"Owain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Colin Bignell wrote
    > | > In the course of one week, we saw a Ferrari in
    > | > Widsor and a Lamborghini in London. Notably absent
    > | > are the behemoth SUV's so popular in the US.
    > | Our roads aren't big enough for a Hummer to fit on comfortably,
    > | but the number of 4x4 vehicles has grown enormously over the
    > | past decade or so. I like the view you get from them.
    > I can remember going up the side of Loch Lomond in Scotland and probably
    > 2/3rds of vehicles were 4x4 - usually Land-Rovers.

Traditional Land Rovers, from the Series I to the Defender, are sufficiently
uncomfortable that you can be fairly sure that anyone driving one has a
genuine need to do so. However, there are a lot of 4x4s about that don't go
off road and wouldn't be much use if they did. Mine virtually never goes off
road these days. However, as I have occasional need to tow a 1.4 tonne
trailer, I do need something with lots of power and a fair bit of weight of
its own.

    > | > Take roofing for example, almost every roof in England is
    > | > built of terra cotta or slate tiles.
    > | In London, that is due to the regulations brought in after the
    > | Great Fire.
    > in the year 1666, for the info of the OP

I think the Rebuilding Act, which required a fireproof building design, was
brought in the following year.

Colin Bignell

    > If that's the rule in US roundabouts, I think we've identified why they
    > don't work.

    

When I was a lad, there was no speed limit on the open roads. Jaguars
regularly did 130 on the Motorways. Many people, I suppose, are still living
in the past -- pehaps it is now built in to the British psyche.
rjf

The Reids muttered....

    > Following up to Yaofeng
    >
>
    >>Another thing I thought would never work in the US is the roundabout.
    >>Almost all intersections in the countryside are roundabouts. In the
    >>US it almost certainly means disaster. I think less traffic is the
    >>reason. With gasoline prices 3 to 4 times that in the States, there
    >>are less cars and people drive less. Drivers know to either slow down
    >>or stop when approaching a roundabout depending on on-coming traffic
    >>in the roundabout so no traffic signalling is required. While in the
    >>States the last remaining few roundabouts are traffic nightmares and
    >>soon be dismantled.
    >
    > Yes, but if US drivers were trained in the rules they would work
    > (give way to the right)

There are a few left in the US, one, formerly the intersection of major
hiways, now off the main road, just a few miles from my vantage point.
Having driven around the circle all my life, I notice that most locals do
well with the concept, but furriners (folks from more than 1000 miles up
the road) are discombobulated by it.

"Giving way to the right" will get your ass run plumb over here in the land
of driving on the right. It's give way left. The hardest switch for
'Merkins driving in the UK is learning to look right first at
intersections, having grown up checking the 9 o'oclock for bogeys.



    >
    > thats because of high fuel duty to discourage waste.
    >

Pretty well every attempt to survey the masses (of drivers) whether in the
US or abroad reveals that most folks see high fuel taxes as more successful
at raising government revenue than preventing waste. Especially since the
record hardly indicates much reduction in gasoline consumption during
decades of rising fuel taxes.

I will admit that my two big SUVs, one a 2001, the other a 2004, get much
better gas mileage than my 1979 "estate wagon", much smaller, ever did. If
a government were really interested in saving gas, a more sensible tax
would be on the projected miles per gallon basis for new cars when
purchased, a big stick rather than death by twigs.

TMO

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:29:59 GMT, Bob Fusillo wrote:

    > When I was a lad, there was no speed limit on the open roads. Jaguars
    > regularly did 130 on the Motorways. Many people, I suppose, are still living
    > in the past -- pehaps it is now built in to the British psyche.
    > rjf

The motorway speed limit was introduced during the oil crisis wasn't it?
Officially to cut fuel consumption but never revoked (of course).
--
Tim C.

    > If a government were really interested in saving gas, a more sensible tax
    > would be on the projected miles per gallon basis for new cars when
    > purchased, a big stick rather than death by twigs.

It's not quite what you meant, I think, but in Austria the road tax for
cars is based on power output, and the first registration tax (NoVA) is
based on consumption figures.

--
Tim C.

The Reids <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>. ..

    > Whats your impression of the ratio overwight people in the two
    > countries?
    >

I joke to friends that I can spot Yankees outside of the country not
only by the way they dress (most always in shorts) but also by their
size. They are most always one to several sizes bigger even if not
excessively overweight.

"nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Our roads aren't big enough for a Hummer to fit on comfortably, but the
    > number of 4x4 vehicles has grown enormously over the past decade or so. I
    > like the view you get from them.

They handle speed bumps much better too.

"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Wouldn't know about the economy! But your right, London is very expensive
    > compared with elsewhere in the UK. However for foreign tourists that is
all
    > they are likely to see.

