This is how we roll
July 14, 2008 7:15 AM Subscribe
This is how we roll in India
This is how we slide in Saudi
This is how we fly in Sweden
Some people are a little bit casual about road safety.
This is how we slide in Saudi
This is how we fly in Sweden
Some people are a little bit casual about road safety.
These are the kind of insane shenanigans that make me love the world. Thanks, roofus.
posted by Kattullus at 7:28 AM on July 14, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 7:28 AM on July 14, 2008 [2 favorites]
I thought the first link was going to be this guy.
posted by gubo at 7:29 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by gubo at 7:29 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
The second one looks like something that might happen in a dream. "And then we just got out of the car and we were skating only it wasn't ice we were just sliding along the road with all of the cars..."
posted by pracowity at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2008 [9 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2008 [9 favorites]
At first I thought the India video was pointed at the insane merge, but they didn't even seem to notice that. Which I guess makes sense, given the ultra-insanity of what they were filming.
posted by DU at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
It was completely disorienting to have the presenter-guy in gubo's video speaking in Icelandic. Didn't expect that.
posted by Kattullus at 7:36 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 7:36 AM on July 14, 2008
I like how the car in the Saudi video is using its hazard lights. Because, you know, without the hazard lights it would just be unnecessarily dangerous...
posted by jedicus at 7:39 AM on July 14, 2008 [5 favorites]
posted by jedicus at 7:39 AM on July 14, 2008 [5 favorites]
This is how we read US Weekly, fix our makeup, and make dinner reservations at 40mph in our ML Mercedes straddling lanes on the LIE.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:40 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by uncleozzy at 7:40 AM on July 14, 2008
Hey, at least the Saudi guys had the emergency flashers on.
posted by netbros at 7:40 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by netbros at 7:40 AM on July 14, 2008
The Indians win. Hands down.
Everything about that video reeks of awesome.
The other two are okay, but the reactions of the guys actually videoing the biker in the Indian video are priceless.
posted by vertigo25 at 7:55 AM on July 14, 2008
Everything about that video reeks of awesome.
The other two are okay, but the reactions of the guys actually videoing the biker in the Indian video are priceless.
posted by vertigo25 at 7:55 AM on July 14, 2008
More crazy Saudis.
Loonies from Libya. Don't miss the part at 4:35 where the guy gets out of the car and sits on a small table while the car's still whipping around him.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:57 AM on July 14, 2008
Loonies from Libya. Don't miss the part at 4:35 where the guy gets out of the car and sits on a small table while the car's still whipping around him.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:57 AM on July 14, 2008
DU writes "At first I thought the India video was pointed at the insane merge, but they didn't even seem to notice that."
Ya, me too. I'm not going to bitch about the lack of lane control in Canada ever again. Well, not this week anyways.
posted by Mitheral at 8:08 AM on July 14, 2008
Ya, me too. I'm not going to bitch about the lack of lane control in Canada ever again. Well, not this week anyways.
posted by Mitheral at 8:08 AM on July 14, 2008
Also, was it just me or did those Indians sound a lot like Northumbrians? Were British Indian schools run by Northumbrians or was it just these guys that sounded like that? Or were they, in fact, non-Indian?
posted by DU at 8:15 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by DU at 8:15 AM on July 14, 2008
Remember: Friends don't let friends drive.
At all.
Too dangerous.
posted by Outlawyr at 8:18 AM on July 14, 2008
At all.
Too dangerous.
posted by Outlawyr at 8:18 AM on July 14, 2008
This is how the Saudi bobsled team trains in the off-season.
posted by oaf at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by oaf at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
OK, so the future got here and the flying cars never showed up. We've got tunnel airplanes. That's about as cool.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:26 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:26 AM on July 14, 2008
Ok, while anthill's NYC link went more or less how I would expect... dios mio, I felt myself involuntarily clutching myself about every 10 seconds. I guess since it was more POV, or just more insane. thanks!
posted by cavalier at 8:31 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by cavalier at 8:31 AM on July 14, 2008
MtDewd, Jean Yves Blondeau's suit is much less nerdy looking at 110km/h.
still nerdy tho
posted by anthill at 8:42 AM on July 14, 2008
still nerdy tho
posted by anthill at 8:42 AM on July 14, 2008
Actually, my main reaction to the NYC link wasn't so much "these guys are insane" as "these guys are really, really inconsiderate".
posted by DU at 8:43 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by DU at 8:43 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
There is something wrong with the water in the middle east if it makes you drive like this.
