Baffling driving in London
Discussion
I went into central London last night (by tube, I can't stand driving in the city...) and I witnessed a bizarre display in Leicester Square. I was stood with a friend at one of the traffic light junctions near the tube station and there were cars, taxis and those weird rickshaw-type things streaming past ignoring the red light.
As the traffic lights went green a couple of pedestrians forced there way into the road and then everyone crossed (under the 'red man') with the cars sat stationary in front of a green light.
Is central London some sort of weird alternate universe? It seemed a very strange way of doing things for drivers and pedestrians alike.
As the traffic lights went green a couple of pedestrians forced there way into the road and then everyone crossed (under the 'red man') with the cars sat stationary in front of a green light.
Is central London some sort of weird alternate universe? It seemed a very strange way of doing things for drivers and pedestrians alike.
I had to drive in the centre of London for the first time in years the other day - as if it wasn't grim enough anyway I couldn't believe those rickshaw things. You'd have to be an idiot to use one, obviously because they are s
t and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him.
Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have fking rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.
t and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him. Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have f
king rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.dme123 said:
I had to drive in the centre of London for the first time in years the other day - as if it wasn't grim enough anyway I couldn't believe those rickshaw things. You'd have to be an idiot to use one, obviously because they are st and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him.
Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have fking rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.
hahahah! What has it got to do with the economic situation??? t and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him. Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have f
king rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.Do they not have them in every major city in the world?
dme123 said:
I had to drive in the centre of London for the first time in years the other day - as if it wasn't grim enough anyway I couldn't believe those rickshaw things. You'd have to be an idiot to use one, obviously because they are st and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him.
Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have fking rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.
Slower than walking and more expensive than a black cab. t and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him. Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have f
king rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.The biggest scandal is, if they were to run out in the road on the 'red man' and you flatten them it'll be deemed your fault! Unbelievable! You could probably say nothing moves fast enough in London for it to matter but some people in the cities, not just London really do seem to want to die.
Mind you if i worked in the middle of London, i'd probably want to die as well.
Mind you if i worked in the middle of London, i'd probably want to die as well.
Mr2Mike said:
In know exactly what you mean but plenty of large cities are the same; New York is a pretty disgusting place (unless it's been transformed in the few years since I last visited).
I was taken aback last time I went to London - it really was like the tv pictures you see of Calcutta and the like - not only from the fact that it felt like I was in some country in Asia, there was a similar style of driving. As someone above pointed out - the mad "me! me! me!" scramble for the bus or whatever. What a hole!And don't get me started on all those horrible streets where all the houses have been converted into flats, the "garden" is just some concrete slabs with some weeds growing up between them and you have to park four streets away.
Awful, crowded, filthy dive. Never again.
Off topic but I've started getting kicks from seeing how close I can get to walking straight into someone who's meandering along a busy pavement head down focussing on their poxy telecommunications handset! No doubt they'd also be death behind the wheel too [/controversial].
Also chuckled away to myself when approaching a pedestrian crossing that had been on the green man for at least 5 seconds. Three people were still waiting to cross, again heads down in the midst of a txtual relationship.
Also chuckled away to myself when approaching a pedestrian crossing that had been on the green man for at least 5 seconds. Three people were still waiting to cross, again heads down in the midst of a txtual relationship.
someday said:
dme123 said:
I had to drive in the centre of London for the first time in years the other day - as if it wasn't grim enough anyway I couldn't believe those rickshaw things. You'd have to be an idiot to use one, obviously because they are st and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him.
Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have fking rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.
Slower than walking and more expensive than a black cab. t and also because you are running such a risk of getting smashed flat by someone trying to keep track of the 6 cars trying to cut him up, the four motorbikes weaving around him and the idiot pedestrians looking to leap out in front of him. Seriously, is the economic situation so bad we need to have f
king rickshaws in our capital city? As if foreign visitors judging us by the state of the tube wasn't bad enough, now we have rickshaws on the street. London always manages to make be embarrased to be British with it's filth and squalor.Chris71 said:
I went into central London last night (by tube, I can't stand driving in the city...) and I witnessed a bizarre display in Leicester Square. I was stood with a friend at one of the traffic light junctions near the tube station and there were cars, taxis and those weird rickshaw-type things streaming past ignoring the red light.
As the traffic lights went green a couple of pedestrians forced there way into the road and then everyone crossed (under the 'red man') with the cars sat stationary in front of a green light.
Is central London some sort of weird alternate universe? It seemed a very strange way of doing things for drivers and pedestrians alike.
When that happens, I tend to dip the clutch and dab the throttle. Usually gets them moving.As the traffic lights went green a couple of pedestrians forced there way into the road and then everyone crossed (under the 'red man') with the cars sat stationary in front of a green light.
Is central London some sort of weird alternate universe? It seemed a very strange way of doing things for drivers and pedestrians alike.
Out of interest, do the "London haters" on here dislike cities in general or just London in particular? Why is it that much worse than other cities of a similar size?
I love London, there's lots to do, it's relitivley clean, the public transport network is vast and generally works pretty well. There are downsides to all big cities purely because of the density of the resident population and the transients that have to get into and out of the city every day.
I do agree that you get some baffling driving though!!
I love London, there's lots to do, it's relitivley clean, the public transport network is vast and generally works pretty well. There are downsides to all big cities purely because of the density of the resident population and the transients that have to get into and out of the city every day.
I do agree that you get some baffling driving though!!
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