Some vehicles I saw

[james_davis_nicoll]

I saw someone turning left from River to Holborn in a car with the steering wheel on the right side. Driver was having a heck of a time seeing if there was oncoming traffic.

Also, for bad bicyclist of the week: dressed in dark clothes, no lights, reflectors or helmet, on the wrong side of the road, moving at high speed and the detail that won him the prize, mp3 player and headphones, volume loud enough I could hear the music across Queen St.

Comments

I cannot

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

even imagine the first instance. That strikes me as so difficult that I'd rather not drive. Second one, I've almost struck a pedestrian who decided to cross Broadway at 5:30 a.m. and managed to stop because they were white despite then wearing a black hoodie.(white hands flashed enough I spotted him).

[kgbooklog.livejournal.com]

In the US, mail delivery trucks used in "rural" areas have the steering wheel on the wrong side, so the driver can reach the mailbox without unbuckling the seat belt. ("Rural" is defined as any area where the mailboxes are on the curb instead of the building proper.)

[timgueguen.livejournal.com]

Parking enforcement here in Saskatoon uses some vehicles with right hand drive.

Re: I cannot

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I guess it must be legal to drive such a car here but having seen it in action it sure looked like a very bad idea.

[pauldormer.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side happens all the time over here. Often see cars with foreign plates in the UK and people from the UK often go driving around the rest of Europe. After all, one way to get through the tunnel is in a car on a shuttle train. (As a non driver, I can't comment on how much of a problem this is.)

I used to work in an office overlooking Newgate Street by St. Paul's Cathedral. I was standing at the window one morning when I heard an emergency vehicle down below. I looked down and cars in the street were trying to move out the way of the emergency. One car had French plates and he must have moved his steering wheel by reflex, because he swerved to the right, right into the back of a taxi.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

What particularly worries me isn't cars with a steering wheel on the wrong side, but long-haul trucks from the continent with steering wheel on the left and a gigantic blind spot on the right (overtaking) side. Nearly been crushed by them, know other folks who have ended up with a new car as a result, know of people having been killed.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Here in NA, there are turn signals mid-trailer so those of is in blind spot know to accelerate like mad when needed. Of course, this presumes they signal, which here they do.

[martinl-00.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's time to implement the old Rhino Party of Canada plan:

Switch to driving on the right. This plan would be phased in gradually, with only truck and buses switching in year one.

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

When I was in Baltimore, I saw a car going down Eutaw Street turn into Clay.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

The bad bioyclist may soon take himself out of the gene pool. Is it un-Christian of me to hope that he has not spawned when he does so?

[rwpikul.livejournal.com]

Well, if you frame it as "I hope he won't leave children fatherless."

[maruad.livejournal.com]

My nephew has a habit of used buying vehicles from Australia or Japan, driving them for a bit then selling them for a profit. The vehicles from Australia were shipped by his wife's firm both times they transferred her back to Canada.

I don't know why he wants vehicles with right hand steering wheels but he seems to enjoy driving them.

[timgueguen.livejournal.com]

We had someone importing used Japanese market vehicles into Saskatoon two or three years ago, but I get the impression they stopped. They were mostly tiny trucks, one of which ended up in the hands of a Chinese restaurant.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

My nephew is bringing them into Calgary.

His latest was a 4 wheel driver camper van. I don't remember the make.

[liabrown]

I once saw a cyclist on University Avenue (in Toronto; a very busy street) with no helmet, not holding onto the handlebars, and texting. I think he may have been wearing flip-flops too, but don't quite remember.

For what it's worth, the fatal bike accident I witnessed the immediate aftermath of was also on University Avenue in Toronto. Guy got doored by a car, fell into traffic, and a bus ran over him. He wasn't wearing a helmet either, but it probably wouldn't have saved him.

(I also witnessed a serious bike accident at the intersection of Broadview and Dundas, but never heard what happened to the guy. He wasn't wearing a helmet either and landed headfirst into the road...there was blood everywhere, it was awful. For these reasons I always wear a helmet and am very cautious about where I bike).