And if they lose their licenses, they will end up doing this.
Where is there an explanation of how to make the video play right on the MeFi page?
posted by Forktine at 8:44 AM on July 14, 2008
And if they lose their licenses, they will end up doing this.
Where is there an explanation of how to make the video play right on the MeFi page?
posted by Forktine at 8:44 AM on July 14, 2008
There's no secret trick. The Youtube vids automatically play in the pop-up, but other vids won't.
posted by roofus at 8:49 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by roofus at 8:49 AM on July 14, 2008
In Riyadh, the streets obviously are covered in oil.
That, and purée of Saudi teenagers who accidentally lose the grip on their car doors.
posted by Mike D at 9:00 AM on July 14, 2008
That, and purée of Saudi teenagers who accidentally lose the grip on their car doors.
posted by Mike D at 9:00 AM on July 14, 2008
On the subject of stunningly stupid driving videos, the motorcycle laps of the Paris Peripherique are some of my favorites (example). (And those remind me of the Claude Lelouch video the racecar being driven around Paris (previously).)
posted by Forktine at 9:03 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by Forktine at 9:03 AM on July 14, 2008
How did the Saudis manage to slide like that on the asphalt? Did they have teflon pads on the bottom of their sandals?
posted by invitapriore at 9:05 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by invitapriore at 9:05 AM on July 14, 2008
The most fascinating thing about the second link, for me, is that cars were passing these guys on the left as if nothing unusual was going on. Ho hum, just another commute.
posted by davejay at 9:08 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by davejay at 9:08 AM on July 14, 2008
How did the Saudis manage to slide like that on the asphalt?
Looks to me like the common thread in all the Saudi videos is a fine layer of sand all over everything, everywhere, all day, all the time, forever, under your fingernails, in your food, on your sheets, even in the toilet. Plus balls.
posted by netbros at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2008
Looks to me like the common thread in all the Saudi videos is a fine layer of sand all over everything, everywhere, all day, all the time, forever, under your fingernails, in your food, on your sheets, even in the toilet. Plus balls.
posted by netbros at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2008
This is how they roll in Paris.
Was it my imagination, but in wgp's Saudi link, were some of the guys taunting a police car?
(My father worked in Saudi for years, and said that Saudi drivers essentially could drive like they wanted to as there was no penalty. Try driving like that as a foreign national and face pretty grim consequences.)
posted by maxwelton at 9:16 AM on July 14, 2008
Was it my imagination, but in wgp's Saudi link, were some of the guys taunting a police car?
(My father worked in Saudi for years, and said that Saudi drivers essentially could drive like they wanted to as there was no penalty. Try driving like that as a foreign national and face pretty grim consequences.)
posted by maxwelton at 9:16 AM on July 14, 2008
Forktime, damn you! (Even if mine seems to be a different clip.)
* Accelerates motorcycle and lane-splits to escape shame *
posted by maxwelton at 9:18 AM on July 14, 2008
* Accelerates motorcycle and lane-splits to escape shame *
posted by maxwelton at 9:18 AM on July 14, 2008
It was cool watching the R/C airplane's shadow in the Stockholm tunnel link. Thanks! The other two videos: my jaw is still open. Thanks!
posted by not_on_display at 9:22 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by not_on_display at 9:22 AM on July 14, 2008
i totally could not finish watching the saudi video! too scary.
posted by facetious at 9:24 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by facetious at 9:24 AM on July 14, 2008
a fine layer of sand all over everything [...] Plus balls.
Well yeah, I think balls are included in "everything." Really must chafe.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:31 AM on July 14, 2008
Well yeah, I think balls are included in "everything." Really must chafe.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:31 AM on July 14, 2008
This is how they roll in NYC
That was a bike race? That's how I get to work. This is how we roll in New York Goddamn City.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:44 AM on July 14, 2008
That was a bike race? That's how I get to work. This is how we roll in New York Goddamn City.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:44 AM on July 14, 2008
In no particular order:
The Indian motorcyclist must've had incredible faith in reincarnation or his fellow motorists or both.
The Swedish r/c stunt? I dunno. Meh.
The Libyans show the tremendous influence the Italians had on developing their driving culture, based on my limited experience watching nut-jobs race around roundabouts drunk out of their minds in the wee hours; I'm sure RAI must have video of that, it was a news story there frequently--in Bologna, Roma, well, pretty much anywhere you put Italians & cars & roundabouts & alcohol together.