For the record, 4th largest world economy.

In article <[email protected]>,
Fustanella <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> People are always saying that Vauxhalls are terrible cars but I think they
    >> are quite decent cars.
    >We had one last year for a London-Stonehenge jaunt and liked it a lot.
    >> Why do drivers not stick to the rules of roundabouts in the USA? They are
    >> used all over Europe without problems.
    >Euro-style roundabouts are very rare in the US. Folks here simply aren't
    >used to them. Me, I love them, and would like to see more as I believe they
    >do handle traffic better than stodgy intersections.

Some years ago I ran into some of these in the Boston, MA area. There
was a local sport of getting between a driver and his exit, thus making
him go around a second time. I wonder if the same applies in the UK?

Ted

"Tim Challenger" <"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at"> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:29:59 GMT, Bob Fusillo wrote:
    > > When I was a lad, there was no speed limit on the open roads. Jaguars
    > > regularly did 130 on the Motorways. Many people, I suppose, are still
living
    > > in the past -- pehaps it is now built in to the British psyche.
    > > rjf
    > The motorway speed limit was introduced during the oil crisis wasn't it?
    > Officially to cut fuel consumption but never revoked (of course).
    > --
    > Tim C.

I think you'll find it predates it by several years.

IRC the national limit was introduced in 1965 after
a number of horrendous crashes and a scandal
when a sports car manufacturer (Lola ?) was
revealed to be testing vehicles at 140 mph
on the M-1

A lower limit was introduced during the oil
crisis but later lifted.

Since the 70mph limit came into force most
cars have much better braking and steering system
and the current limits is seen as somewhat unreasonable.

A Vauxhall Vectra at 80mph is undoubtedly far
safer than a 1965 Vauxhall Victor was at 70.
Doing a crash stop on those old cars with their
drum brakes and no servo could end with your
brakes fading fast before you came to a halt.

Keith

Following up to Björn Olsson

    >> Yes, but if US drivers were trained in the rules they would work
    >> (give way to the right)
    >If that's the rule in US roundabouts, I think we've identified why they
    >don't work.

LOL, you have to reverse everything of course for the funny way
things are done in the US :-)
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to Olivers

    >I will admit that my two big SUVs, one a 2001, the other a 2004, get much
    >better gas mileage than my 1979 "estate wagon", much smaller, ever did. If
    >a government were really interested in saving gas, a more sensible tax
    >would be on the projected miles per gallon basis for new cars when
    >purchased, a big stick rather than death by twigs.

We have annual car tax lower for small engines, some tax or other
I forget varying for engine emissions and of course fuel tax,
between them they encourage most people to consider fuel
efficiency more than americans.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

nightjar .uk.com> <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >> Traditional Land Rovers, from the Series I to the Defender, are
sufficiently
    > uncomfortable that you can be fairly sure that anyone driving one has a
    > genuine need to do so. However, there are a lot of 4x4s about that don't
go
    > off road and wouldn't be much use if they did. Mine virtually never goes
off
    > road these days. However, as I have occasional need to tow a 1.4 tonne
    > trailer, I do need something with lots of power and a fair bit of weight
of
    > its own.

Have you not seen the TV ad where the lad 'cleans' his suburban 4x4 by
throwing muddy water over it!

Surreyman

"Tim Challenger" <"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at"> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:29:59 GMT, Bob Fusillo wrote:
    > > When I was a lad, there was no speed limit on the open roads. Jaguars
    > > regularly did 130 on the Motorways. Many people, I suppose, are still
living
    > > in the past -- pehaps it is now built in to the British psyche.
    > > rjf
    > The motorway speed limit was introduced during the oil crisis wasn't it?

There was a series of major multiple accidents on the M1 (which, running
from a couple of junctions south of the M10 to a junction or two north of
the M45, was most of the motorway network at the time) in the early 1960s.
The Road Research Laboratory carried out an investigation into the effect of
speed limits and published its report in 1963. That report came down in
favour of speed limtis as a way of reducing the number of vehicles that
grossly exceed the set limit and also of reducing the relative speed of
traffic on the same road. The latter had been identified as a significant
cause of the accidents, although the fact that they happened in thick fog
was probably also relevant. The national speed limit, of 70mph for all
roads, was introduced on motorways in the summer of 1965 and on all other
roads shortly before Christmas 1965, timed to coincide with the don't drink
and drive campaign.

    > Officially to cut fuel consumption but never revoked (of course).

There was a reduction in the national limit during the fuel crisis, to try
to keep vehicles at or below 50mph, which had been identified as the maximum
efficient speed for most vehicles. After the fuel crisis, the current
two-tier system of 70mph on motorways and dual carriageways and 60mph on
single carriageways was introduced.

Colin Bignell