Back from Vegas, views on American driving...

[2011G6E]

Just got back from a bit over a week in Las Vegas and surrounding areas...we stayed in the Mirage Casino, but spent most of our time wandering the strip, checking out free shows, seeing Penn & Teller (awesome show and great guys hanging around to ensure everyone got autographs and photos with them), and driving around the surrounding areas of Nevada near Vegas, such as Hoover Dam, etc.

By the way...if you've ever played "Fallout New Vegas", yes, Goodsprings is a real little town, and the general store and saloon look almost the same as the ones in the game.

We had hired a car through Alamo rentals, a "full sized" car. It was to be a "Charger or similar". Unfortunately there was no Charger left in the lot, so we managed to grab a top of the line Chev Impala with all the fruit...great comfortable car, heaps of power, very comfy on the highway and a lot of interesting standard features.

Driving around Vegas was a little intimidating at first, but after half an hour I realised it all worked very well...indicate and people let you change lanes, roads are very well signed and it's fairly hard to get lost...but I managed a few times due to pure skill.

I looked up the road rules before going, and most of the usual stuff was there, but there were things that we could really learn from:
* Right turn on red...if you approach a red light and are turning right from the correct lane, you treat it like a stop sign. Come to a stop, make sure there's no traffic, and keep going to the right. Felt really weird going through a red light.
* "Move Aside" laws...something we could really use here. If you have an accident, and the cars are driveable, it's your responsibility not just to sit there blocking everything up...you have to keep going until you can pull up out of the way of the traffic.
Also, the authorities really have their act together when it comes to accidents...none of the things we see here where, say, the Bruce Highway can be blocked for four hours after an accident, long after the people have been taken away. Over there, every morning we would hear of accidents on the I15, usually near Charleston road, which would be cleared very very quickly...even serious accidents are cleared fast...once the people are removed, the theory seems to be "Right...it's just hunks of metal...drag that crap out of the way quick smart and get the traffic flowing again! Now!"
Awesome, and something that should happen here.

Speed limits...they seemed to be "optional" at best. Looking at the video of us doing a lap of the strip, I can hear the overspeed thing on our GPS bonging away most of the time...on the strip it was a 30mph limit, but everyone was doing 40 or so.
On the highways, it was 55, 65, or 75 depending on where you were. And sitting on a nice 75, I was getting overtaken by everyone...cars, trucks, police cars, everyone, so I sped up to 80+ and it all flowed nicely.

There didn't seem to be many semis on the road...in the USA there are dozens of rail companies, and your first choice to move goods across the country or to the next state is one of them, not a fleet of massive trucks, so you don't actually see many driving around.

Prices of cars...good lord...I heard a radio advert for a new F150, starting at $15,990. A Dodge Ram 1500 "double cab" was available for under twenty, with zero percent interest over 72 months. No wonder every man and his dog had a big truck.

I only saw two mid-sixties Mustangs, amazingly enough...everyone seemed to have new Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, and trucks from either Ford, Chev, or Dodge. The rest of the traffic was older Yank stuff and some Jap cars.

I also went to the Shelby museum...awesome cars and a great place...and free! Also, no wonder I saw so many Shelby Mustangs around Vegas...on top of the base price of your standard V8 Mustang you drop off to the factory to be modified, something like a Shelby GTS only costs...wait for it...under thirteen grand...
Oh...and the 660hp "Super Snake" package? $28,000...or, if you want to man up and go for 850hp, you pay $41,500...

I loved it there...can't wait to go back!

Some pics to follow.

[Franco Cozzo]

Any pics of the big utes? I love them.

[rancidpunx]

Good write up bud, lets see some pictures. Driving in the states around Cali and Nevada is certainly an eye opener. You will probably find all the new muscle cars are rentals as well. I can relate to the 80mph optional speed limit and like you I just did what everyone else was doing. I remember cruising to Vegas from LA and sitting on 100mph in some places in a line of cars all doing the same thing. The cops wont pull you up unless your just being an outright ****.
The other thing I like was pulling up to an intersection and waiting for "Your Turn". It appeared to be a unwritten rule that uncontrolled intersections no matter who has right of way would go in order of who arrived at the intersection first.

[2011G6E]

What we found weird with the trucks was the ones we simply don't see here...I mean, everyone has seen Dodges, Chevs, or Fords here (for ten times the price they sell in America...), but the other makes were a wake up.

