Spec me... an American rental car

[CaptainRAVE]

How do you guys find the driving in the states ? I recently drove to Toronto ( 588 miles or so ) and it wasnt anywhere near as tiring as driving in the UK. Most of the highways round here are 65 so i just stick the cruise on 69 and enjoy the scenery. Apart from the tailgating you sometimes get, its way less stressful.

Effortless. Drive about 2500 miles in 8 days with no issue. The roads are large, straight and easy to drive. Gets a little busy through some cities, but only very briefly. Lots of rest stops/food/gas everywhere, so no worries about that. Plus you can undertake legally

 

[Kutter]

Effortless. Drive about 2500 miles in 8 days with no issue. The roads are large, straight and easy to drive. Gets a little busy through some cities, but only very briefly. Lots of rest stops/food/gas everywhere, so no worries about that. Plus you can undertake legally

Forgot to mention one of the best things about driving here, Right turn on red. Saves so much time and one of the most sensible road rules thye do.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Right on red is brilliant, undertaking is not.

Seriously, freeway traffic would be SO much smoother and less dangerous if they had the same lane rules as we had. People are everywhere, randomly changing lanes, etc etc. It's inefficient and ridiculous. Trips like this often highlight just how much we take for granted.

I've a special rant prepared for the next person who posts that stupid 'our roads are worse than a third world country' line, for example.

 

[Rich_L]

Haha, I wondered whether you'd notice that the US roads, California in particular, are absolutely shocking - does it all become clear now why all the cars have soft bouncy suspension and high clearance? The UK roads are amazing in comparison

I'm ambivalent about the undertaking rule - it's frustrating at times when you get two cars side by side with both of their cruise controls on 65...but equally it's handy at other times and you do get used to checking both mirrors and both lanes ahead pretty quickly. You are actually supposed to have some form of lane discipline too, but it's just not enforced and it appears many people treat it as optional.

*edit*

Drive in the lane with the smoothest flow of traffic. If you can choose among three lanes, pick the middle lane for the smoothest driving. To drive faster, pass, or turn left, use the left lane. When you choose to drive slowly or enter or turn off the road, use the right lane.

If there are only two lanes in your direction, pick the right lane for the smoothest driving.

See what I mean - no-one pays attention to this

 

[aproctor]

I've a special rant prepared for the next person who posts that stupid 'our roads are worse than a third world country' line, for example.

OK, you've got me.

'our roads are worse than a third world country'

(i am aware they are not, but considering the amount of money we pay in fuel and road tax we should have excellent roads, not ok roads.)

 

[Scuzi]

Seriously, freeway traffic would be SO much smoother and less dangerous if they had the same lane rules as we had. People are everywhere, randomly changing lanes, etc etc. It's inefficient and ridiculous. Trips like this often highlight just how much we take for granted.

I disagree. I think it would result in the sort of scenario we get with all the traffic in the fast lane wanting to go faster than the person in front, with under utilised right and middle lanes. I do a fair bit of driving in the US on a regular basis and find that whilst interstate driving can be a bit hairy at times, the flow of traffic is much freer due to lesser need for lane changes. I shared your view when I first drove there but the more I do it the more I like their system.

 

[NVP]

I kind of agree with Scuzi. There are two types of drivers, those that find a lane and stick with it occassionally overtaking if the flow goes slower than they like, and then there are the drivers who have to go faster than the car in front and weave in and out to get ahead.

With their wide roads with much more lanes than us it kind of works over there, but it does result in some silly accidents. But I would say if it was on our roads these occurances would be much more frequent.

 

[RockLobster]

I agree the roads over here are shocking. It isn't just the roads themselves it's the rubbish you see. There are bits of tyres everywhere and some are bloody dangerous. I hit a tyre bit on the way to Vegas if I had been on a bike I would have been off.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I agree the roads over here are shocking. It isn't just the roads themselves it's the rubbish you see. There are bits of tyres everywhere and some are bloody dangerous. I hit a tyre bit on the way to Vegas if I had been on a bike I would have been off.

I narrowly avoided some junk on the freeway from San Diego to Vegas - there were at least 6 cars with flat tyres beside the road immediatly after as well

 

[hurfdurf]

The standard of driving in Florida was horrendous when I was there, but I loved the ability to undertake and turning right on red. I had a lot of fun chasing some of the faster cars who were making haste weaving in and out of traffic and didn't feel like I was doing anything any where near dangerous, it all felt very 2F2F

 

[Moeks]

I actually like being able to pass on both sides, I found it worked quite well in Canada, I didn't really get to try it much in the US as I was mostly on secluded desert roads. It does seem a little ...dare I say alarming at first, but I found once I got used to it ...it does work quite well. You really do have to be on your toes though if it's busy, since you can end up merging into someone else if you aren't careful. Still, I did notice in Alberta at least that most people tend to drive in the middle lane on a 3 lane highway and will 'usually' pass on the left, but they will pass on the right if the way is blocked ...or sometimes they just do it anyway. At first I was trying to keep right as suggested but in the end I just started doing what the Canadians do and it all started to work much better.

Although there were signs asking slower moving traffic to keep right ...most people just drove in the middle it seemed. There were sections though were you could exit or enter the main road from the left or the right ...which is unusual by our standards I guess. So again, best drive in the middle most of the time. Also, the highways had traffic crossing them at times.

 

[ryanpetit]

I will miss being able to pass on both sides, it's almost as if most people out here pick a lane and stick to it regardless of what is going on around them

Turning right on a red in my opinion works well, and can avoid large tailbacks at lights. I wonder if that would ever work in the UK?

 

[RockLobster]

Rich I can understand why you like Santa Barbara. You have some nightlife on your doorstep eh.

And that hole in the wall burger place in town do awesome burgers.

 

[skiba]

I've done a large part of this journey in a GMC Suburban, 3 of us. The space was great but it was pretty scary in the twisty roads of yosemite!

 

[Rich_L]

Rich I can understand why you like Santa Barbara. You have some nightlife on your doorstep eh.

And that hole in the wall burger place in town do awesome burgers.

Aye State St is pretty good And yes Habit Burger are fantastic too - though I still think In N Out is my favourite

 

[[TW]Fox]

I just got on a train at London Paddington

 

[Moeks]

Welcome back to our small, dingy, grey ...expensive island then.

 

[RockLobster]

Fox the good news is I'm still here enjoying the sun. But like you I'll be back on Tuesday.

Rich how the heck did you find a job out here, actually, how did you manage to get a visa?

 

[[TW]Fox]

The whole job thing confuses me. Despite being educated and fluent in English I am unable to work in the USA yet I don't think I met a single member of housekeeping staff or people in places like Subway who were fluent English speakers, yet they all had jobs in the USA

 

[RockLobster]

When I was in Palm Springs I spoke to a Canadian who just moved there, he asked what I did and I said Software Developer. He said people with UK degrees especially in Computer Science are highly sought after in the US. He said there's a visa (he did name it) for people with CS degrees. Whether he was bullcrapping or not I don't know.