# Things you've seen abroad you wish were adopted world wide **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094 "2021-05-28T14:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/363 "2021-09-07T05:55:26Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Modern roundabouts have radii just longer than the average auto Just to confuse the issue, that sounds like what we would call a mini-roundabout, or perhaps a single-lane roundabout. [https://www.passmefast.co.uk/roundabout-types](https://www.passmefast.co.uk/roundabout-types) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/364 "2021-09-07T07:05:52Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Modern roundabouts have radii just longer than the average auto, with the idea that you can see the one or two vehicles already occupying the roundabout and adjust your speed to first yield and then take your turn without coming to a stop. In the UK, The word “roundabout” is used generally for every rotary traffic system whether signal controlled or not. They are far, far better than the intensely annoying four way stops in the USA (though the USA rule of being able to turn right on red signals is something worth considering for the UK) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/365 "2021-09-07T08:05:46Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > though the USA rule of being able to turn right on red signals is something worth considering for the UK Well, maybe not turn _right_ in the UK, eh? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/366 "2021-09-07T08:17:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Well, maybe not turn _right_ in the UK, eh? 🙂 Ha! yes, that might be a bit of problem. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/367 "2021-09-07T16:57:32Z")
Turn on red in the UK would put pedestrians at risk in the UK given that more people walk and jaywalking isn’t a thing here. Pedestrians often cross, quite legally, when pedestrian signal is at red but traffic is clear and looking out for turning vehicles makes this harder. I wouldn’t trust turning-on-red drivers to observe pedestrian’s priority. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/368 "2021-09-09T20:11:07Z")
Yes. I had issues numerous times in the US at a pedestrian crossing that allowed drivers to turn right on red. It meant you essentially couldn’t ever cross safely at all. Drivers were supposed to stop but never did. Even when I was already halfway across I’d get cars turning and driving across the crossing inches away from me. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/369 "2021-09-09T20:21:14Z")
Right on red is not usually allowed in my city ( only when there is a sign). But drivers not stopping is separate from "right on red’ - even in places where right on red is not allowed, and where people are not turning right on red , you still have the issue of people turning right on the _green_ light not stopping for the pedestrians crossing on the street the driver is turning onto.\* It’s just a different group of pedestrians not being stopped for. - Let’s say I’m driving down Main and turning right on Oak. If right on red is allowed, I am to supposed to stop and yield to pedestrians crossing Main St. If ROR is not allowed, I will have to wait to get a green light on Main and then I am supposed to yield to pedestrians crossing Oak ( who typically have either have a walk sign or a green light when cars traveling on Main have a a green light ) when I turn right. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/370 "2021-09-09T20:57:51Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > If right on red is allowed, I am to supposed to stop and yield to pedestrians crossing Main St. The problem I’ve experienced is that the vast majority of drivers turning right on red only look left to check for approaching vehicles, and don’t even see the pedestrians crossing Main from the right. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/371 "2021-09-11T23:14:12Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Right on red is not usually allowed in my city ( only when there is a sign). But drivers not stopping is separate from "right on red’ - even in places where right on red is not allowed, and where people are not turning right on red , you still have the issue of people turning right on the _green_ light not stopping for the pedestrians crossing on the street the driver is turning onto.\* It’s just a different group of pedestrians not being stopped for. Probably true. I don’t get how those crossings are supposed to work when pedestrians essentially _never_ have priority. Every time we crossed it felt like taking our lives into our hands. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/372 "2021-09-12T14:19:33Z")
Pedestrians? What’s that. These roads are for CARS. (The AAA apparently invented the word “jaywalking” and pushed to criminalize it. This is not a new conflict.) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/373 "2021-10-11T20:58:26Z")
I don’t know if this is still done in Great Britain, but in some Penguin copies I have of P.G. Wodehouse novels, I notice that abbreviations for titles like Dr, Mr, and Mrs are styled without the period or full stop. As a former programmer who actually did do some work in text processing, I think that makes infinitely more sense, in terms of parsing a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/374 "2021-10-11T22:45:50Z")
In normal British usage, abbreviations do not have a period (“full stop”) if the abbreviation includes the first and last letter of the unabbreviated word, like Mr, Dr, Mrs, etc. However, the period _is_ used if the last letter doesn’t appear in the abbreviation, as in Prof., Rev., Hon., etc. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/375 "2021-10-11T23:24:41Z")
Yes. When working with American scripts I have a macro of sorts set up to automatically remove the periods in Dr, Mr, Ms and Mrs. The others don’t really come up very often in my work (subtitling) because they’re not usually said out loud in an abbreviated form, but if they were, that’s the format I’d follow. Prof is sometimes said out loud but without the name after it; then it doesn’t have a full stop because it’s more like a name than a title. And if someone says “thank you, doctor,” obviously that’s written out in full and in lower case. The lack of the full stop doesn’t make anyone think this is someone called “Dr Hanson,” pronounced dur. Including it shouldn’t make you think the sentence is ending, either, but it’s messy at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/376 "2021-10-12T05:48:50Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Credit card terminals brought to your table at a restaurant. Also, the acceptance of contactless cards as payment for just about anything. Hasn’t the pandemic pushed those forward where you are? The terminals were already very common where I am (Southern Ontario) and the pandemic just sealed the deal. _Everyone_ takes contactless payment (“The Tap”) now. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/377 "2021-10-12T06:25:56Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Me, I’d like to see the general pan Asian practice of leaving outdoor shoes at the dwelling entry, and switching to barefoot/indoor shoes/indoor slippers. It is so much cleaner. That’s pretty much standard in Canada, perhaps due to the length of the muddy/wet/snowy seasons. ---
**Author:** ![SailorHG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SailorHG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SailorHG)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/378 "2021-10-12T06:55:12Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That’s pretty much standard in Canada, perhaps due to the length of the muddy/wet/snowy seasons. Sweden, too. This forced me to change my dressing habits after moving here, because I needed to make sure my socks didn’t have holes in them if I were planning on visiting someone. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/379 "2021-10-12T13:26:13Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Hasn’t the pandemic pushed those forward where you are? The terminals were already very common where I am (Southern Ontario) and the pandemic just sealed the deal. _Everyone_ takes contactless payment (“The Tap”) now. There is some of this in the U.S., but it isn’t nearly universal. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/380 "2021-10-14T13:20:01Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > In Michigan, you’re supposed to do this on your state income tax return. I wonder how many Michigan residents bother to confess their actual out-of-state purchases on which they didn’t pay sales tax at the point of sale. I claim $0 use tax on my MI income tax form as it seems every online retailer includes sales tax for the state of destination when you play for it. The state has a table that they suggest using where use tax is a function of income- the resulting use tax is ridiculously high. If they can prove that I owe use tax, the burden is on them to show it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/381 "2021-10-14T14:21:18Z")
My state offers a “safe haven” use tax estimate, and i always claim that. I buy a bunch of stuff from out of state, some of it from individuals and small retailers who don’t deal with out-of-state sales tax. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/382 "2021-10-14T15:48:52Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Hasn’t the pandemic pushed those forward where you are? The terminals were already very common where I am (Southern Ontario) and the pandemic just sealed the deal. _Everyone_ takes contactless payment (“The Tap”) now. Heck, the pandemic means that here in the UK, a fair few pubs ask you to order and pay on your phone, so you don’t hardly have to interact with the waiter or bartender at all. Cordless/tap to pay card machines have been the default for years and years. There’s a price limit of the tap to pay option, but that’s going up to £100 I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=20)