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"Emergency Vehicle"



 
 
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  #11  
Old May 23rd 18, 11:46 AM posted to rec.autos.driving
Erik Meltzer[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7
Default Autobahn

Hi!

On 22.05.2018 23:40, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 05/21/2018 03:48 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:
>> Eventually, I think you'll have to go back to public transport.

>
> Apparently, but I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and public
> transportation is woefully inadequate for general usage.* I can drive to
> my daughter's house ~30 miles away in half an hour.* It would take 5
> hours by public transportation.* There are just too many places to go
> to/from here to make this practical.
>
> Uber is suggested, but I don't see how that makes a difference.* A car
> on the road is a car on the road.* Period.* It solves the parking
> problem, of course.


One might conceive something like buses that do not travel on
predefined routes but according to demand. Passengers use their
smartphone to register their location and destination and their
desired time of departure, and a computer system routes the
buses accordingly. Something similar is being built in Hamburg,
Germany; we'll see how it goes, but given enough buses (or vans,
which is what they'll use there), I can imagine it should work
well. And be cheaper than taxis or Ubers, too. (Ubers are not
really a viable alternative anyway -- they're affordable only by
exploiting the owners/drivers.)

>> I have since come up with another theory: speeding is less fun
>> in SUVs, which are regrettably on the rise over here too, albeit
>> not nearly as much as in the US from what I read.

>
> Worse gas mileage = more expensive, but I don't think that matters as
> much as time.* You can see further in an SUV than in a Corolla, which
> would seem to indicate that you could drive faster...


The same speed feels the faster the higher you're sitting. Hence,
maybe 100 mph in an SUV feels like 140 mph in a sedan (of similar
size, engine, and ride quality).

> Pretty much the same here, although* you're not allowed to drive
> small-displacement motorcycles and other slow-by-design vehicles on the
> freeways.


There is such a limit in Germany as well, but it's ridiculously
slow: you must be able to drive 60 km/h (36 mph) to legally use
an Autobahn. The only vehicles that actually go that slow are
driveable cranes and such, and sometimes city buses with standing
passengers and motorbikes with trailers (both of which can't
legally go faster).

> Theory has it that slow drivers use the rightmost lane and
> fast drivers use the leftmost, but slow drivers don't seem to understand
> that concept.* These are the same people who apparently can't read the
> SLOW VEHICLES USE TURNOUTS signs on narrow mountain roads.

Slow traffic keep right works reasonably well over here. Letting
faster traffic pass on single-lane roads does not.

> 'Interstates' are generally not all that interesting for pleasure trips,
> although they're fine for speed once you get out of the cities.* Older
> Federal and State highways are much better and more interesting and
> those are what we used for most of our cross-country driving.


So that's similar. But I use the Bundesstraßen and Landstraßen
not just for pleasure trips (and getting to the Autobahn), but
sometimes also because I don't feel like participating in a
traffic jam. Even with the big rig I drive for work, I've been
known to avoid Autobahns (and occasionally it turned out I was
actually faster that way).

> BTW, your English is perfect.* If you're not a native English speaker
> I'm impressed as all hell!


Thank you. I was in England twice for a couple of weeks as a
teenager, and I've mostly been reading English books and watching
English movies ever since (and of course, websites & newsgroups).

Yours,
Ermel.
--
Nach 10 Jahren oder so zurück im Usenet.
Schmeckt wie früher.
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  #12  
Old May 23rd 18, 06:21 PM posted to rec.autos.driving
The Real Bev[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 570
Default Autobahn

On 05/23/2018 03:46 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:
> Hi!
>
> On 22.05.2018 23:40, The Real Bev wrote:
>> On 05/21/2018 03:48 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:
>>> Eventually, I think you'll have to go back to public transport.

>>
>> Apparently, but I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and public
>> transportation is woefully inadequate for general usage. I can drive to
>> my daughter's house ~30 miles away in half an hour. It would take 5
>> hours by public transportation. There are just too many places to go
>> to/from here to make this practical.
>>
>> Uber is suggested, but I don't see how that makes a difference. A car
>> on the road is a car on the road. Period. It solves the parking
>> problem, of course.

