The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11771   Message #89467
Posted By: katlaughing
24-Jun-99 - 06:27 PM
Thread Name: UK-Caution Altered Priorities Ahead??
Subject: RE: UK-Caution Altered Priorities Ahead??
Rick, they had roundabouts in New England to, but they call them "rotaries" and they accept both female and male drivers. (For non-US Mudcatters: that was a joke about the Rotary Clubs, sort of business/altruistic clubs, which just admitted women members a few years ago.)

Some of the funniest, to a Westerner at least, I saw and photographed in New England were:
Frost Heaves meant to warn one of "buckled pavement" on the road which caused by expandsion from the frost;
No Outlet meaning "dead-end"
; and, Bridges Freeze Before Pavement which I took to mean the actual structure of the bridge would freeze before I had to worry about glare-ice on the road, but OH-NO, that's not what it meant at all! My New Hampshire born husband had to explain to me that it meant, because there was no land underneath the bridge surface to keep the frost insulated from the road, that the pavement would freeze before the rest of the roadway!

Then there were the constant orange highway construction signs warning us all that the road was closed and we were driving on that particular highway at our own risk. This was meant to protect the state from any liability should someone be hurt because of the construction going on. What was really interesting was absolutely nobody paid any attention, still drove on each other's tails, going way past the speed limit, regardless of any work, unless it actually happened to be in their lane and they HAD to slow down or even stop!

My other absolute favourite was in Maine and simply said Moose Crossing, but, we didn't see any. There were no crossing guards, either:-)

katlaughing