American vs. European Motoring

[kanderson]

That must been one hell of a talk

Well, he started it. It was something like this:

"Hey, so this is a real 427 AC Cobra??!?"

... "Yeah."

"You just did 135 from a dead stop at that light three blocks back, didn't you?"

... "Yep"

"That's one hell of a fast car."

... "Want to take it out for a drive?"

"No, I can't, really."

... "Come on, go ahead. How often do you even see one of these?"

"You know, my dad always wanted one of these. He only lives right over there. Can you go show it to him?"



No ticket.

[zenkidori]

Damn, and I'm always talking shit about Utah.

[mmap]

Didn't the saying go "if you can drive in Paris you can drive anywhere"? Dunno never driven there myself.

Finland?... Lots of long, lonely, empty roads, you can drive for hundreds of kilometres (or even miles) and not see another person (large country, very litle people living here...) Even the gas stations are mostly unmanned so that wont help either.

And we have the worst fining policy, you can drive 10kph above the speed limit and not get stopped (well if you do it in heavy trafic with pedestrians around you wont...) but stray above that and the fines can be astronomical. The amount paid depends on you income level (which the cops can check with an SMS).

[kanderson]

if you can drive in Paris you can drive anywhere

I've traveled a lot. (Too much.) There are a few cities I will NOT drive in (not listed in any order):

1. Paris
2. Boston
3. Washington D.C.
4. Nashville
5. Mexico City
6. Santiago
7. Anywhere in India
8. Anywhere in South Korea

Taxi drivers in these cities are much better at knowing how to keep from getting killed.

[topgear]

I'll second those, and add:
-Bangkok- spent hours in taxis being driven on the wrong side of divided streets.
-Tokyo- I'm sure I could get the hang of it, but I'll need to rent a faster scooter/moto.
-Tijuana- At least anytime after 8PM Friday, too many drunk drivers.
(wherever kanderson is doing 135 in a 25)

[bihus]

I'll add the south of Italy

Paris is crazy, too, but Rome is where I got most scared. And from what everyone says, the further you go heading south, the worst it gets. Don't stop in red lights, or you will probably get smacked by some guy coming from behind.

Kanderson, you got really lucky there, but you knew how to take it, too.

[kanderson]

you got really lucky there

Yes, VERY lucky. That's the sort of thing that doesn't happen twice.
(but that doesn't stop me from driving like that, either)

[bihus]

heheheh, guess it wouldn't. It may have for about a week, but if you're like me, after a scare, it just goes back to normal.

BTW, did you went and showed the car to his father?

[kanderson]

Yes, I followed his patrol car to his father's house, who wasn't there, but his mother took a lot of pictures of the car and of the policeman sitting in the driver seat with a stupid-looking grin on his face, then he told me to "drive slower" and I left. Then I parked it in my garage and left it there for a few days.

I learned something from this, though. I made it a point to get to know all of the local policeman. Here in Springville there are 25 policemen, and in the last year, 23 of them have driven my Cobra. I let the Chief of Police borrow it for an evening with his wife, and he was clocked (by one of his own patrol) at 3 times the speed limit. So... at this point I can do whatever I want (within reason) in Springville and they won't bother me.

Hal Wing, a rich guy in town that owns a large car collection that includes a Carrera GT and an Enzo, etc., has the same kind of "deal" that I have. I'm still looking forward to meeting up with Hal in his Carrera GT somewhere on the back roads to see if his $500K can beat my $5K. (I doubt it.)

I think we're way off topic now.

[bihus]

Originally Posted by kanderson

Yes, I followed his patrol car to his father's house, who wasn't there, but his mother took a lot of pictures of the car and of the policeman sitting in the driver seat with a stupid-looking grin on his face, then he told me to "drive slower" and I left. Then I parked it in my garage and left it there for a few days.

