Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Right Rule?

I'm going to have a real good grizzle here about another dumb Swedish rule. Which, for me, typifies ( is that a word ? ) the obsession that Sweden has for reinventing everything. Whether it needs reinventing or not. Today, it's the "Right Hand Rule". This is one of the basic traffic rules which says that you have to give way to vehicles coming from your right. Sounds fair enough. I'm quite relaxed about that. The Right Hand rule co-exists alongside the "Priority Road" rule. Which says that if you are driving on a Priority Road, you don't have to give way to anyone. A Priority Road is indicated as such by a large yellow diamond shaped signpost on the side of the road. All seems simple enough. If you are driving along a road with a yellow diamond sign, you're driving on a Priority Road, and you don't have to give way to crossing traffic. If there's no yellow diamond sign, then it's not a Priority Road, and you have to give way according to the Right Hand Rule. Here's where it all gets a bit messy. The same road can change status as you drive along. Numerous times. From Right Hand to Priority, back to Right Hand, back to Priority again. And so on. Which makes the constant peering for that yellow diamond damn near a fulltime job. Maybe I missed it, maybe it was behind those tree branches back there, maybe someone has knicked it. What the frick do I do now at this intersection ? There's a road running through the middle of my town, which is maybe 20 blocks long. For around 17 of those blocks, the road is a Priority Road. No giving way needed. But for THREE of those insections ( and not 3 consecutive intersections ), the road ceases being a Priority Road, Just for that intersection, then it's back to being a Priority Road again. I may have come from a primitive culture. But when I drove on a straight road and a car came from a side road, they had to give way to me. Always. Town, country, day, night. One rule. No wonder everyone takes the bus or rides a bicycle.

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