Fortunately for me, Lausanne is like San Francisco and New York City in that if you live in the city you don’t need to have a car. Don't get me wrong...I take no issue with driving itself – as a native Los Angeleno (Los Angelen? Los Angelan?), driving is a deeply ingrained part of my being that is as normal as eating or breathing.
That said, there are a number of particularities associated with the traffic rules in Switzerland that make me glad that I don’t have to get behind the wheel. For example, certain lights and lanes are only for buses, and the marking of the lanes in particular are not overly intuitive (perhaps I simply need to pay more attention).
There’s also the fact that certain lanes have different lights. And I’m not just talking about different lights for a “left-turn lane” and the regular “straight” lanes. Thus, two seemingly identical lanes (to me) have different lights that apply to them. And then there are the rules for where you’re supposed to stop at a traffic light. Instead of being able to simply pull up to the intersection, in some cases you have to stop a good 30+ feet behind where I would otherwise assume it’s okay to stop.
One thing that is nice about the traffic lights here is that there’s a yellow light both before and after a red. Thus, you get a little early warning that the light is turning green, which I like for some reason.
That said, there are a number of particularities associated with the traffic rules in Switzerland that make me glad that I don’t have to get behind the wheel. For example, certain lights and lanes are only for buses, and the marking of the lanes in particular are not overly intuitive (perhaps I simply need to pay more attention).
There’s also the fact that certain lanes have different lights. And I’m not just talking about different lights for a “left-turn lane” and the regular “straight” lanes. Thus, two seemingly identical lanes (to me) have different lights that apply to them. And then there are the rules for where you’re supposed to stop at a traffic light. Instead of being able to simply pull up to the intersection, in some cases you have to stop a good 30+ feet behind where I would otherwise assume it’s okay to stop.
One thing that is nice about the traffic lights here is that there’s a yellow light both before and after a red. Thus, you get a little early warning that the light is turning green, which I like for some reason.
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