I love Zebra Crossings, and....
Discussion
Thought I''d see how many responses a good news (bit novel,hey) thread gets!
Zebra Crossings are Fantastic!! Nobody seems to do zebra crossings like we do in the good old UK. Step onto a so-painted zebra crossing anywhere else in the world and what happens? Nothing. They just don''t work. Foreigners just don''t get them. But over here, cars come to a polite halt and pedestrians amble safely over. Makes me glad to be British. Plus, as a TVR driver, there is nothing better than stopping at a zebra crossing to let admiring punters cross. Zebra crossings are the business!
GB (silver Griff 500)
Personally I love:
White Cavalier GSi 2.016v 4x4s: I like the way they sqeal and wobble as they try to follow me around roundabouts. Always good for a laugh.
Roads in Ireland: They provide a convenient method of massaging the old backside using ones TVR. This can assist weight loss (as part of a healthy diet of course).
but you must respet them 
Currently working in Bermuda (miss my Liz sooo much).
Upside, everything is British (but a bit smaller), we've got pedestrian crossings, round abouts, sleeping policemen, and drive on the right (ie left) side of the road. Funny rules on limit of engine sixe of cars and width and length of cars, so about the best car you appear to be able to have is a 1.8 MGF or a Z3! Oh and they will set you back over 30,000US$ due to tax liabilities!
No-one except residents can rent or buy a car, so you can imagine the Yanks on the wrong side of the road, going round a roundabout, driving a moped, A&E can get a bit messy apparently (dare say I'll end up there some time on my rented bike).
Looking firward to Christmas when I get to play with the Liz for a couple of weeks....
What about the new breed of sleeping policemen? I saw in the Sunday Times that some bright Tefal-headed boffin has come up with inflating road bumps.
If you stay within the speed limit they stay flat and you go merrily on your way.
If you go too fast they inflate and take the sump off your car so you cover the road in oil and you are forced to park up thereby blocking the entire carriageway until a towtruck can arrive.
We have an emplyment problem in the UK - that much is obvious. Otherwise why would we end up paying people to come up with such a stupid idea!
Motorbikes, ashtrays and chocolate teapots come to mind.
angusfaldo - the speed-sensitive speed-bumps are called 'Transcalms' and have an internal valving system that is set to react to different speeds. Hence you can drive straight over them between 5 and 30mph and they'll flatten out, but they will remain solid if you try to drive over them too fast. I hate speed bumps but this seems to be a good compromise if they really have to be used. Mind you, the council will have to mark them very clearly, I wouldn't want to mix up solid bumps and Transcalms.
Apparently they were developed after a friend of the inventor suffered a serious spinal injury after driving over one of the solid type.
I'll get my anorak...
Bit over-engineered. I saw a much simpler solution that had the same effect. Basically you drive over a see-saw. As you hit one end it pivots raising a low beam a few feet in front of you (a bit like a curbstone). If you're going too fast, the curbstone wotsit hasn't fallen back into the road so you hit it getting an axle snapping thwack! No valves, no pneumatics, just a piece of metal and a pivot.
See saws in the road... sounds like the things they used to have on Kick Start for trail bikes - but smaller I would assume.
Obviously these devices will have to be directional. So what happens if you have to go onto the opposite side of the road? (to avoid a baby hedgehog or carelessly abandoned car for example)
Sounds like the 'Transcalms' (are you sure they're not sea sickness tablets) would be less messy.
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