The Swiss Robocop Rollerblader. Wow. Breathtaking. (but let's see him do that uphill!)
The Saudi video relieved me that at least the women are safe for a few moments while the men are ouut thinning the gene pool. Maybe there is hope eventually.
NYC bicyclists? I live in the relatively sedate midwest college town setting. Once, a 20-something biker who was racing another biker, in a pale imitation of the NYC races, blew through a red light while riding at about 35 mph and hit the rear quarterpanel of my RAV4. Miraculously, he was unhurt but for a few minor scratches. His bike was totaled, my car had about $2000 worth of damages, and I was left to wonder if there was anything I could have done to prevent the accident, and left relieved that I hadn't arrived a split second later to launch him with the front of my car. After realizing that this is some sort of a sport, I am now relieved of the worry that I had any extraordinary responsibility to watch out for the bicyclist, but am still relieved he wasn't hurt. I can't say that if I was driving in NYC, I wouldn't take a little aim at the racing bastards. I'm all for the days when the bicyclists bring attention to cycling-as-transport by clogging all lanes, so don't think I'm anti-bike, but those guys, man. I have no respect. None.
posted by beelzbubba at 9:48 AM on July 14, 2008
The Indian motorcyclist must've had incredible faith in reincarnation or his fellow motorists or both.
The Swedish r/c stunt? I dunno. Meh.
The Libyans show the tremendous influence the Italians had on developing their driving culture, based on my limited experience watching nut-jobs race around roundabouts drunk out of their minds in the wee hours; I'm sure RAI must have video of that, it was a news story there frequently--in Bologna, Roma, well, pretty much anywhere you put Italians & cars & roundabouts & alcohol together.
The Swiss Robocop Rollerblader. Wow. Breathtaking. (but let's see him do that uphill!)
The Saudi video relieved me that at least the women are safe for a few moments while the men are ouut thinning the gene pool. Maybe there is hope eventually.
NYC bicyclists? I live in the relatively sedate midwest college town setting. Once, a 20-something biker who was racing another biker, in a pale imitation of the NYC races, blew through a red light while riding at about 35 mph and hit the rear quarterpanel of my RAV4. Miraculously, he was unhurt but for a few minor scratches. His bike was totaled, my car had about $2000 worth of damages, and I was left to wonder if there was anything I could have done to prevent the accident, and left relieved that I hadn't arrived a split second later to launch him with the front of my car. After realizing that this is some sort of a sport, I am now relieved of the worry that I had any extraordinary responsibility to watch out for the bicyclist, but am still relieved he wasn't hurt. I can't say that if I was driving in NYC, I wouldn't take a little aim at the racing bastards. I'm all for the days when the bicyclists bring attention to cycling-as-transport by clogging all lanes, so don't think I'm anti-bike, but those guys, man. I have no respect. None.
posted by beelzbubba at 9:48 AM on July 14, 2008
This is how we roll in New York Goddamn City.
Christ, there was a dude a few years back (an MIT nerd, one could only assume) wobbling and weaving and generally fucking up traffic in East Cambridge riding a circus unicycle, 6 feet off the ground. I wanted to push the fucker in front a bus. Fuck him and the wheel he rode in on.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2008
Christ, there was a dude a few years back (an MIT nerd, one could only assume) wobbling and weaving and generally fucking up traffic in East Cambridge riding a circus unicycle, 6 feet off the ground. I wanted to push the fucker in front a bus. Fuck him and the wheel he rode in on.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2008
This convinces me that the neocortex and frontal lobes of young men is not completely formed until around age thirty. You men do not emerge from the pupa stage until after they either die or get goofy crap like this out of their systems.
I have flashbacks of doing shit like that when I was a teenager. Including a game called "trusting the force" which was driving down the Pacific Coast highway at night withe the headlights off for as long a you dared... then eventually extending that to removing your hands from the steering wheel and steering with "other" body parts, etc. All this while the passengers screamed in a paniced ever increasing pitched mantra "TRUST IN THE FORCE! TRUST IN THEEEEE FOOOOOOORCE!" over and over.