We never saw one Mitsubishi Triton like ours...not one. We did however see lots of Toyota Tundras with the 5.7 V8, and plenty of Nissan Titans, with a 5.6ltr V8...never eve heard of them. We also saw quite a few large Honda twin-cab fourbies of some sort...can't recall the name, but it was big, and presumably V8 powered too.

We drove past the importers place in Gympie on the way home, and saw shiny shiny big Dodge twin cabs and Chevs...things that here are hundred-grand-plus specialty cars, but the exact same vehicles over there were simply work utes, covered in dings, ratty paint, or carrying families around as a normal cheap vehicle. Sad...


Oh...and Walmart was absolutely amazing!

...and as Adam Sandler said in "Little Nicky"..."Popeyes Chicken is frickin' awesome!!!"...

[Maka]

Thanks for the writeup 2011g6e, always good to hear peoples impressions on country's they've visited!

cheers,Maka

[2011G6E]

Here's a few photos...It was rainy when we were there...fined up nicely on the last day, but we were pretty lucky with the weather and it only bucketed down on one day when we got back to Vegas.


Believe it or not, one of the "milder" modded trucks we saw. This was outside the Shelby Museum.


Another modded fourbie...the region was full of them, understandable given the vast desert areas and freedom to explore them. This thing would be defected in five seconds over here...


The deluge when we got back to Vegas...this is on the corner near the Treasure Island casino next to the Mirage. The water was about a foot deep over the sidewalk.



In the Shelby Museum...feel free to drool...I know I did...


Good four lane each way concrete highways...75mph speed limit, but really more like 85.


For those computer gamers, see, Goodsprings is a real place...

Something that should be familiar if you've played Fallout New Vegas...


"Our" Impala parked near the Goodsprings sign.


Driving over Hoover Dam...this place is built on a scale that really has to be seen to be believed, as has the new "bypass highway" bridge across the valley near it.


And finally...look...I'm only smiling because it's rude not to smile when someone takes your picture...

There were characters of all sorts...movies, historical, cartoon...up and down the strip every night letting you get photos with them for tips.

...but the missus didn't miss out either...this guy was the best Captain jack impersonator I've ever seen. He had the character down exactly.

[Tokyo Geoff]

Great write up! Heading over again shortly and plan to drive at Exotics Racing or Richard Petty's NASCAR experience and go to the Bikini Gun Range. Looking for other ideas too
Geoff

[2011G6E]

It's the little things that get you going "what?" though...
Going into Popeyes Chicken and getting two fair sized pieces of chicken, a "biscuit", and a drink for $2.99...going to Walmart and seeing air rifles and Airsoft guns for sale cheap as chips, because they're "not real guns". Here, Airsoft guns, firing a small plastic ball, are banned outright...completely illegal, you can't even bring them into the country, what is basically a kids toy.

Telling the missus to "buy me a small Coke Zero" when she went into a 7/11 to get a coffee...and having her come back with a 750ml-sized plastic cup...."That was the small one..." she said...

Seeing guys filling up "coffee containers" that had to be between four and five liters, and stagger out of the shop sipping away at them...

"Fat Americans"? Nope...honestly...I expected it, but no one in any greater numbers than you'd see here was overweight.
"Obnoxious Americans"...? Nope...everyone was nice, friendly, and once they found out you were Australian, they couldn't do enough to help you. Especially a very pretty black girl working behind the counter in a 7/11 we got talking to who really wanted to visit Australia. Very nice. Ahem...

These are the "coffee containers" on sale in a 7/11...the "smaller" ones are about a US gallon...probably 3.8 liters or so...and the big buggers have to be close to five liters. We saw several people using them...



Portion sizes are...interesting...in a lot of places. Most places are pretty normal, but some are over the top.
This was dinner at a New York style traditional deli, one of the several restaurants in the Mirage where we stayed. This missus ordered a "Club Dear" (bacon, pastrami, turkey, triple-decker with salad), and I had a Rueben called the "Woody Allen"...piles of Pastrami and corned beef, with lashings of sweet mustard and mayo, on rye. It was about five inches thick...the wifes was about six or seven inches thick at least, which accounts for the look on her face...
The "side order of fries" was a huge plate of skin-on thin cut fries...absolutely beautiful. This all cost us about $50, including drinks, but keep in mind this was a restaurant inside a casino...you could eat way cheaper in sidewalk eateries and restaurants away from the strip.



This was my "Double Gulp"...the biggest cup they had in 7/11. I brought it home in the luggage. I just measured it, and it holds just on 1.5ltrs.

And it fit in the cup holder of the Impala!!!!

