(Untitled)

[shevek]

I have been reading the California Drivers' Manual. It is the California equivalent of the Highway Code, and it scares the living daylights out of me. It is available for free on the internet. It is hard to condense the horror to one or two gems, so I offer the following extended list

Comments

[valkyriekaren]

Avoid the following driving behaviors: talking on a cell phone or text messaging, and reading the newspaper, etc.

No shit?

I mean, they're all pretty crazy, but having to tell people not to read a newspaper while driving? What the...?

[crazyscot]

You have heard the tale about the driver who put his motor home on cruise control and went back to make a sandwich, haven't you...?

[quercus]

...Then sued the maker, as I recall{{cn}}

What's the law like for ride-on mowers and mobility scooters? Is it true that you're allowed to shoot roundabouts on sight, just for being un-American?

[aster13]

Don't americans have roundabouts?

[thekumquat]

Uh...yeah. Summarises the whole 'right to drive' mindset - I'm surprised it's not been enshrined in the Constitution

[shevek]

Well, I called a driving school, and asked for an instructor who is happy to give me a lesson to pass the California test in my TT. They went "guh... we have automatics...".

[thekumquat]

Take the test in their car - I'm told one lesson will be plenty. The bureacracy is the hard bit!

You'll be slightly reassured to hear my legally-blind PhD supervisor decided not to apply for a license despite managing to pass the eyesight test (they asked him to read a sign outside the center which he'd read earlier...)

Rumour has it the roads north of San Diego never have the potholes repaired not just to save money, but to get drivers to slow down...

[ewhac]

In my case, the trick was taking the test in a vehicle that was insured. If you don't have a license, you can't buy your own insurance. And if the vehicle isn't insured (or the insurance doesn't cover you), the DMV won't administer the test.

The solution is to use a driving school's car -- a standard service most of them offer for a modest fee. The DMV does not actually appear to care if you will be driving stick or not, and if you have any common sense at all, the test is not challenging.

[watervole]

I suspect the greater stopping distance may relate to the fact that US cars are generally bigger and heavier, but I could be wrong.

[ladykalessia]

Also, because if you tell a normal commuter around here the *actual* stopping distance, they'll start trying to game the system and consider that exact figure in how close they tailgate specific types of vehicles.

No joke.

[cyberspice]

What's scary is that the British stopping distance is actually the distance a 1960s Ford Anglia takes to stop. They haven't been updated in decades. Modern cars can stop in half the distance. What does that say about the US stopping distances?

[abigailb]

p.82 In a bus, taxi, camper, or motor home, the law does not apply to non-driving passengers.

Sweet! I shall make sure to commit all my murders as a passenger in a bus, taxi, camper or motor home in California from now on.

[dakeyras]

Like!

[x_mass]

lol

[alexmc]

That's lovely. Thanks for that.

> 210 feet to react and bring the vehicle to a complete stop.

Maybe on average American cars are bigger and have less effective brakes.

[quercus]

I once lived in the US for 3 months, and (as legally required) I went looking for a car. As a contractor I didn't get a company hire car, so I had to find my own. Not wanting to pay for a hire car (I always drive shitheaps, no reason to change), I looked for something second-hand

[x_mass]

your legally required to own a car?? I had heard about guns but cars???

[quercus]

I did try walking to work (just under a mile), but kept getting pulled by the cops! Then they'd do that "Oh, you're English" thing where they'd look sympathetically at the straw-chewing halfwit, and wish me on my way off to my next cup of tea and a muffin.

In Boston or Chicago I had a fine time with no need of a car, but in Cincinnati it was your only means of escape.