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I'm back on the subject of driving, after spending five hours on rural American roads. Incidentally, these roads are often in terrible repair. Not as bad, however, as the motorways in California, where suburbanites don't want to pay taxes that might benefit the poor and migrants--the Tragedy of the Commons. American drivers are oblivious that other people share the road with them, and that some cooperation is required. I have followed cars driving below the speed limit for 10, 20, even 30 miles without their noticing, or caring, that a line of cars is building up behind them. (On rural roads it may not be possible to pass/overtake for many miles.) I've driven in the UK, France, and Italy with far greater ease than here. I learned to drive in England, where I was taught to get out of the way of faster drivers--that's courtesy, yes, but also good sense because it keeps everyone happy. And while Americans may be good engineers, they haven't got a clue about the art of effective sign posting. I was just in Virginia where we were told to take "64 East, but it's actually going West." And in Boston, trying to get on the Mass Turnpike, there's a sign for 80 East, but there's no sign for 80 West anywhere. After many wasted miles, I finally decided to take the East road. After a quarter mile, there was a split, and you could then choose East or West. I wonder if Americans' ambivalence about cooperation and community--required on the road--and fear of strangers comes out in these ways.
KarenC ..more by this author..
USA