|
British Motorways |
United States Interstate |
| Route marker used |
Blue with white numbers and letters. Actual
appearence of marker not known. Stand-alone signs not used. |
Red and blue cutout shield with white numbers. Sometimes, the state
name may be on top of the blue field. Stand-alone signs used all the
time. |
| Exit numbering |
Motorway 'junctions' are numbered. (the exception is where
a major
road -- an 'A' road -- has a stretch designated as motorway;
in that case,
it need not have numbered junctions, e.g. A102(M).) |
Depends on the state. |
| Speed Limit |
The national speed limit for motorways is 70mph. |
Depends on the state. Ranges between 65-75 mph in rural
areas and 50-60 mph in urban areas. Montana has a "reasonable and prudent"
speed limit -- which states that there is no daytime speed limit as long
the conditions are perfect (put it in another way: drive to the flow of
traffic). However, don't drive below 5 mph over the posted speed limit,
but not above 10 mph unless necessary. |
| Toll motorways |
There are no toll motorways at present, though some
motorways feature tolls for river crossings. However, the Birmingham
Northern Relief Road will be privately built and will be tolled. |
Depends on the state. About 1/3 of the states have toll
motorways, some operated by the state, others by private
corporations. |
| "E-Z Pass" on toll motorways |
Bit irrelevant since there are so few tolls, but the only
toll that I'm
familar with sounds much the same as that described on
your page for
northerneastern parts of the US. (indeed, the tolling
system was provided by an American company.) |
Since tollways are operated by different companies, it
depends on the state. States in the northeastern part of the United States
have an "E-Z Pass" system implemented, where people that travel tollways
frequently can pay a certain fee to implement an electronic device in
their cars for a certain amount of time. All states with tollways also
have toll booths, where people can use "exact-change" lanes, or use lanes
with cashiers. |
| Right passing |
Since our roads are reversed obviously we overtake on the
right. Overtaking on the _left_ is not allowed; as the Highway Code says,
"Overtake only on the right unless traffic is moving in queues and the
queue on your right is moing more slowly than you are. Do not move to a
lane on your left to overtake. You MUST NOT use the hard shoulder for
overtaking." |
No rule |
| Distance signs |
Follows European Union standards: all route numbers on a
particular section of road is mounted on distance signs. The route numbers
are posted at the bottom of the distance sign. Above the route
markers are the distances of the nearest major cities, all in
kilometers. Overhead gantries are used on motorways. |
Depends on the state. Most states have the nearest exit
and the control city posted in distances in miles (a few of them have them
in kilometers, too.) Any highways on distance signs are spelled out
(except Flordia, which uses highway shields). Unlike Europe, route numbers
are not posted on distance signs -- they are posted on stand-alone
signs. |
| Control signs |
Route numbers are posted on the bottom of the signs with
the control cities. |
Route numbers and cardinial directions (North, South,
East, West) are posted on the top of the sign. Below the route numbers is
the control city of that highway. Arrows are at the bottom of the sign.
All states but a few uses the down arrows on the control signs. |
| Posting all simoutaneous routes |
All routes are posted on distance signs under EU
standards. |
Depends on the state. While some states post all routes, a
few only post one or two and hide the rest. |
| Agressive driving ban |
Very strict enforcement. |
Depends on the state. Enforcement is more likely on urban
highways than on highways in rural areas. Fines for reckless driving vary
from state to state. |
| Numbering rules |
No Specific Numbering Rule for 1-digit motorways.
Other motorways have a zonal system:
England and Wales
Zone 1 - E of M1, N of M2
Zone 2 - S
of M2, E of M3
Zone 3 - W of M3, S of M4, E of M5
Zone 4 - N of
M4, E of M5, S of M6, W of M1
Zone 5 - W of M5 or W of M6
Zone 6 - E of M6, W of M1
Scotland
Zone 7 - S of M8
Zone 8 - N of M8, W of M9
Zone 9 - E of M9 |
1 and 2-digit Odd numbers go north/south and even numbers
go east/west. 100 and 101 count as 2-digit routes. For 3-digit routes,
they follow their parent 2-digit number. If their parent is a 1-digit
route, their number is x0Y, where Y is the 1-digit parent route and X is
their number. States cannot use the same 3-digit number twice. |
| Motorway kinds. |
Routes I've been on are usually 3 lanes either way in
fact. Better to say
normally 4-6 lanes. Currently proposals to make a
section of the M25 London Orbital Motorway near Heathrow 6 lanes either
way. |
Controlled access highways. Rural highways are either
"super-twos" (getting phrased out though sections of I-70 and I-80 in Utah
and I-77 in West Virginia were super-twos until about 10 years ago), are 4
lane, divided highways. Urban highways and some busy interstates can range
from 6 to 20 lanes. |