That’s one dead end answer.
Exacto John - RHD or LHD is crude relativism, whether it is a Lamborghini or Peugot 206, a Centurion tank or double decker bus is immaterial, a prat behind the wheel in any of them is a nasty fact that can get even nastier. End of.
The degree of danger can have quite a lot to do with the vehicle.
LOL - Thank you for making me smile Catharine :-)
No John - my response wasn't disingenuous, it was sarcastic and deliberately provocative :-)
Sudden death is dreadful Nick. No words can express the pain, I know.
It’s not that having a steering eheel in the wrong place is good Steve, it’s that it’s no big deal.
Driving is a funny thing Brian because for many people it is just a utilitarian chore, for others it is a hobby and great source of pleasure. For me, depending on which car I’m driving and where I’m off too it can be either. As I think you are pointing out, once a car is roadworthy and legal the degree of “danger” is dependent on the driver not on the vehicle and I agree fully with that.
@ John - you've just won my personal award for 'Post of the Day' as 'untwilight yourself' has just become an official family expression. Thank you for making me smile! x
Not a wind up at all and frankly your rsponse was disingenuous.I don’t know where you live but I live in the countryside, amongst vineyards, with narrow roads that have no centre white line and often quite steep ditches on either side. If a car or van is belting towards you the best course of action is to drive as close to the right as possible. A RHD makes this easier than a LHD. That was Catherine’s point. So untwilight youself.
I’m a bit impatient. During the summer in the South a zapper can save a lot of time as the queues at the tolls are very long even without a RHD issue. I hate the idea of belting along at 130 and then wasting time at the tolls when for pretty much zero cost (2 euro a month I think and only that if you use the zapper) I can drive through at 30 clicks rather than watch the person ahead of me, RHD or not, search for their ticket then fumble for change and/or a credit card, put the wrong one in the wrong slot or the wrong way around, drop the coins etc. I generally only use the autoroute if I want to get somewhere quickly or if I’m doing long distance. I hate delays because it only extends the run so I only stop for fuel and wouldn’t be with out a zapper in all of our cars. I used to drive up and down from Cherbourg to the Var a lot and my wife used to say I only stopped to empty the dog and fill the car.
@ Nico & Simon
There is obviously no 'good' way to go but what you two went through was horrible, my sympathies..
About two years ago a chap called Bob Morris, a really nice guy was working on his allotment just across the road from his house near to Montrollet in Charente. It was about 1900 hrs and the sun was low in the sky. A young lady driver just knocked off from work at a a local supermarket was travelling home to an adjoining village. She was heading west and couldn't see Bob on the side of the road waiting to cross to go home. The sun was so bright she just ploughed into him not knowing exactly where she was positioned. Bob was killed outright and the young lady prosecuted for dangerous driving. She was sober by the way. Bob's wife Madge actually sold their house for a giveaway price the week after and moved straight back to the UK after the cremation.
So many sad tales....
Same sympathies to you Simon. Bit of a crappy Christmas all round then 1991.
I´d put a smiley in here and now if i knew how.
I thought it was sufficiently ridiculous when I wrote it; I´ll try for extra absurdity next time. It´s gone rather sour, sorry
Steve, my apologies to you. I read what you put at face value. No hard feelings from my part.
Take care - especially around those driving slowly.
@ Steve - maybe a good idea to use smilies :-) when you're kidding around...
@ Nick - I feel for you. My Dad was also knocked down and killed by a drunk driver (in France) just before Christmas 1991 (!) - buried him on Christmas Eve. I'm afraid I don't have the words that fully express what I think about drunk drivers....or those people who think it's ok drink and drive....
Remember Japan drives on the left - economic efficiency dictates that one day the world will come to its senses and conform.
To those who believed my defence of drink driving - erm sorry it was meant as a dig at those who think having a steering wheel in the wrong place is good (clue - it just isn´t). I don´t drink and drive - not since getting let off by Policeman Dan in Madingley in 1970thing anyway
We still say out loud drive on the right when setting off (ditto left when in UK)
Nick I sent you a pm apology
I have had a serious accident here in France in a RHD. Went for a game of pool with my dad at Christmas 1991. I didn’t drink so that my dad could, and both breath tests bear this out.
Anyway head on with another car, driver positive at scene, negative at hospital.
My dad, passenger therefore in our RHD took the full brunt. Not being melodramatic, he was decapitated. Dead there and then.
So in my book, if you drink and drive, you really are a twonk. And that’s my personal opinion from personal experience.