I would make the point (not necessarily for an hour's drive) that the roads are often more tiring to drive on in the UK -- that is, they're not as flat, wide or straight as freeways often are, so require more concentration. Driving for an hour along Welsh country lanes doesn't feel the same as hitting the freeway for an hour. Just my two cents/tuppence

[–] Rouxibeau@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago (3 children)

The mountains of Northern California are treacherous. Many of the highways up there are frequently shut down for extended periods.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Being from SoCal and having lived in the UK, let me explain:

In the UK many of the roads are quite literally conversions from horse drawn carriage paths. In some cases, a drunk wanker from Liverpool could draw a better line for a road than most roads connecting off many of the UK motorways (Especially in Wales or Scotland). Add in round abouts, hills, creeks, rivers and stupidly narrow bridges, it's difficult.

I'd sincerely rather drive the Grapevine through Mammoth into Yosemite Village with black ice warnings than try and drive myself from Maidenbower, West Sussex UK to Dundee, Scotland again tbh.

[–] Syldon@feddit.uk 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What roads did you take? A majority of that is dualed.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

While living in the UK, I bought a Heritage pass and took off almost every weekend either by light rail or by car. When my wife came to visit though, we drove from my flat near Crawley to Scotland over a 3 day trip. We visited in order: Ashford, Broomfield (Leeds Castle), Rettondon, Chelmsford, Ipswitch, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh, Perth and finally ending in Dundee where I have distant relatives.

In all my trips, driving through the hills of Yorkshire and Cumbria are the scariest, but getting to Scone Palace outside of Perth through snow was quite challenging.

[–] Syldon@feddit.uk 2 points 8 months ago

So not really the main roads.

Most of the non main roads are a result of the feudal farming system. The US differs because people could buy up large rectangles of land which fit nicely together. The farming in Europe was a piecemeal affair, and roads were built onto to that. The UK is a very London centric country. The further north you get the less that is spent on roads and transport.

[–] riskable@programming.dev 1 points 8 months ago

Yeah the Karen migrations are rough.

[–] BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

Or even at night. Lotta these highways though just a straight line can be real dangerous.

[–] BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I can understand that. My cars got cruise control. Id doubt thatd be very effective in the UK less your in some scenic area like the Cotswolds.

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 8 months ago

Cruise control is fine on motorways, but that doesn't mean you can relax when you're still surrounded by other vehicles also going at 70mph!