[2011G6E]

Auto related things?
Pre-paying for fuel...we came back from Hoover Dam and I noticed the Impala was nearly empty, so I filled it up. It was fairly easy...insert cash card into machine, put in pin, take out card, and only then could you fill the car up. From empty cost about $30...unleaded was something like half what we pay here at the moment...
With cash it was a little harder...the missus went in and gave her a twenty, and she turned the pump on. It needed more than twenty, so the missus had to go back and give her some more money, and then she turned the pump on again until it filled, then gave us the change...

Seeing signs on all the auto workshops for $17.99 oil changes...seemed a pretty common price.

Watching cops cruising on big new Harleys polished to within an inch of their lives...but driving battered Crown Victoria police cars that looked to be on their last legs. The only shiny and clean Crown Vics were dark brown and dark blue ones driven by State Police, but you didn't see many of them.

Seeing a Monaro and a Commodore...sorry, "Pontiac GTO and G8"...in traffic...was nice seeing a little piece of home.

Seeing nearly the whole line of traffic move off as one once the light goes green...not the domino effect you see here where the car in front moves, and only then does the one behind him move, and only then the one behind him...and so on...until only about five cars manage to get across before the light changes again. People over there all seemed to look ahead to the traffic light, not stare at the brake lights of the car just in front of them.

Seeing obviously down-and-out, dirt-poor people driving big Chev, Ford, and Dodge trucks that sell for a hundred grand here.

Seeing cops who were vastly more interested in keeping traffic flowing smoothly than pulling over everyone who goes a few mph over the limit...

[revcore]

Awesome write up and awesome pics. I'd love to head over to the States one day, Especially Nevada...I'd love to go towards Area 51 and also visit the Little A'Le'Inn at Rachel Nevada.

[buggerlugs]

Awesome !! Going over in August next year for 3 weeks. My first time over there.....One of my mates is over in Vegas now. It is his first overseas trip. He is BLOWN away by Vegas..............

[mcnews]

This is some video I did riding out of Vegas and into the Valley of Fire nearby, also rode out to Hoover Dam etc. Will give some idea of the terrain out there.
http://youtu.be/gdtUZXbDIdM

I rode across America from South to North a few years ago on a Harley to, from Tupelo to Milwaukee. Went to Corvette factory and museum, Makers Mark distillery etc. Harley HQ. Love the country towns and the architecture in some of the backward places.

[BDA074]

Great write up thanks!
Raining in Vegas! Wow, rained when I was there too. Half the outside escalators were broken for two days after! Vegas is not designed for rain

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by BDA074

Great write up thanks!
Raining in Vegas! Wow, rained when I was there too. Half the outside escalators were broken for two days after! Vegas is not designed for rain

Exactly...most of the overpass escalators were out of commission when we were there too. The drains backed up in no time when that big storm came through.

Actually, I came home a kilo or so lighter than when we went over there...I suspect it was all the walking up and down the strip and around Hoover Dam and the bridge...

[mcnews]

That awesome fountain in Vegas
http://youtu.be/ZbmpBfXYL_M

And helo trip out to Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon
http://youtu.be/4NkTKWs3Agg

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by BDA074

Great write up thanks!
Raining in Vegas! Wow, rained when I was there too. Half the outside escalators were broken for two days after! Vegas is not designed for rain

Desert rain must be more common then we think. When I was Driving from LA to Vegas through the desert It rained half the way.
When it wasn't raining I was sitting above the 70-75 mph speed limit. Cruising a lot of the time between 80 and 90. Passed cop and didn't have a problem. Many people were driving similar speeds to me with people still passing me.
One point I was doing 90 in the carpool lane. The SUV ahead of me was pulling away and I had people coming up behind me.

On straight smooth roads with concrete barriers or just dirt by the road, it doesn't feel very dangerous.

[jpd80]

Sorry late to the thread, great write up mate,
That Impala is the just superseded one but I recon it's still pretty good and comfortable for soaking up the miles.

[Jastel]

Been there and done that...enjoyed it as well.
I went to SEMA so the cars were awesome and everywhere...

Agree with most things you say about driving over there. There are not that many semis around Nevada and the cities but plenty in the rest of the states. Though a lot of freight gets moved by rail, especially across the continent. Did you see the big 2 mile long double decker container trains. I have a picture of our Mustang parked next to a giant 4WD like in your photo. A Landcruiser is a toy car for them.

+1 for Exotics Racing at LV. Expensive but where else can you fang a Ferrari/Lambo/Porsche, or all of the above???

