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| The morning after the hail |
Friday, July 13, 2012
Hail! Hail!
Driving lessons
Friday morning, July 13th, under cloudy skies and very cool! Absolutely delightful.
Driving in Europe, particularly in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Since a lot of you have never driven in Europe but have heard stories, rumors, half truths and other falsehoods I thought I would try to clear up some misconceptions and set the story straight, at least from my perspective. Yes, driving over here is certainly different from driving in the good old USA. In no particular order here are some observations from my experiences. Europeans drive on the same side of the road as we do in the USA. The English, Irish and Scots have it all wrong over in the United Kingdom. Many don't even call the United Kingdom "Europe". In any event they drive on the left side of the road and thus make it extremely difficult for the Yanks and Europeans to negotiate their roads. With the rental cars right hand drive? Well forget about sight seeing. It's all about avoiding a horrific accident!
Fuel in Italy is extremely expensive! Super Unleaded , which we must use, is 1.81 Euros per liter. Converting that into dollars per gallon results in $8.39 per gallon. (3.8 liters equal a gallon and it costs approximately $1.22 per Euro). A little higher than the $3.50 a gallon we bitterly complain about in the US. Consequently most automobiles in Europe are very small and get extremely good mileage. All the major manufacturers compete for this "small car" business and thus you see on a daily basis vehicles never seen in the US. Yes, we now have the Smart car and the Fiat 500 at home but these are just the tip of the iceberg over here. Even BMW and Mercedes produce small cars with low horse power. 40 MPH is attained very easily in these vehicles. The question is, "do you want to ride around in a car this size for the rest of your life"? Absolutely no way. Argue all you want for the 40MPG but trading what we have in the US just doesn't cut it. Before you jump on the economic bandwagon I suggest you drive in Europe in one of these little make believe cars before you ban the SUV, s ect. Even Ralph Nader would hate it! Be very careful what you ask for.
Speeds on the Autobahn (Germany and Switzerland) and Autostrade (Italy).
Fancy words for freeways, but most of these roads are not free. In Italy you stop for tolls quite frequently. In Switzerland you are supposed to buy a sticker for your car for 30Euro. In France the roads are called Autopeage, also with lots of tolls. The usual misconception is that there are no speed limits on these roads. Wrong, but not totally wrong. In Germany there are portions of the Autobahn that traverse nowhere near a city or town, where there is limited ingress and egress and where you can just go for it but you had better have a car that is up to it. These areas are usually few and far between but they do exist. Very occasionally you will be cruising along and spot in your rear view mirror a high powered BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche or other exotic bearing down on you. It's quite the phenomenon and quite the sight to see someone pass you at 150MPH. Your move is to get out of the "fast" lane and let them fly by. I would term this "rare" but at the same time it does happen. But as it is in most countries, it is illegal to race on the Autobahn and a severe penalty to get caught. Normally these drivers had the wherewith all to purchase these cars and are using them to the capacity to which they were built. I have never see an accident involving these speeds but when they do occur it's lights out. So yes, unlimited speeds do exist in Germany but just occasionally. In Italy where we do most of our driving the Autosrades are in very very good shape, have posted limits of about 120 Kilometers per hour (75MPH). This seems to be a suggestion rather than a hard rule because the far left lane moves along at about 150K, maybe more without any "Carbinieri ' running you down ready to slap you with a big old expensive ticket. The unwritten rule is to be very careful, stay out of the fast lane if possible, and mind your own business. If someone comes up behind you just get out of the way, don't get upset and never give anyone the finger! It's rude, impolite and completely unnecessary. There is nothing personal associated with it. The guy driving is in your life for about 10 seconds and then he is down the road. Let him by and be done with it. The police seem to be there to help breakdowns and to clear accidents. The silly notion that the Highway Patrol must ticket you for speeding, collect a heavy fine for the city or state, and force your insurance rates up just doesn't exist over here. We certainly could learn a lesson in the US off of the European method. No, the death and accident rates are NOT higher over here. It just might have something to do with the very strict and very expensive process in handing out driver licenses in Europe. I know that it costs more than $1500 dollars for the driving license process in Germany. Oh, and yeah, you need to be eighteen and a responsible person. They don't hand out licenses like candy to sixteen year olds as we do in the US.
There is a massive amount of truck traffic as we have in the states but these trucks MUST stay out of the far left lane except for occasional passing and they are barred from running on weekends. Most routes have three lanes running in both directions so the left lane rule is in effect all the time. The drivers are professional and polite. This is not a knock on US truck drives but since most rural freeways in the US have only two lanes running in each direction it is difficult to keep an even speed while faster trucks over come slower trucks. utilization of the left lane is a must. This problem will go away as the Interstate system is updated to the twenty first century but it's going to take a lot time and lot of money, but it is coming.
Rest stops on the Autostrade are frequent and are quite fun to stop at. You can't exit the Autosrade completely but the stop always includes a very large gas station and at least two retail stores. A small store right next to the pumps like a Seven Eleven and then a massive complex including a restaurant and a store carrying the biggest array of junk food you have ever seen, from cookies, candy, soft drinks, beer, wine, cheeses, health food, magazines, toys, model cars, hats, shirts, stuff to fix your car, etc. If they don't have it you don't need it! It is a lot of fun to just browse. And the displays are massive. There a literally hundreds of cars at each one of these stops but you can get in and out as fast as you want. We just don't have these kinds of places in the US, even at the biggest truck stops. Seeing is believing!!