I learned something from this, though. I made it a point to get to know all of the local policeman. Here in Springville there are 25 policemen, and in the last year, 23 of them have driven my Cobra. I let the Chief of Police borrow it for an evening with his wife, and he was clocked (by one of his own patrol) at 3 times the speed limit. So... at this point I can do whatever I want (within reason) in Springville and they won't bother me.

Hal Wing, a rich guy in town that owns a large car collection that includes a Carrera GT and an Enzo, etc., has the same kind of "deal" that I have. I'm still looking forward to meeting up with Hal in his Carrera GT somewhere on the back roads to see if his $500K can beat my $5K. (I doubt it.)

I think we're way off topic now.

But in a damn interesting way...

I'd like a deal like that one, too. eheheh

[zenkidori]

$5k? so you drive a replica?

[kanderson]

I posted the story about the car some time ago and now I can't find it. But in summary, it's a restoration from a wrecked, original Shelby 427 AC Cobra. Original Shelby 427 engine, chassis, suspension and a few other parts, but a new body. Still worth at least 20 times what I've put into it.

[Lilleput]

I have recently been to Lisboa, Portugal alot more uncivilised than Copenhagen, Denmark. I dont know about the financial situation in Portugal but the cars in Lisboa was 98% small old hatchbacks and 2% Supercars / Executives i saw more overtaking on the hard shoulder in a week than i have seen in my 20yr long life in Copenhagen - People just seems more selfish (Not that they are like that outside their cars) i just saw people parking their cars every where! parked cars on every foot of sidewalk that was maby the biggest chock..

I dont have anything against the contry or the people it was just a big culture chock tho people there are great drivers im pretty sure i saw my life flash before me at least 5 times driving around in a cab..

[JoeBlo1]

^ Must have been fun. If I saw that in any of the Mediterranean/Latin countries, I wouldn't be surprised.

I visted the Philippines in 1998 with my family and the traffic there was terrible. Whenever we stopped at a red light, other cars behind us would honk and bully us to drive forward. No one wears their seatbelts, even on the highways, and there are no lane designations. You can practically drive all over the road. Cops are corrupt and only want your money if they pull you over. There are so many cars in Manila that you cannot drive your car on one day of the week depending on the color of your licence plate, so as to reduce overall traffic in the city.

[bihus]

Originally Posted by Lilleput

I have recently been to Lisboa, Portugal alot more uncivilised than Copenhagen, Denmark. I dont know about the financial situation in Portugal but the cars in Lisboa was 98% small old hatchbacks and 2% Supercars / Executives i saw more overtaking on the hard shoulder in a week than i have seen in my 20yr long life in Copenhagen - People just seems more selfish (Not that they are like that outside their cars) i just saw people parking their cars every where! parked cars on every foot of sidewalk that was maby the biggest chock..

I dont have anything against the contry or the people it was just a big culture chock tho people there are great drivers im pretty sure i saw my life flash before me at least 5 times driving around in a cab..

As Guns'N'Roses said, Welcome to the Jungle.
About the parking, it's true, but mainly because our city councils allow bigger and bigger buildings without proper parking spaces...
But you were in Lisbon, which is the worst example.
Another funny stat, is that in the north, next to Porto (2nd biggest city) it's almost impossible to find a biker with helmet. I laugh all the time, when I go there...

[Manic Moran]

Well, if you're talking about cab drivers, about the most harrowing out there is Seoul, Korea.

It's disconcerting to note that they're so crazy that there is an officially sanctioned 'Good Driver' badge you will see on a portion of the taxis. And they're not small either, they take up about the entire door panel.

NTM

[CyberMonkey]

Well, the Scandinavian/Northern Europe countries are known for their discipline and correctness, no wonder you were shocked when entering a big mediterranian city

It seems like the more northern you go, the more disciplined the people behave

edit: except for Holland off course, they smoke weed there

[Lilleput]

Originally Posted by CyberMonkey

edit: except for Holland off course, they smoke weed there

I'd bet my horse that weeven is beeing smoked just as much or more in all the other Euopean countries just not in the open.



edit: i dont have a horse..