Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/27/spanish-road-has-exciting-obstacle-for-unwary-motorists.html
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I’ll look back on this post fondly when my car falls from the road next time I’m driving in Spain.
Looking forward to it.
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Perhaps a gradient in lawyer-osity is at play here? In the states that wouldn’t happen because you’d have a phalanx of lawyers ready to sue the department/city/county (whoever has the deepest pockets) on behalf of the first person who tapped their scooter into that. Whereas in Spain perhaps that’s a less likely source of winning recompense?
By the bye, fellow yanks-n-canucks, “kerb” is the noun outside of North America, “curb” is the verb [one source] …who knew?
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I guess it’s fair to mock them since everyone else who makes roads manages not to do it. But for most of us, the lesson is not that you would have done better; it’s that this is the kind of thing you would see every 200 feet, on every road everywhere, if roads were made by someone like you instead of by all the competent people who get difficult stuff right 24/7 without anyone noticing. If people could grok that idea, they wouldn’t go round voting for Turmp or Brexit.
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Now explain “tyre” and “gaol” to us ignorant colonials.
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It’s also pretty clear that this road hasn’t been driven on. My bet is an engineer or contractor proving a point. No country worth being a country would allow that - it’s such a clear danger it goes against the entire idea of roads in the first place.
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I’m guessing you haven’t done a lot of driving outside of North America.
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I think that the municipality simply hit on a scheme to guarantee sale within about 6 months.
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Bridge hearts kerb.
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Ever been in Spain? They have a … bracing attitude to health and safety.
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No warning sign at all, so idiot drivers like the ones at the can-opener bridge can’t yet be blamed for hitting it. Give it a couple of decades and a bunch of blaring warnings, though, and we’ll be playing Spain’s version of 11’8" Bingo.
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Heh, New game!
As far as this junk goes, I live in New England. I’ve seen bigger potholes than that come spring!
Just kidding. That curb is pretty messed up.
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Contrary to the description, the lane paint doesn’t taper the lanes, it just stops. I’d guess that the striping crew drove off in disgust.
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Tha’s never bin to Yorkshire, lad. I live in Oldham, on what used to be the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire - County End they call it, and it’s been in either county at one time or another. The streets and roads reflect this. They broaden abruptly and narrow abruptly. The sensible thing is to regard all roads as “single carriageway only”, take it at a moderate speed and watch for oncoming traffic. Stopping to let someone come the other way is a given. They stop for you (mostly). If you look on Youtube for vlogs by americans living in England they’ll mention “the hand”. You indicate your gratitude and understanding of the situation by raising your hand to the oncoming drivers. Of course, that yoke in Spain looks like one side of a dual-carriageway, so there’s going to be a queue (line) of cars waiting to use the outside lane at the squeezy bit. No hand.
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Nope.
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Ha! It’s missing a box:
“I drove my kid to college in Cambridge on Storrow Dr! I know what 11’8’’ looks like, and I can clear it!”.
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That’s just the cross product of “Pictures of other, lower bridges” and “Once when I rented a Ryder truck…”
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This place must have such a high premium on insurance.
CSB
Lived in an appt overlooking Powderhouse rotary (Tufts-to-Davis). Every Sept.1st used to sit on the porch and watch the action. You’d be surprised at how few people know how a round-about works and how angry pedestrians and drivers can get when they’re all just trying to do what needs to be done.
/CSB
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Tesla autopilot failure in 3… 2… 1…
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I was so disappointed at the guy at the end of the video. It totally looked like he was going to pratfall into the… whatever the hell that is.
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