Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Driving On The Left

Dear Daytonian,

I'm happy to say that every state in the United States drives on the right side of the road.  Lucky us.

Did you know that 31% of the countries in the world drive on the left side, including England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan and South Africa, 75 countries in all.  Normally, but not always, the steering wheel, as shown below, is located on the right side of the car.  The stick shift, for those brave enough, is on your left-hand, but shifts in the familiar pattern, and the pedals are also the same, accelerator in the right, clutch on the left.  Thank goodness.

Left turns are easy, just like our right turns.  The slow lane is the left lane and entrance and exit ramps are left.  You drive slightly right-of-center, instead of slightly left-of-center, to keep even between the lane lines.  And to make things really fun, roads tend to be much narrower than here at home.

If you decide to give it a try, I strongly recommend buying the rental car agency's insurance protection and packing some anti-anxiety medication.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2018/09/06/driving-left-side-road/1207633002/


Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Downtown Parking

Dear Daytonian,

We all know that parking is plentiful in downtown Dayton with over 13,000 spaces between garages, surface lots and parking meters.  We pay in the $4 range for two hours of parking during weekdays and love that meters are free on weekends and after 6 p.m. weekdays.  Don't expect that love to follow you everywhere.

According to Parkopedia (full report at the link below), New York City leads the world in costly parking, coming in at $32.97 for two hours and $606.37 for monthly privileges.  Other U.S. cities that will cost you more than $10 for two hours are Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Detroit and Los Angeles.

Maybe I'm crazy, but having a car payment and a monthly parking bill for about the same amount of money just seems wrong.

https://www.parkopedia.com/static/reports/global_parking_index2017-parkopedia.pdf


Mile-Based Exit Numbers

Dear Daytonian, Exit numbers in Ohio are useful for more than just knowing which off-ramp to take.  In the 1970s Ohio renumbered from sequen...