Driving on the Left--or Not.

It's been awhile since my last post. The last several weeks have been filled with getting the kids settled in school and after-school activities and unpacking after our stuff arrived. The kids take the bus to school, but I still wind up making several trips over there a week for volunteering; parent meetings; Spanish class; piano, guitar and trumpet lessons and soccer.

It's 5.8 miles to the kids' school. A little further than the trip to their previous school. A lot fewer lights though. There were 9 lights on the way to Claremont and only 2 on the way to ACS, for which we can thank that invention known as the roundabout. Roundabouts can be an efficient way of moving traffic and I'm generally pro-roundabout, although they can be terrifying if you're unfamiliar with a particular one and the sat-nav lady is gently telling you to "At the roundabout, turn right, fourth exit." You mean I'm supposed to steer my car in the proper lane, maneuver around other moving vehicles, and COUNT TO FOUR? Easier said than done sometimes.

The route to school is mostly 2-lane roads. Not exactly country lanes as we're in a pretty densely populated area, but not really city driving either. There's one particular stretch of road on the way to school that is narrow, with walls on both sides and a canopy of trees that makes it feel like you're driving in a tunnel. It's kind of dark, even in daylight (Emily complains that it's too dark to read on that stretch).

Here's the bit of road, although I do think it looks wider in this picture than it feels when you're driving on it. (Notice that coming in the direction of that sedan, there's a retaining wall right up to the edge of the road.) Try to picture yourself driving one of those cars, and the other one is a tour bus or garbage truck. Maybe imagine you've got to leave room for a bicyclist too. Trust me, it's narrow. At the top of this little rise, there's a small but fairly busy roundabout so you've got to be ready for that.

So here's my real issue with this little stretch. Here's a close-up of the signs on the left in the picture above:

Three pieces of information there. The road is narrowing. Thanks, I can see that. "Oncoming vehicles in middle of road"?! Thanks for the warning, but what exactly am I to do with this information? Why is there not a sign coming the other direction instructing drivers to "Keep your vehicle on your side of the road"? Well, I know part of the answer is that roundabout. Large vehicles coming around that corner have a hard time making the turn without going into the oncoming lane. I was coming around that corner once and there was a huge purple tour bus coming up the hill, which made me exclaim out loud and the kids wonder what was going on.

Consider that bottom sign, though. That means the speed limit is 40 mph. Yes, the road is narrow, there are oncoming vehicles in the middle of the road, and the speed limit is 40. I will never understand why it's not lower there. True, a speed limit is the maximum speed one must travel, not a mandated speed. I'm always glad when there's no one behind me and I can drive nice and slowly without causing impatience in the drivers in the rearview.

That's the driving update for now. No school for the kids next week so we leave for 5 days in Barcelona tomorrow. Will share something with you about that after our return.