One of the things I have noted about driving in Kentucky is how many of the rules and regulations are considered really not all that important. Most people seem to disregard turn signals (directional-optional). Ditto on safe lane changes (three-lane-skeedoo-optional), and even, in one extreme case, someone decided that they didn't need a hood to drive on the highway (engine-covering-optional). Now, coming from the other extreme - the People's Republic of Massachusetts (PRM) - where the State practically sits in the back seat nagging you about everything (and pocketing a nice little bit of change in the process), Kentucky's free-wheeling Duke's of Hazard-style of Jeffersonian motor mayhem is refreshingly gladitorial. Driving to work on 31W, the Dixie Highway (a.k.a. the Dixie
Deathway), one regularly sees smashups of varying severity. I was struck (metaphorically, not physically) by how many vehicles in Kentucky have smacked-up sides, corners and bumpers.
It is indeed like Ben-Hur, with each contestant whipping their assorted teams of V-6s, Hemis and 4-liters onward; all the while trying to tear off one another's doors, shred a tire or two, or rend a quarter panel down to the frame. Now
that's driving! About the only place more challenging than this would have to be
Kuwait, where the locals believe that
braking is optional (hey, even Kentuckians stop for traffic lights and school buses). Those guys are hard core.
One of the things I have noted about driving in Kentucky is how many of the rules and regulations are considered really not all that important. Most people seem to disregard turn signals (directional-optional). Ditto on safe lane changes (three-lane-skeedoo-optional), and even, in one extreme case, someone decided that they didn't need a hood to drive on the highway (engine-covering-optional). Now, coming from the other extreme - the People's Republic of Massachusetts (PRM) - where the State practically sits in the back seat nagging you about everything (and pocketing a nice little bit of change in the process), Kentucky's free-wheeling Duke's of Hazard-style of Jeffersonian motor mayhem is refreshingly gladitorial. Driving to work on 31W, the Dixie Highway (a.k.a. the Dixie Deathway), one regularly sees smashups of varying severity. I was struck (metaphorically, not physically) by how many vehicles in Kentucky have smacked-up sides, corners and bumpers.
It is indeed like Ben-Hur, with each contestant whipping their assorted teams of V-6s, Hemis and 4-liters onward; all the while trying to tear off one another's doors, shred a tire or two, or rend a quarter panel down to the frame. Now that's driving! About the only place more challenging than this would have to be Kuwait, where the locals believe that braking is optional (hey, even Kentuckians stop for traffic lights and school buses). Those guys are hard core.
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