continental driving
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Bod on 7 Jan 2010 08:57 GeoffC wrote: > 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 > > I used a car park on France about 6 weeks ago and it accepted my Visa card. Bod
From: Mortimer on 7 Jan 2010 09:10 "Bod" <bodron57(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:7qm7hkF64mU2(a)mid.individual.net... > I used a car park on France about 6 weeks ago and it accepted my Visa > card. Years ago (maybe early 80s) we were on a family holiday in Austria. We went for an expensive meal at a restaurant which displayed the Access sign (remember Access, "your flexible friend"). When Dad presented his Access card, they refused to accept it: they said that they accepted some German/Austrian/Swiss card which had exactly the same symbol. Since he had no other way of paying they reluctantly accepted the card. I'm not sure how the transaction would have gone through, but that was their problem. I did notice that they immediately removed the sticker displaying this symbol from the entrance door of the restaurant! I'm not sure how Germany manages without cheques and with few places accepting plastic. For regular payments you can set up standing orders or direct debits, and for one-off payments where you have internet access, you can use electronic banking to do the transfer. But that's no use for paying for a meal or for goods in a shop. *Surely* people don't still carry around wads of cash. Seems strange for such an advanced country to be so behind-the-times as regards credit/debit cards. Mind you, it's always surprised me that they still use the archaic "four-and-twenty blackbirds" way of counting (ie they put the units before the tens).
From: GeoffC on 7 Jan 2010 09:23 Clive George wrote: > "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. Its never been like that, not legally anyway. > 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. Quite worrying really. > Kmow it's there for the very occasional unmarked unobvious junction in a > town, There you go again, just because they escaped your attention does not mean they are not there. It applies literally to every junction not otherwise signposted. I can assure they occur significantly more often than occasionally. > but that's sane - if you're on a major road you're not going to > have to give way in a bizarre fashion. No, not if they are signed with the square yellow priority sign > > >>> 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. OK using that convention then it is safe to assume that right of way rules in continental Europe are 100% abnormal. -- Geoff
From: GeoffC on 7 Jan 2010 09:40 Mortimer wrote: > "Bod" <bodron57(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message > news:7qm7hkF64mU2(a)mid.individual.net... >> I used a car park on France about 6 weeks ago and it accepted my >> Visa card. > > Years ago (maybe early 80s) we were on a family holiday in Austria. > We went for an expensive meal at a restaurant which displayed the > Access sign (remember Access, "your flexible friend"). When Dad > presented his Access card, they refused to accept it: they said that > they accepted some German/Austrian/Swiss card which had exactly the > same symbol. Visa and MasterCard are VERY widely accepted in Europe. There are many more accepted only in the country of issue. > > I'm not sure how Germany manages without cheques and with few places > accepting plastic. Are you serious?? You can pay almost everywhere with a debit card using Maestro/PIN. That's why they don't need cheques. > For regular payments you can set up standing > orders or direct debits, and for one-off payments where you have > internet access, you can use electronic banking to do the transfer. Exactly, systems which enabled them to phase out the use of cheques years ago. The only place I see cheques being used in Europe these days is by old grannies in French rural Supermarkets. -- Geoff
From: Mortimer on 7 Jan 2010 09:44
"GeoffC" <me(a)home.invalid.com> wrote in message news:22ecc$4b45ee48$5351e322$21931(a)cache5.tilbu1.nb.home.nl... >>> 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. > > OK using that convention then it is safe to assume that right of way rules > in continental Europe are 100% abnormal. It's always intrigued me how rules like PAD and give way to traffic *joining* a roundabout ever saw the light of day. What funny substance do you have to smoke to come with ideas like that and think that they are sensible, intuitive and can keep the traffic moving? I can see a *little* bit of sense in the New Zealand rule oncoming traffic must give way to traffic that is turning right across their path, because it minimises the time that someone is waiting in the middle of the road to turn, blocking traffic behind them. Maybe I'm biassed: maybe if you grow up in France, the Netherlands or New Zealand and are used to it even as a child before you start driving yourself, it seems more logical. |