>
> One might conceive something like buses that do not travel on
> predefined routes but according to demand. Passengers use their
> smartphone to register their location and destination and their
> desired time of departure, and a computer system routes the
> buses accordingly. Something similar is being built in Hamburg,
> Germany; we'll see how it goes, but given enough buses (or vans,
> which is what they'll use there), I can imagine it should work
> well. And be cheaper than taxis or Ubers, too. (Ubers are not
> really a viable alternative anyway -- they're affordable only by
> exploiting the owners/drivers.)


"Jitney" system. For many years a distinguished British gentleman
annoyed out City Fathers by advocating (loudly, and he had a beautiful
singing voice) such a system at every council meeting. He ran for city
council once, accepting no contribution greater than $5 (my only EVER
political contribution) and lost, unfortunately. There's a cheap/free
local bus system, but I've never used it. The Metro system (parts of LA
County) is very nearly free for seniors, but I use it only for the few
places I go to where I would have to pay for parking at $4/hour or more.

>>> I have since come up with another theory: speeding is less fun
>>> in SUVs, which are regrettably on the rise over here too, albeit
>>> not nearly as much as in the US from what I read.

>>
>> Worse gas mileage = more expensive, but I don't think that matters as
>> much as time. You can see further in an SUV than in a Corolla, which
>> would seem to indicate that you could drive faster...

>
> The same speed feels the faster the higher you're sitting. Hence,
> maybe 100 mph in an SUV feels like 140 mph in a sedan (of similar
> size, engine, and ride quality).
>
>> Pretty much the same here, although you're not allowed to drive
>> small-displacement motorcycles and other slow-by-design vehicles on the
>> freeways.

>
> There is such a limit in Germany as well, but it's ridiculously
> slow: you must be able to drive 60 km/h (36 mph) to legally use
> an Autobahn. The only vehicles that actually go that slow are
> driveable cranes and such, and sometimes city buses with standing
> passengers and motorbikes with trailers (both of which can't
> legally go faster).


There are places out in the desert where the freeway is the only road
that bicycles are allowed to use on the shoulder. I don't think we
have speed limits for city buses, but I've never seen any (that I
remember) on the freeway. Tour buses are common on the freeways and
seem to exceed the nominal speed limit as often as cars do.

>> BTW, your English is perfect. If you're not a native English speaker
>> I'm impressed as all hell!

>
> Thank you. I was in England twice for a couple of weeks as a
> teenager, and I've mostly been reading English books and watching
> English movies ever since (and of course, websites & newsgroups).


Do you have a British or American accent?

We've been watching a German TV series called Bad Banks (in English).
It's in German and sometimes French with English subtitles. It's truly
impressive that the actors speak genuine unaccented American English as
well as what sounds to my ears to be perfect German (I studied for 6
weeks and couldn't take it any more) and French (5 years). I'm also
amazed at the Australian actors with perfect American accents.

The idea that people can grow up speaking several languages natively is
enviable.

--
Cheers, Bev
Not all cultures are equal. If they were, we
would have a lot more cannibal restaurants.
  #13  
Old May 24th 18, 11:58 PM posted to rec.autos.driving
Bernd Felsche[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 129
Default "Emergency Vehicle"

Erik Meltzer > wrote:
>On 07.12.2017 19:49, The Real Bev wrote:


>Here in Germany, there are plenty of small access roads to Autobahns
>marked (with the German signage equivalent to) "no passing for any
>vehicles except emergency vehicles". They're for letting local
>fire departments et.al. to enter the Autobahn in case of a crash
>there, without needing to take the long way via the next official
>entry/exit. Usually they lead to some acticultural road, which
>from the other end is marked as no access accordingly.


It's all very organized in Germany. Even if it doesn't always work
as it should. ;-)

>> and* there was ALWAYS some sort of ancient rusted wreck
>> nearby.


>Maybe the tow trucks dumped the wrecks near the access roads after
>having dragged them off the main road, when it seemed foreseeable
>that no-one would come to claim them and pay the towing bill?


>Unrelated side note: I just resubscribed to rec.autos.driving after
>a decade or so of absence, and got only nine postings. Is this
>group dead, or is something wrong with my feed?


It just got a lot quieter when people moved to the Internet for
finger-painters.

Likely your feed is subscription/reader sensistive but don't expects
hundreds of articles a day.
--
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Somewhere in Western Australia
\ / ASCII ribbon campaign | For every complex problem there is an
X against HTML mail | answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
/ \ and postings | --HL Mencken
 




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