+1 for the gun shops, have to try the bikini one next time....

Rachel, Little A'Le'Inn Area 51, ET Highway, Loneliest Road in America (Top Gear), Route 66, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, all great drives around there. But being a Ford Forum you really should have got a Mustang....

Also do the Pinball Museum in LV as well.

[Pedro]

Thanks for the interesting and informative write up 2011G6E. Done that kind of stuff a few times but haven't written it up as I don't have your turn of phrase to make it interesting.
One thing I might add is to either have yourself very well insured or be extremely carefull driving over there. USA drivers drive through red lights with monotonous regularity and talking and texting while driving seems to be the norm.
But I have to agree with "rancidpunx" when he states "It appeared to be a unwritten rule that uncontrolled intersections no matter who has right of way would go in order of who arrived at the intersection first".

[2011G6E]

I noticed that at a few intersections...mainly over in Henderson and Boulder City...where you would come upon four stop signs...it puzzled me, until I noticed that it seemed to indeed be a case of "turn up first, you take off first". It actually worked quite well.

We had travel insurance that had quite a lot of cover in it for driving a car over there...we made damn sure of that.

[Cashie]

Great thread, we just got back 3 weeks ago from 2 weeks in Vegas, loved it too.
You totally nailed the driving over there, at first I was worried about the style of driving, but once you "joined the club" it just works so well there. Everyone speeds, people allow others to change lanes and it just works (in a fast fashion).
Hired a Mustang for the two weeks, was a fun car but handled like an EA Falcon. It was bloody hot over there, had the roof down for about 38seconds..

[csv8]

2011G6E..I agree, excellent write up..It just shows what a nanny country we live in !!!
The missus and I hired an Impala and drove at 80mph, felt quite safe and cars passed us !!
Prices of cars make me cry in my beer!!! we certainly are ripped off!!! Ford should have the Mustang V8 for $39,990 drive away here, if not something is wrong...Next time, go to York, Pennsylvania, the Harley factory, amazing!! seeing a bike come of the line every 30mins!! glad you enjoyed the trip...gotta go back !!!
What did you think of the USA petrol prices ?

[2011G6E]

Petrol prices were just sad...I know, I know they make less than us and there's more of them...but to hear them whinge about paying around 70 to 80 cents a liter...

I saw quite a few right hand drive cars around...some old British stuff, older Skylines of course (which weren't built in LHD), other imports. Also the postal service vans were all RHD...to make it easier for the guy to access the post box on the side of the road without getting out.
Everyone will probably know one of my pet hates has always been how Australians have been mostly treated like children and idiots when it comes to the concept of driving new LHD cars on our roads...they have to be either converted (if that's even possible) at massive cost and slathered in import taxes if a new car, or they can be LHS but they have to be a classic over 30 years old or something.
No idea why someone can't, if they wish, bring in a brand new LHD car and drive it freely. Then again, given the low prices of brand new cars in the USA, and the ever-decreasing cost of shipping a car here to Australia, the government is probably afraid it would open the floodgates if it allowed that. Other countries seem to accept that it would be done by a small number of motorists, and those motorists would be people who knew the small limitations of driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

Some RHD versions of Yank vehicles are not actually made in the USA...Mexico and other places do it in factories there.


If anyone is going to Vegas in the future, make sure you go to the Shelby museum, and keep in mind that they do a full factory tour at 10.30am every weekday...and better yet, it's free! No bookings necessary, just turn up. We missed out on it the first day we were there, and never got time to go back, sadly.

They must also have those "smog tests" in Nevada, as we saw service centers everywhere with signs saying "Get your smog certificates here"....sometimes thrown in for a small fee on top of those "$17.99 oil changes". This of course didn't explain some of the downright smokey crap buckets we saw wobbling around the poorer outlying areas...guess if you pay someone enough, you can get anything through...

Oh...and check what fuel you're putting in...the diesel pumps have yellow nozzles, not green or black as they are here, but apparently the nozzle won't fit in a "normal" car filler. You can also be staggered by the choice of petrol...one pump I pulled up at had five nozzles to choose from...regular unleaded, premium, premium plus, some low octane rubbish of about 80 octane, different strength ethanol blends, etc.
Our Impala had a badge on the back saying "Flex-fuel" and apparently it could use any of the ethanol blends up to that "gasahol" stuff they have in some states which is just about pure ethanol...way more than 85% ethanol I think.

I just took the safe route and picked "normal" 91 unleaded...

