Croydon Tramlink does for > the on-street section, but I'm not sure about other cities like > Manchester and Sheffield. Sheffield, yes.
From: GeoffC on 7 Jan 2010 08:20 Mortimer wrote: > "GeoffC" <me(a)home.invalid.com> wrote in message > news:80dfe$4b45d8e9$5351e322$28564(a)cache6.tilbu1.nb.home.nl... >> Brimstone wrote: >>> I'm thinking about taking myself off on a tour of western Europe a >>> bit later in the year, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium etc. >>> >>> >>> Any pointers to potential pitfalls would be useful as well. >> >> I'd like to draw attention to something not yet mentioned AFAIK. >> Trams. You'll find them in many European cities. >> They almost always have right of way. >> They can't swerve to avoid you. >> Being relatively quiet they can creep up on you. >> They are hard and heavy if you hit one. > > Where a tram track crosses a road in European cities, are there > usually traffic lights to stop the cars? Not always and the trams are usually in the middle of the road, so whenever they turn right they cut across the other traffic. I know for certain in Holland that trams always have right of way when turning, I suspect it is the same in most countries. There are plenty of left turns where you have to cross the tramlines without traffic lights. Oh yeah and they can't brake that well either. -- Geoff
From: Clive George on 7 Jan 2010 08:18 "GeoffC" <me(a)home.invalid.com> wrote in message news:8ebf8$4b45d3bc$5351e322$25735(a)cache4.tilbu1.nb.home.nl... > Clive George wrote: > <SNIP> > >> Priorite a droite in France is pretty darned rare these days IMO. > > Just because you don't see it does not necessarily mean it is not there. When I first drove in France in 1990, we were told about PAD. We hear stories from people who've never been there like Mortimer that there are roads where the tractor can legally pull out in front of you as you're barelling along the main road and you have to give way. Since then I've done a reasonable amount of driving and riding in that country, and pretty much all away from autoroutes, and my experience has been that PAD just isn't something you have to worry about. Kmow it's there for the very occasional unmarked unobvious junction in a town, but that's sane - if you're on a major road you're not going to have to give way in a bizarre fashion. >> I tend to avoid autoroutes, and seek out the smaller roads on my bike >> as well, > > Well there is a surprise :-) :-) But I do drive there as well. >> and the priority has been pretty much normal everywhere. > > Which of course prompts the question what is normal? In the context of the group "uk.rec.driving", I'd suggest similar to the experience of UK roads.
From: GeoffC on 7 Jan 2010 08:49
Clive George wrote: > "Adrian" <toomany2cvs(a)gmail.com> wrote in message > news:7qjfnjFbkaU13(a)mid.individual.net... >> "Clive George" <clive(a)xxxx-x.fsnet.co.uk> gurgled happily, sounding >> much like they were saying: >> >>> France 24H petrol often relies on cards, and doesn't accept UK cards >> >> It usually does these days. > > Didn't two years ago :-( Have they caught up? No, the UK caught up when it started using Maestro. -- Geoff |