Richard, if you think that was bad, wait until the first snowfall of 1 inch or more!!!!
Richard, if you think that was bad, wait until the first snowfall of 1 inch or more!!!!
I wonder if the thing with Florida drivers is that all they know are flat roads and straight lines? A few years ago I was riding with a recent Florida transplant. Still getting used to coming to a stop while going down hill even after 4 months.
Here, we don't even think about sudden changes in elevation, twisty winding curves for miles on end or roads with an extreme tilt in spots where it is needed to stop road puddling.
Up in the Adirondacks there is no such thing as a "flat road". You are either going up, or down/Originally Posted by KG4CGC
I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.
I have tried to find flats here but even the flat roads are on some kind of incline. Even the interstate that runs through here is on rolling hills.
Same deal around here--no such thing as flat terrain or a straight road.
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
We have a few plateus here, but they're pretty rare. The only reason the interstate is merely inclined is because they open cut the areas that had hills and bridged the areas that had valleys. Where I'm at, there's nothing but hills. And today, it feels as if I should be building an ark it's raining so hard.
“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."
--Philip K. Dick
Now, these days that would be nothing. Highways in the US are tame. The EU is freaking scary. Most Europeans tell me that the Spanish are crazy on the roads but that France has worse traffic conditions.
The Mediterranean islands aren't too bad but last time I went to France they were such crazy overtakers that truck drivers having to stop for a queue usually indicated a left turn to prevent any lunatics passing and creating a pileup. As for Italy.......
You'll find the UK crowded with narrow roads but relatively tame even if we drive on the other side.
Anyway I'll be hiring a car north of LA in April to drive up to San Francisco visiting various places en route and ending up meeting relatives. I've motored in various other states but any useful tips for California would be welcome. Back roads for me mostly I think.
Florida drivers ARE bad, but the ones in Washington D.C. and from Jersey make them look very good.
Bad roads? The Gowanus is bad for congestion. It's too busy, handles much more traffic than it was designed for and is in a constant state of repair.
The East River Drive has it's own problems. The lanes continually change in width along the whole lenght of it and in some areas currents from the turbulent East River constantly undermine it. During Tropical Storm Agnes, the northern portion (The Harlem Driveway) was under over 8 feet of water for days at a time. The Taconic Parkway is a challenge with one stretch going from 3 lanes to two and a 14 inch stone wall inches away in two very narrow lanes. Then it goes to 6 lanes in each direction. This section has deer crossing throughout it's lenght. People who are unfamiliar with it usually crash if they drive at night.
“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."
--Philip K. Dick
Anybody remember the big crash that happened in some fog on I-75, north of Chattanooga? 99 (or more) vehicles, 42 injured, 12 dead.
From the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB):
About 9: 10 a.m. on December 11, 1990, a tractor-semitrailer in the southbound
lanes of 1-75 near Calhoun, Tennessee, struck the rear of another tractor-semitrailer
that had slowed because of fog. The uninjured truckdrivers exited their vehicles and
attempted to check for damage.. After the initial collision, an automobile struck the
rear of the second truck and was in turn struck in the rear by another
tractor-semitrailer. Fire ensued and consumed two trucks and the automobile.
Meanwhile, in the northbound lanes of 1-75, an automobile struck the rear of
another automobile that had slowed because of fog.. Then, a pickup truck and two
other automobiles became involved in the chain-reaction rear end collision, No
fatalities, injuries, or fires occurred. Subsequently, 99 vehicles in the northbound
and southbound lanes were involved in multiple-vehicle chain-reaction collisions
that killed 12 people and injured 42 others.
Yup, I lived in SoCal for two years. The best description I could give for I-24 would be to compare it to I-710, the Long Beach Freeway, which has to be the worst road in Southern California. The difference between California and Tennessee is I-24 is the ONLY road that goes to the roads that lead to the lower half of the Sequatchee Valley (the U.S. 41 bridge that crosses the Tennessee River is being demolished) and the I-24 Tennessee River bridge is the detour) at and then to the roads that goes up the mountain. Unfortunately for me, both accidents happened BEFORE I could get to exit 175 on I-24. At Moccasin Bend, the interstate is squeezed between the Tennessee River and the CSX railroad. It's two lanes in either direction, and you have NOWHERE to exit between Chattanooga and Lookout Valley. So I knew that I would not be going home the way I got to Chattanooga. I had to detour up Lookout Mountain then back down.I think that I-24 was shoehorned in as they could squeeze it in. It can't be widened due to the terrain, and you can't even get from Chattanooga to Sewanee without going through Georgia for four miles. There are too many mountains in the way.
One day I'll take some pictures of the road up to my house. 12 percent grade, no reflective signage, no guardrails. There's another road that is in better shape, but it adds fifteen miles to the trip.
Ah, the joys of country living.
Last edited by W4RLR; 10-02-2012 at 07:13 PM.
73 de Richard W4RLR
Southern born, Southern bred, centrist conservative.
Posting messages via HughesNet satellite internet.
Retired U.S. Air Force NCO
Member, Sons of Confederate Veterans
The Ancient Order of Turtles
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