Yes, driving is driving but it is definitely a different experience over here! Be calm, be alert, be polite and be courteous!!
Driving in Europe, particularly in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Since a lot of you have never driven in Europe but have heard stories, rumors, half truths and other falsehoods I thought I would try to clear up some misconceptions and set the story straight, at least from my perspective. Yes, driving over here is certainly different from driving in the good old USA. In no particular order here are some observations from my experiences. Europeans drive on the same side of the road as we do in the USA. The English, Irish and Scots have it all wrong over in the United Kingdom. Many don't even call the United Kingdom "Europe". In any event they drive on the left side of the road and thus make it extremely difficult for the Yanks and Europeans to negotiate their roads. With the rental cars right hand drive? Well forget about sight seeing. It's all about avoiding a horrific accident!
Fuel in Italy is extremely expensive! Super Unleaded , which we must use, is 1.81 Euros per liter. Converting that into dollars per gallon results in $8.39 per gallon. (3.8 liters equal a gallon and it costs approximately $1.22 per Euro). A little higher than the $3.50 a gallon we bitterly complain about in the US. Consequently most automobiles in Europe are very small and get extremely good mileage. All the major manufacturers compete for this "small car" business and thus you see on a daily basis vehicles never seen in the US. Yes, we now have the Smart car and the Fiat 500 at home but these are just the tip of the iceberg over here. Even BMW and Mercedes produce small cars with low horse power. 40 MPH is attained very easily in these vehicles. The question is, "do you want to ride around in a car this size for the rest of your life"? Absolutely no way. Argue all you want for the 40MPG but trading what we have in the US just doesn't cut it. Before you jump on the economic bandwagon I suggest you drive in Europe in one of these little make believe cars before you ban the SUV, s ect. Even Ralph Nader would hate it! Be very careful what you ask for.
Speeds on the Autobahn (Germany and Switzerland) and Autostrade (Italy).
Fancy words for freeways, but most of these roads are not free. In Italy you stop for tolls quite frequently. In Switzerland you are supposed to buy a sticker for your car for 30Euro. In France the roads are called Autopeage, also with lots of tolls. The usual misconception is that there are no speed limits on these roads. Wrong, but not totally wrong. In Germany there are portions of the Autobahn that traverse nowhere near a city or town, where there is limited ingress and egress and where you can just go for it but you had better have a car that is up to it. These areas are usually few and far between but they do exist. Very occasionally you will be cruising along and spot in your rear view mirror a high powered BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche or other exotic bearing down on you. It's quite the phenomenon and quite the sight to see someone pass you at 150MPH. Your move is to get out of the "fast" lane and let them fly by. I would term this "rare" but at the same time it does happen. But as it is in most countries, it is illegal to race on the Autobahn and a severe penalty to get caught. Normally these drivers had the wherewith all to purchase these cars and are using them to the capacity to which they were built. I have never see an accident involving these speeds but when they do occur it's lights out. So yes, unlimited speeds do exist in Germany but just occasionally. In Italy where we do most of our driving the Autosrades are in very very good shape, have posted limits of about 120 Kilometers per hour (75MPH). This seems to be a suggestion rather than a hard rule because the far left lane moves along at about 150K, maybe more without any "Carbinieri ' running you down ready to slap you with a big old expensive ticket. The unwritten rule is to be very careful, stay out of the fast lane if possible, and mind your own business. If someone comes up behind you just get out of the way, don't get upset and never give anyone the finger! It's rude, impolite and completely unnecessary. There is nothing personal associated with it. The guy driving is in your life for about 10 seconds and then he is down the road. Let him by and be done with it. The police seem to be there to help breakdowns and to clear accidents. The silly notion that the Highway Patrol must ticket you for speeding, collect a heavy fine for the city or state, and force your insurance rates up just doesn't exist over here. We certainly could learn a lesson in the US off of the European method. No, the death and accident rates are NOT higher over here. It just might have something to do with the very strict and very expensive process in handing out driver licenses in Europe. I know that it costs more than $1500 dollars for the driving license process in Germany. Oh, and yeah, you need to be eighteen and a responsible person. They don't hand out licenses like candy to sixteen year olds as we do in the US.
There is a massive amount of truck traffic as we have in the states but these trucks MUST stay out of the far left lane except for occasional passing and they are barred from running on weekends. Most routes have three lanes running in both directions so the left lane rule is in effect all the time. The drivers are professional and polite. This is not a knock on US truck drives but since most rural freeways in the US have only two lanes running in each direction it is difficult to keep an even speed while faster trucks over come slower trucks. utilization of the left lane is a must. This problem will go away as the Interstate system is updated to the twenty first century but it's going to take a lot time and lot of money, but it is coming.
Rest stops on the Autostrade are frequent and are quite fun to stop at. You can't exit the Autosrade completely but the stop always includes a very large gas station and at least two retail stores. A small store right next to the pumps like a Seven Eleven and then a massive complex including a restaurant and a store carrying the biggest array of junk food you have ever seen, from cookies, candy, soft drinks, beer, wine, cheeses, health food, magazines, toys, model cars, hats, shirts, stuff to fix your car, etc. If they don't have it you don't need it! It is a lot of fun to just browse. And the displays are massive. There a literally hundreds of cars at each one of these stops but you can get in and out as fast as you want. We just don't have these kinds of places in the US, even at the biggest truck stops. Seeing is believing!!
Yes, driving is driving but it is definitely a different experience over here! Be calm, be alert, be polite and be courteous!!
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