Jeebus. It's amazing any of us survived.
posted by tkchrist at 9:51 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
I have flashbacks of doing shit like that when I was a teenager. Including a game called "trusting the force" which was driving down the Pacific Coast highway at night withe the headlights off for as long a you dared... then eventually extending that to removing your hands from the steering wheel and steering with "other" body parts, etc. All this while the passengers screamed in a paniced ever increasing pitched mantra "TRUST IN THE FORCE! TRUST IN THEEEEE FOOOOOOORCE!" over and over.
Jeebus. It's amazing any of us survived.
posted by tkchrist at 9:51 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
At first I thought the India video was pointed at the insane merge, but they didn't even seem to notice that.
Just to clarify, there was nothing at all unusual about that lane merge by Indian standards. Indeed the simple fact that there are lane markings on this highway and that people are actually making at least half-assed attempts at staying within them leads me, along with the accents on these guys, to assume that this is one of those fancy new controlled access highways outside Bombay or maybe Delhi.
The overwhelming majority of Indian roads are pure free-for-all, with only one rule actually operative: Might makes right. Smaller vehicles yield to larger ones, even when the larger vehicle has swerved out into the smaller vehicle's lane with no warning to pass a bullock cart and is bearing straight on it at full speed. If the smaller vehicle must abruptly swerve off the road onto the sloping soft shoulder to avoid a collision, so be it. Bikes give way to autorickshaws, pedestrians give way to bikes, everyone gives way to cattle.
In my personal experience, most Westerners will white-knuckle the rickshaw ride in from Delhi airport to the inner city like you've just installed them in some kind of torture device, but after a month or so, you get used to avoiding a dozen head-on collisions by an arm's length margin per ride. Fortunately, on all but these newfangled divided roads, traffic's rarely moving at fatal speeds anyway.
posted by gompa at 10:00 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
Just to clarify, there was nothing at all unusual about that lane merge by Indian standards. Indeed the simple fact that there are lane markings on this highway and that people are actually making at least half-assed attempts at staying within them leads me, along with the accents on these guys, to assume that this is one of those fancy new controlled access highways outside Bombay or maybe Delhi.
The overwhelming majority of Indian roads are pure free-for-all, with only one rule actually operative: Might makes right. Smaller vehicles yield to larger ones, even when the larger vehicle has swerved out into the smaller vehicle's lane with no warning to pass a bullock cart and is bearing straight on it at full speed. If the smaller vehicle must abruptly swerve off the road onto the sloping soft shoulder to avoid a collision, so be it. Bikes give way to autorickshaws, pedestrians give way to bikes, everyone gives way to cattle.
In my personal experience, most Westerners will white-knuckle the rickshaw ride in from Delhi airport to the inner city like you've just installed them in some kind of torture device, but after a month or so, you get used to avoiding a dozen head-on collisions by an arm's length margin per ride. Fortunately, on all but these newfangled divided roads, traffic's rarely moving at fatal speeds anyway.
posted by gompa at 10:00 AM on July 14, 2008 [3 favorites]
Now I understand why alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia.
posted by three blind mice at 10:02 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by three blind mice at 10:02 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
I still remember this short conversation I had with my parents about traffic in India:
"Do the cars ever stop?"
"No."
"Then how does grandma cross the street?"
"She doesn't."
posted by naju at 10:09 AM on July 14, 2008
"Do the cars ever stop?"
"No."
"Then how does grandma cross the street?"
"She doesn't."
posted by naju at 10:09 AM on July 14, 2008
I'm inclined to agree with tkchrist. As I thought back, I remembered when 5 of us threw in $50 apiece and bought an on-its-last-legs early 60's VW bug with the sole purpose of trying to roll it while all of us were in it. Amazingly enough, it survived a good dozen separate roll overs (in traffic) as did all five drivers. In the driver's favor, you could make a VW bug flip at less than 30 mph. And we did this on the streets of Chicago and near west suburbs. Thank god, it was before hand held video, the internets, and YouTube.
posted by beelzbubba at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by beelzbubba at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2008
The plane-through-the-tunnel video seriously looked like screenshots from a video game at certain points. They should have put a tiny video camera on the plane to get a "pilot point of view".
posted by mrbill at 10:23 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by mrbill at 10:23 AM on July 14, 2008
Of course, these stunts don't always end well. Or end well. Or... you get the idea.
posted by Forktine at 10:29 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by Forktine at 10:29 AM on July 14, 2008
Thank god, it was before hand held video, the internets, and YouTube.
