June 17, 2010: Flipper Bridge
 

Problem ~
Chinese drivers, being a modern progressive country, drive on the right side of the road.
Hong Kong drivers, being a vestige of the empire, drive on the wrong side of the road.

Solution ~
The Flipper Bridge, which flips traffic to the opposite side of the road in the middle of the crossing.

http://cellar.org/2010/flipperop.jpg

Damn clever these Chinese... oh, wait... a Dutch company came up with this.

link

I like.

I watched the video and I still don't get it.

It would be more fun if it flipped the cars upside down.

What don't you get?

The fact you're suposed to drive on one side of the road? :lol:

Yeah, I reckon they could add a little hotwheels-style loop-the-loop in there. Maybe they should cross at the pinnacle of the loop.

I guess that area's not prone to flooding...

You'll put your eye out!

Yet...


And I don't getit neither! I donnah seen no dollfins anywheres. So how comes it's named after one?

Flipper was really a shark. He's currently under the bridge eating the toll trolls.

You know how it is with Chinese food though... an hour later, and you're hungry again.

I remember a family trip to England when we lived in Germany, and as we drove off the ferry, there was only one place to drive. It took us around the ferry terminal and then before we realized it, we had been dumped onto a two lane road on the left side. We never had the choice of which side to drive on. They just funneled us onto the correct side. Smart people, those Brits.

I also remember that when I got to sit in the front passenger seat of our vw bus with it's huge front window, whenever we approached an oncoming car on a narrow two lane county road, I would take both my hands and lift them up into view in an attempt to startle the other driver. Scratch my face or something. You see, they would think for a split second that I was the driver and I had taken both hands off the steering wheel. It's the little things.

"Say, for instance, you're coming from Zhuhai. As you cross the bridge on the right into Hong Kong..."

Those Dutch may be good at computer-generated bridges, but not geography. Zhuhai doesn't connect with Hongkong; it connects with Macau. (There's about 30 miles of sea between the two.)

Is no one thinking like an American here? If you drive a big enough car, it does not matter what side of the road you drive on. What ever side you are on is the right side if everyone else is getting out of your way.