Taxis were interesting...there were several different companies. Very visible were the Yellow Cabs...nearly all creaking and battered Crown Victorias making some very interesting noises as they drove past. There were a lot of Charger and Chrysler 300C taxis everywhere too...the 300C, a "premium luxury model" here, but "just a family car or taxi" over there.
We also noticed cars that we get here, but models we just don't get...especially interesting stuff like the AWD Chrysler 300C...saw quite a few of them. Seemed to be a lot of slightly different looking Jeeps around which were different to ones I've seen here...maybe different types of Wrangler. Saw a few Hummer H2 "dual cab utes"...but the rear "ute" part was so tiny it would be just about useless...and old Mighty Boy would probably have more load carrying capacity...

Oh...and something that looked like a Hilux but the badges on the back said "Toyota PreRunner"...

...what the hell is a "PreRunner"....

One thing I noticed was a lack of older F100's...I mean, here on the roads you see plenty of them all the time, but I only saw maybe one or two getting about, and usually they were well looked after modified versions. Then again, it's probably understandable...given the stupidly cheap price a new, say, F150 goes for, they're seen as a "throw away" item, worked into the ground, scrapped after a few years, and a new one bought. Even little lawn mowing businesses and other small handymen trucks you see driving around there were driving pretty new F150s, Dodge 1500 Rams, and some Silverados.

[MDS69]

Great write up 2011G6E. We have been home less than 24hrs after 2 weeks in California. Agree with everything you said. The Americans that we encountered were the most polite people you could come across. They are very patriotic and proud. In Anaheim there is a bus shuttle system called the ART bus (Anaheim Resort Transport) and they are either F trucks or Chevs. I will post a pic later. I loved the pick ups, the ones you mentioned, Toyota Tundra and Tacomas (our Hilux) Nissan Titans and lets not forget the F trucks. With regards to speed limits everything flowed well and even our airport shuttle was an E350 Ford doing 80 MPH.
Food was dissapointing more from the quality and style but it was cheap. Portions were not huge as I expected them to be.except for the drinks as you mentioned. And same here we did not experience an abnorm) amount of obese people compared to here.
A little thing I noticed was that all toilets in every restaurant, theme park, shopping centre or other public place was very clean and catered for kids with urinals and hand basins for kids which was good for my 7yo.

[The FOMOCO]

A great thread 2011G6E sounds like you had a great time i am thinking of going over there next year with my wife as well it sounds good especially when you hear it from an Aussie who's just been there

[DBourne]

I too just had a holiday in the States and did some driving, over in California.

LA to San Fran via Santa Barbara and Pismo Beach.

Have to agree that the driving over there works so much better than here.

The road systems, the road naming conventions all just click. Even a geographical retard like me can get around quite easily.

I'm also amazed at the drivers courtesy towards cyclists. Even in New York (where you would expect them to be so angry and pushed for time) they were so polite it was amazing.

[2011G6E]

In Nevada they have the "keep clear by three feet" law for cyclists, which they mentioned here a while ago.
You have to go around a cyclist leaving at least three feet clearance...however, the rules do specifically say "where possible", leaving a good grey area where if there's simply not room for you to leave three feet clearance when passing safely, then you won't get into trouble for it.

I have a nasty feeling that if they brought in a "one meter" rule here, there would be NO "grey area"...you would find yourself booked for not leaving a meter, no matter the circumstances...

[DBourne]

It was more the attitude of people that amazed me. They weren't phased by them, happy to be polite.

Though I do admit the cyclists all waited for red lights etc too, so both sides of the fence behaved really well..

Oh and to add to the pic fest ;)

Me and my mighty rental-stang.


2013USA-16 by SgtBourne, on Flickr

[Tonz]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

One thing I noticed was a lack of older F100's...I mean, here on the roads you see plenty of them all the time, but I only saw maybe one or two getting about, and usually they were well looked after modified versions. Then again, it's probably understandable...given the stupidly cheap price a new, say, F150 goes for, they're seen as a "throw away" item, worked into the ground, scrapped after a few years, and a new one bought. Even little lawn mowing businesses and other small handymen trucks you see driving around there were driving pretty new F150s, Dodge 1500 Rams, and some Silverados.

Your aint bin to Mizzizzippi hav ya bouy???

Get a load of bangers there... in more ways than one and some of them got 2 legs.

[MDS69]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

One thing I noticed was a lack of older F100's....

Funny you should say that, on our way to LAX from San Diego we passed a newish F150 towing a trailer with an early '70's F100. Looked like the guy just picked himself up a project.