Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AK>  So we see why the cavaliers could not afford

AK>  the right road traffic. If the queen got off

AK>  the horse/carriage from the left side going to

AK>  the Buckingham palace,
         |AFAIK residences which have names... such as
          Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Windsor
          Castle... don't usually involve "the".  But I
          have heard talk of the Smith residence or the
          old Johnson place (e.g.) when the building is
          not generally known by any other title.

AK>  it was a strong example. ;)


          Interesting thought.  Not all European countries accepted the idea of
driving on the right at the same time... and I don't know when Russia did.  But
IMHO what teamsters & other working class folks preferred may have carried more
weight in countries where a lot of folks wanted to get rid of the monarchy too.
In feudal times... when only the upper classes could afford to ride horses they
personally owned on thoroughfares available to everybody else... I reckon there
was less competition for space.  As times changed, a lot more may have depended
on how her subjects felt about their queen.  And I imagine countries which were
next door to one another would have found it inconvenient to have people switch
sides every time they crossed the border, just as we did in North America.  :-)



AK>  You should not rake your brains and think which variant is
AK>  better.  That's why they still follow the rule in England.


          Because my experience with horses is almost nil, I found it a stretch
to get my mind around the various reasons some folks prefer one over another...
especially now that we no longer have knights who use swords & lances, and most
farm produce is transported by truck &/or by train.  I am reminded of a story I
once heard to the effect that the distance between railway tracks is equivalent
to the width of a horse's rear end, since that's how the ancient Romans did it.
This strikes me as being akin to folk etymology, but I can't help noticing that
the gauge is narrower in coal mines where Welsh ponies are used... [chuckle].

          WRT the way things are done in the Old Country, I can relate.  If the
Brits drive on the left it doesn't matter to me.  I just have to remember (as a
pedestrian) that the kindergarten rules I was taught work in reverse Over There
... and that the pounds, shillings, and pence in our school math textbooks have
been replaced by a system which took Dallas & me a bit of getting used to.  The
first time we travelled to England as a couple, we got some coins labelled "ten
new pence" in change & had to ask a relative what on earth that signified.  :-Q



[re the British roundabouts]
AK>  But we also have a circular motion in the places where several
AK>  roads are connected with a doughnut style road. It works, too.


          It works in England & I think we could make it work.  What we have in
this neck of the woods, however, are the so-called "traffic calming devices" on
residential streets.  We saw them in England as well.  But what tends to happen
Over Here is that people cheat when they want to make a left turn & there is no
other traffic on the road, and larger vehicles such as ambulances & fire trucks
are at a disadvantage because in such situations the circle is very tight.  :-(




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+