Can you imagine. We were dumb enough before you thought it would be entertaining for all the other knuckleheads out there.
posted by tkchrist at 10:32 AM on July 14, 2008
Can you imagine. We were dumb enough before you thought it would be entertaining for all the other knuckleheads out there.
posted by tkchrist at 10:32 AM on July 14, 2008
Forktine, that dude getting run over by his spinning BMW always makes me smile. Evolution in Action is always a cause to celebrate.
posted by maxwelton at 11:10 AM on July 14, 2008
posted by maxwelton at 11:10 AM on July 14, 2008
Of course, these stunts don't always end well.
How do you mean? I still laughed.
Note to all you healthy young daredevils and maniac cyclists: Don't forget to sign your organ donor cards!
Your lungs, I want them.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:40 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
How do you mean? I still laughed.
Note to all you healthy young daredevils and maniac cyclists: Don't forget to sign your organ donor cards!
Your lungs, I want them.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:40 AM on July 14, 2008 [1 favorite]
I wonder what would happened if those rolling in Saudi had been women, even if they were with male relatives.
Why must every other European driving-related video on YouTube be accompanied by techno?
posted by elmwood at 11:50 AM on July 14, 2008
Why must every other European driving-related video on YouTube be accompanied by techno?
posted by elmwood at 11:50 AM on July 14, 2008
maxwelton writes "Was it my imagination, but in wgp's Saudi link, were some of the guys taunting a police car?"
Ya, looks like it. Are all cars in Saudi Arabia white?
posted by Mitheral at 12:03 PM on July 14, 2008
Ya, looks like it. Are all cars in Saudi Arabia white?
posted by Mitheral at 12:03 PM on July 14, 2008
"Are all cars in Saudi Arabia white?"
Would make sense. A black car would look like sand & dust-covered shit inside of 10 minutes in that environment.
posted by facetious at 12:45 PM on July 14, 2008
Would make sense. A black car would look like sand & dust-covered shit inside of 10 minutes in that environment.
posted by facetious at 12:45 PM on July 14, 2008
How to roll. Really, you'd get in a lot fewer accidents.
posted by not_on_display at 1:08 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by not_on_display at 1:08 PM on July 14, 2008
not_on_display- I thought that's how this all got started.
posted by MtDewd at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by MtDewd at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2008
No, THIS is how we roll in NYC.
Once a year, anyway.
posted by wretched_rhapsody at 1:48 PM on July 14, 2008
Once a year, anyway.
posted by wretched_rhapsody at 1:48 PM on July 14, 2008
Are we certain those Saudis aren't using prosthetic legs as a trick? There's something odd about the way their centers of gravity flow in and out of the car.
posted by crapmatic at 2:58 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by crapmatic at 2:58 PM on July 14, 2008
I roll 2d and get a +6 damage modifier. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:45 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 3:45 PM on July 14, 2008
How is the guy on the motorcycle maintaining his speed with his hand off the throttle?
posted by Camofrog at 6:25 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by Camofrog at 6:25 PM on July 14, 2008
Camofrog, I think they're illegal here, but you can get devices which lock the twist-grip open. Essentially cruise-control.
posted by maxwelton at 6:48 PM on July 14, 2008
posted by maxwelton at 6:48 PM on July 14, 2008
gompa: this is one of those fancy new controlled access highways outside Bombay or maybe Delhi.
I suspect it's the Delhi - Gurgaon highway, mostly coz the video blurb says this was in Delhi. :-)
posted by the cydonian at 11:29 PM on July 14, 2008
I suspect it's the Delhi - Gurgaon highway, mostly coz the video blurb says this was in Delhi. :-)
posted by the cydonian at 11:29 PM on July 14, 2008
Seconding what maxwelton relayed about drivers in Saudi. Nationals own the road and careen all over it. Foreigners drive like scared geriatrics.
And for anyone commenting on the merging, you need to get out to the third world someday, anywhere. It's like that all over. Personally, I think the most insane merging / lane behavior can be found in Latin America.
I need to find that old skool BMW M coupe ghostrider video ...
Could someone find the URL that uncleozzy intended?
Killer thread!
posted by intermod at 5:03 AM on July 15, 2008
And for anyone commenting on the merging, you need to get out to the third world someday, anywhere. It's like that all over. Personally, I think the most insane merging / lane behavior can be found in Latin America.
I need to find that old skool BMW M coupe ghostrider video ...
Could someone find the URL that uncleozzy intended?
Killer thread!
posted by intermod at 5:03 AM on July 15, 2008
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