UK vs US

[Matthew_T]

One thing that I have noticed recently is the comparison of driving between the UK and US.

In the UK we often say in minor situations that 'nothing happened'. They are usually when someone cuts a corner os doesnt give way.
However in the US, these minor situations are often targeted by people and the reactions to someone cutting you off is much more dramatic. The police even pull people over for it.
I saw once on a US police show on TV that a car almost, but didnt stop at a stop sign. The police then pulled the person over and that turned out to be English tourists. The police officer said that rules are there for a reason and to remember that it is the US not the UK.

I think that the US overreacts to pretty much anything that goes against the grain, even stuff that the police in the UK would ignore. Are people in the US doing their job or are they just jobsworth?

 

[vernon]

Ask me how much sleep I'm going to lose pondering upon the answer.

 

[ColinJ]

Ask me how much sleep I'm going to lose pondering upon the answer.

Okay ... I was just wondering, vernon - how much sleep are you going to lose pondering upon the answer?

 

[colly]

Well the police there are just doing the job they are paid to do. Same as here.
Coppers get it from all sides, if they pull you for a light not working or because you are on a yellow line or dropping a rubber band they are a jobsworth. If they don't pull over someone else doing the same things they are useless and not doing their jobs.
I can't comment on the US verses the UK.

 

[vernon]

Okay ... I was just wondering, vernon - how much sleep are you going to lose pondering upon the answer?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Drago]

Oh yeah, they got incredibly tight traffic rules, which is right and proper in the name of safety.

Yet you can still buy legally buy assault rifles without any kind of permit, which means safety is totally ignored in favour of constitutional rights.

Mad, the lot of them.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Perhaps it's a republican thing but French road policing also has the same quaint idea that STOP means STOP. The British driver knows that it means SLOW DOWN IF YOU REALLY REALLY HAVE TO. Remember that if you ever drive in France.

 

[Crackle]

Save up and go visit the place, then you'll make your own impressions, rather than having to read ours.

 

[HovR]

I saw once on a US police show on TV...

You're basing your whole opinion on one scene from an entertainment TV show?

 

[Drago]

And then there's their El Presidente who claims to be black, mixed race, Hawaiian, Irish or French, but never Kenyan. The traffic enforcement is designed to divert attention from him.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Yawnsville Arizona.

 

[MossCommuter]

In 60 years of driving (in the UK) my dad has been stopped by the police once. This was because he 'almost but didn't stop at a Stop Sign'.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

It has been 20 years since i last watched a serious tv documentry from the US
It was called CHIPS

 

[Fnaar]

Jeez, those people from Chips look like they're about 12.
(apart from the greying one). (He must be at least 25)

 

[stephec]

It has been 20 years since i last watched a serious tv documentry from the US
It was called CHIPS

Quality show, happy memories.