Hey!! I learned to drive in Rio --- straight stick in a Dodge 3/4 ton power
wagon. That wide avenue is Presidente Vargas. At one end there is a canal
that separates the two sides of the avenue. Lots of cars end up in the
stagnant water because of what's considered imprudence at the wheel. You
ain't seen nuthin' until you see a fully loaded city bus flip over the
railing on an overpass and land upside down in the traffic below -- hot tar
on the up ramp makes bumps that cause the vehicles to bounce as they go up
and of course the faster one goes the higher one bounces.

My daughter learned to drive in Quito --- also straight stick on some of the
steepest roads (notice I didn't say streets or avenues) in the Andes. She
still thinks it's okay to honk the horn and barrel through an intersection.
I said she thinks it's okay, I didn't say she still does it.

Then there is driving in Tunisia or any other Francophone country where one
has to yield to the car on the right.....and the bigger vehicles decide to
ignore the law. Be in the right and go or chicken out and live to make a
post in the newsgroup later on in life?? I drove a huge Jeep Wagoneer with
a brush guard that would be be considered huge even in Texas. People did
give me space.

Flying just might be the safest way to go. Problem is getting to
go......last trip we actually changed airlines at the terminal because of
the delays in Houston and what they were doing to the commercial airlines
that day.

HUA buddy!!


"§qu@re Wheels" wrote in message
news:kpKxi.70130$fJ5.23426@pd7urf1no...
On this particular day of this month, in the Year Of The Golden Pig,
redc1c4 did state:

Mitchell Holman wrote:


Seattle work pinches I-5 down to two lanes

The News Tribune
August 17th, 2007


The traffic situation on northbound Interstate 5 should
tighten today after crews moved traffic barriers overnight
to allow only two lanes of travel. Crews working on the I-5
construction project in Seattle began the shift late Thursday.
A rolling slowdown of at least half an hour was expected
sometime after 1 a.m. today as workers moved the barriers.

Drivers in the far right lane will be diverted onto the
collector-distributor roadway, which provides access to off-
ramps to I-90, Dearborn Avenue, James Street and Madison Street,
but later reconnects with the I-5 mainline, the state Department
of Transportation said in a news release.

"Right-lane drivers can help keep traffic moving if they know
they are not leaving I-5," said regional administrator Lorena Eng.

Workers planned to gradually reduce northbound I-5 to one lane
for much of the night, with lane closures starting at 8 p.m.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/l...ry/135037.html
------------------------------

Worst traffic on the planet, bar none. Every time I
go back there I remember why I left there........


Oh, I must beg to differ..... :^D



then you've never driven in Lost Angels. %-)

redc1c4,
leaving the neighborhood requires a traffic avoidance plan.


I learned to drive on the SoCal Freeway system. Wasn't that bad -- at
least 'way back then in my youth (roughly the Flintstones era).


Here are a few of my candidates for /truly/ bad places to drive, with the
caveat that things may have changed since I was there.



o Rio de Janeiro -- wonderfully wide streets, in downtown Rio itself,
maybe the equivalent of 16 lanes. And not one single lane-marker of any
kind, not even a centre-line.

o Anywhere in South America that is not in a large city.

o The side roads of Italy, the ones known only by the high-end car
dealers. Makes the Autobahn seem like a carpool lane.

o Montreal, Canada. Probably has a higher per-capita rate of Corvettes
than California. And they are mostly driven by people who really can't
drive, and speak neither English nor French so can't read the road signs,
not that they care to anyway.

o The Sea-To-Sky Highway here in BC (the road to the world-famous
Whistler Ski Resort). Been under construction ever since it was first
started, and now is being widened yet again for the expected influx from
the 2010 Olympics. Got a call from my friend yesterday on his cellphone;
he was heading my way from that hwy, and was only about 2 kliks away.
Engine off. We chatted for nearly an hour and a half before traffic
started moving again.

and finally, a personal fave...

o The Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC. A 3-lane antique that never
really gets fixed, but does get painted a lot. Not the worst to drive on,
except that we all know that its collapse is inevitable. And a lot of
folks just aren't into Russian Roulette.


Hmmmmmmmmm. Suddenly, flying seems extremely safe....


(and it truly is, I know)



SW