The Questions Google Doesn't Know

Captain Tinkle

Captain Tinkle

Honorable
Hopefully this thread will be a bit of a question and answer thread about different cultures/countries that people would like to know.

Now I love the United States. Try to go each year. However each time I leave I have more and more questions. These are sort of the inane things that come up in conversation with the friends I go with and we cannot find an answer for.

Any answers much appreciated....

Why are the box type TVs still very common, yet the flat screen HDTVs in Walmart dirt cheap. I saw a 50" 4K TV in Walmart for around $600 yet here in the UK it would probably set you back closer (depending on the model) closer to £1000. However DVDs, Blu-Rays and video games are very expensive.

Is VHS still a thing? Everytime I have been, there has been a VHS player.

Stop signs. Who has right of way at junctions? Google suggests that it is the driver who arrives first. However how does this not cause accidents if more than one car arrive at the same time!?

In the state of Florida, it is illegal to text and drive (it is a secondary offence so you have to be pulled over for something else before you can be written up on it) but talking on your phone while driving is perfectly fine. Are there many accidents due to this? Here is is 6 points on you licence (12 points on a licence) and £200 fine.

School buses. What happens if you ignore the stop sign?

Rolling tobacco. I cannot find it anywhere. Is it because tailored made cigerettes are so cheap it is not needed?
 
CasualBystander

CasualBystander

Celestial
Captain Tinkle said:
Stop signs. Who has right of way at junctions? Google suggests that it is the driver who arrives first. However how does this not cause accidents if more than one car arrive at the same time!?
Click to expand...
Vehicle on the right has right of way (vehicle on the left should yield).

Turn priority is right-straight-left.
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
Captain Tinkle said:
Rolling tobacco. I cannot find it anywhere. Is it because tailored made cigerettes are so cheap it is not needed?
Click to expand...

Rolling tobacco is sold at tobacco and cigar shops, general convenience stores and many grocery stores don't carry it...

Many years ago when I quit smoking I thought cigarettes were expensive, now they're almost double in price...They aren't cheap here...
 
Toroid

Toroid

Founding Member
I guess people with the old TV's just wait for them to burnout. I haven't seen VHS in a while. Costco coverts VHS to DVD. You have to go into a cigarette/cigar shop for packages of loose tobacco and other smoking paraphernalia. In the states they are/were called Head Shops where they also sell drug accessories which is legal. Around 330,000 injuries happen each year to people who text & drive.
Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
I have a VHS time lapse recorder, still works good, it's connected to a security camera I have set up...
 
Captain Tinkle

Captain Tinkle

Honorable
nivek said:
Rolling tobacco is sold at tobacco and cigar shops, general convenience stores and many grocery stores don't carry it...

Many years ago when I quit smoking I thought cigarettes were expensive, now they're almost double in price...They aren't cheap here...
Click to expand...

Seems odd to me that normal grocery stores don't sell it.

Yeah I found rolling tobacco in the airport. $30.00 for 250g which is really cheap. Works out at about £20.00. Considering each packet here for 50g costs £20.00 each that is a hell of a saving. The tax man only allows us to bring back 250g but I got my mate to buy some so came away with 500g.

For normal straight cigarettes I was paying around $7.00 at Walmart. About £5.00. Here you will now be lucky to find a packet under £12.00! ($16.00) And that is out of the cities. London I would presume you are looking at £15.00 ($19.00)!
 
Captain Tinkle

Captain Tinkle

Honorable
August said:
Is chewing tobacco still sold and legal in the USA (?) its banned here.
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Still legal in the UK I believe but I don't see many shops carry it anymore.

Only time I ever see it, is the US airforce personal traveling on the train back and forth from London to where I live. Seen a few guys chewing it. They buy it on the various bases though or at least that is what one of them told me.
 
Captain Tinkle

Captain Tinkle

Honorable
Toroid said:
I guess people with the old TV's just wait for them to burnout. I haven't seen VHS in a while. Costco coverts VHS to DVD. You have to go into a cigarette/cigar shop for packages of loose tobacco and other smoking paraphernalia. In the states they are/were called Head Shops where they also sell drug accessories which is legal. Around 330,000 injuries happen each year to people who text & drive.
Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving
Click to expand...

You would think they would ban texting and driving due to that?

I would have thought that old TVs would no longer exsist. They are pretty much gone here at least you can only buy flat screen now.
 
Toroid

Toroid

Founding Member
Captain Tinkle said:
You would think they would ban texting and driving due to that?

I would have thought that old TVs would no longer exsist. They are pretty much gone here at least you can only buy flat screen now.
Click to expand...
It is illegal to text and drive, but people do it anyway. You can talk on a cell with a hands free device while driving.
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
I once drove past a woman on the highway who had a book strapped to her steering wheel, reading whilst driving...
 
August

August

Metanoia
I saw a guy eating a hamburger and drinking coke while on the road.

Thinkstock_011915_EatingAndDriving_01212015172626.jpg
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
Captain Tinkle said:
Seems odd to me that normal grocery stores don't sell it.

Yeah I found rolling tobacco in the airport. $30.00 for 250g which is really cheap. Works out at about £20.00. Considering each packet here for 50g costs £20.00 each that is a hell of a saving. The tax man only allows us to bring back 250g but I got my mate to buy some so came away with 500g.

For normal straight cigarettes I was paying around $7.00 at Walmart. About £5.00. Here you will now be lucky to find a packet under £12.00! ($16.00) And that is out of the cities. London I would presume you are looking at £15.00 ($19.00)!
Click to expand...

The grocery near my house sells one brand of loose cigarette tobacco, not sure about walmart but when I quit smoking they cost about 3 dollars a pack, I thought that was expensive...If you go to New York State they are extremely high priced, I think over 13 dollars a pack...
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
Captain Tinkle said:
Haha sounds all too confusing to me! Give me a roundabout any day! Simple car on the right coming towards you has priority.
Click to expand...

Roundabouts over here the left coming car has right of way...
 
Captain Tinkle

Captain Tinkle

Honorable
nivek said:
Roundabouts over here the left coming car has right of way...
Click to expand...

Interesting, I didn't think there were any.

Leads me onto another question.

Are you able to purchase manual cars or are they all automatics as standard? Does your driving licence entitle you to drive a manual car?
 
nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
Captain Tinkle said:
Interesting, I didn't think there were any.

Leads me onto another question.

Are you able to purchase manual cars or are they all automatics as standard? Does your driving licence entitle you to drive a manual car?
Click to expand...

Yeah I drive through two roundabouts when I go into the bigger city in my region, I don't like them though, too small, they should have doubled the size for better flow of traffic...

Yep can purchased manual or automatic cars, the licence is good for either as far as I know, I can drive either one I prefer a manual transmission, especially if it's a sports car I'm driving or a 4x4 jeep or something...

My car is both, I use both the manual side and the auto side of my car, if I move the shifter to the right it goes into manual but no clutch, keep the shifter to the left and it's in automatic...
 
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