h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Scottish A-Roads are fantastic. Of course I should be more specific here .... in fact I am basically referring to the A832 and, to be more specific, the stretch between Achnasheen and Kinlochewe. However the etiquette / techniques mentioned here are applicable elsewhere. Now the aofrementioned stretch of the A832 is mostly, despite its hello-I-am-a-major-carrier-of-vehicular-traffic designation, a single track road. However is does having passing places. Lots of passing places. In fact is has so many passing places that why they didn't just join them together to form a standard, white-line-down-the-middle road is one of life's mysteries. Anyway, the etiquette is that two cars, travelling in opposite directions must pass WITHOUT slowing down appreciably. This occurs because both cars must make very slight adjustments to their velocity so that they pass each other exactly at a passing place where they can make equally slight adjustments to their trajectory to avoid a very expensive noise. As I said there are many situation where this technique could be profitably applied. Here in Budapest for example there are large numbers of roads that theoretically allow two cars to pass without cause for deviation, hesitation, etc. However, due to the number of parked cars (or abandoned may be a better term, parking in Budapest has been likend to an artform ... if so then Jackson Pollock is proably the artist in mind) the situation strongly resembles that of the A832 and the technique could be used to good effect. Of course local drivers are unaware of the technique and insist on either stopping to let people past or, more likely, not. Prehaps I should include information as an appendix to my other work in progress for dissemination to the Hungarian driving public, 'Roundabouts: What they are and how to use them, with particular emphasis on the benefits of using your indicators'.