These Are Your States' Unique Driving Maneuvers
I’m not sure if this is Gävleborg, but it’s definitely at least GävlePhoto: Michael Campanella (Getty Images)
Gävleborg, Sweden – not quite rural wilderness but absolutely at the perimeter of civilization:
Exceedingly lethargic traffic by drivers who apparently do not consider that they share the roads with other people.
Most grinding detail is when traffic lights switch to green. That is when the locals depress the clutch and reach for the lever (manuals are still most common here) – and I am not even exaggerating for humor points.
Then they take a good 5-15 seconds just to cross the road. Three cars manage to pass before it turns red again.
I who am conditioned by driving a bike in the capital usually bolt off like a bat out of hell, even in my average performance car, and usually reach the end of the block before those behind me enter the block.
This spills over to the highways. 110 km/h speed limit, most drive 100 km/h, it is common to come up on those that do 90 or less. One would expect them to look sheepish when they get overtaken by a train of cars, but no – they bumble along with an oblivious facial expression.
The up side is that they aren’t driving dangerously by speeding a lot.
The downside is when you meet them crossing over on your side in intersections because they could not imagine meeting another car on the same road and turning the steering wheel is so very exhausting what with the extreme 0.01 lateral g’s, so you have to emergency brake not to get a heads-on collision.
Or when there is a lot of snow and they drive in the middle of the road, forcing you to scrape a wall of snow and ice not to get your left mirror whacked off. Still with a facial expression of blissful unawareness.
The concept of a relaxed pace on the roads is entirely foreign to me, a person whose entire life has been lived in New England and New York. These are areas full of important people in their important cars going to important places at important speeds. There is no hesitation, no pause, and no remorse — but there’s fury if you stand in the way. Gävleborg drivers wouldn’t last.
Submitted by: MechaMike
