Re: Request help with traffic terminology

[Peter Hullah <Peter -dot- Hullah -at- EUROCONTROL -dot- FR>]

Robert Lipton wrote:
>
> In article <01bcecbb$cbc29de0$19c774c0 -at- rjaffe>, "RJ" wrote:
> >Could someone help me with the correct terms in American and British
> >English for the types of traffic violations described below. Perhaps there
> >is no better term for some of them, such as speeding:
> >
> >Speeding
>
> This is called 'Speeding.'
>
> >Tailgating (driving too close to the car in front)
>
> This is called 'Tailgating.'

I had to ask what 'tailgating' meant when I saw signs in the US
telling drivers not to do it. It's not a term used in the UK.
We talk about 'driving too close to the car in front' or 'not
leaving enough distance'. In the UK it generally applies only
to BMW and Volvo drivers, though a few others seem to hold shares
in road ownership as well, nowadays. (In France, of course, it's
the standard way to drive, however if your number-plate ends
in the figures '75' or '92' the usual 3 metres distance at 160km/h
is reduced to 50cm.)

>
> >Driving in the breakdown lane
>
> This is called 'Driving in the breakdown lane.'

By 'breakdown lane' do you mean the '(hard) shoulder'? In that
case we'd talk about 'driving on the hard shoulder'.

> >Driving over the solid median dividing line
>
> This is called 'not staying in your lane.'

'Driving over the double white line.' If all four wheels are
the wrong side of the double white line Brits call it 'pretending
one's in France/America'!

Pete

--

Peter H.C. Hullah                    Technical Services
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