Things We Should Do Better

For some reason the rural road builders of Britain have decided that it is not necessary to have a separate lane for cars going in either direction.  Instead they have concluded that a single lane will do for both directions, as long as there are slightly wider spots identified as Passing Places where two small cars just might be able to edge past each other if they hold their breath.  (SUVs need not apply.) 

The first time I saw one of these single-track roads, I thought it was a joke.  A road like this could hardly be called a sidewalk back in Texas.  But no, it was no joke, and I really did have to drive on it to get where I wanted to go.  As you might imagine, it is highly disturbing to meet an oncoming car in these circumstances, particularly while heading west at sunset with blinding orange light spreading off the dust on the windshield.  Prayer begins to seem as practical a component of driving as the brake and the steering wheel. 

Assuming the builders of these roads do not have suicidal or mass homicidal inclinations, we must speculate as to other possible motives for their infuriating design choice.  Perhaps they are devoted to a minimalist aesthetic.  Perhaps they are trying to save money, impelled by the same miserliness that makes British people put on an extra sweater instead of turning on the heating in their draughty homes.  Most likely they are indulging in that obstinate penitential deprivation so beloved of this nation. 

“Why should we be comfortable?  Why should we have nice wide roads when we can risk our lives and our children’s lives driving sixty miles an hour headlong into somebody else driving sixty miles an hour with the chance that we may happen to meet and swerve at a Passing Place?  It’s worth the risk of death just so we can feel that we are not being generous or extravagant in any way.” 

That would be dangerous.  If they had wide roads with two ample lanes and solid shoulders instead of hedges or ditches or stone walls on either side, they might start thinking they were Americans, and then what would become of the world?

Tags: hedges, the British