Safety in USA

One of the things we have been really impressed with in USA is their patience on the roads.  The yanks really have a great way of accommodating bad drivers and driving.  Obviously there are exceptions to this on occasions, but on the whole, they are not in a hurry. The speed limits around USA are seriously slower than ours. The interstates, their version of a motorway (four lanes either side) is restricted to 65 mph, and an A road (two lanes either side) is 55 mph. Going past road works at a greater speed than stated will ensure you get a double fine, and speed restrictions are upheld by radars. Slip roads have their own restrictions and so do bends in the road. This all helps to S…..L……O…..W… everything down! And for us, it feels very much safer on the roads here than at home.

Nobody move, Children are being dispensed onto the kerb!

School buses have great priority for ensuring children are delivered safely home.  Yes, children are taken home by bus rather than parents picking up their children.

When the bus comes to a stop, all the lights come on, flashing lights, at the back and on top.  “Stop” signs miraculously spring out from the left hand side of the bus, and any traffic, behind and even in front, dutifully stops. This enables children to get out of the bus knowing that no traffic is moving at that point.

The speed has to be greatly decreased when passing schools during opening and closing hours. The traffic can return to the normal speed restrictions when children have left the school.

On the other hand, it seems like they have absolutely no awareness of safety whatsoever!  Guys and girls on great big Harley Davidson motorbikes roar past us while the bird on the back is wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  The guy won’t be wearing gloves or a crash-helmet.  (Not sensible, as the first thing he might do is put his hands down on the road when he falls off!  Ouch!).

Clear sign, - IMHO, - No Smoking!

But yesterday’s experience of safety blew my mind.  I was filling up Harvey for the next leg of our journey, and as I returned from paying the cashier, the youth at the next pump took out a cigarette, and promptly lit it, - WHILE SITTING ASTRIDE HIS SMALL MOTORBIKE!!

It was a wonder that we all weren’t blown sky high like a NASA rocket.

Then today we found ourselves following this lorry.

Radioactive lorry!

Errrr, uuuummm, I want to be well out of your way, mate.