Safety, Not Politics, Drives ‘Keep Left-Keep Right’ Signs
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SANGATTE, France — Britons drive on the left, the French on the right. Uninformed skeptics have predicted head-on collisions when they meet in the Channel Tunnel.
There won’t be any, at least inside the tunnel. The Channel Tunnel is for trains, not cars. But what will happen after a train deposits a car at the other end of the tunnel is another question.
Eurotunnel plans to handle 20 trains an hour when the tunnels open for business in 1993.
The others will be specially constructed trains carrying cars, buses and heavy trucks.
Motorists will drive aboard the special freight cars at huge terminals in Sangatte and Folkestone, England, and remain in their vehicles as the train makes the 20-minute crossing.
British motorists taking the ferry to the Continent starting this summer will receive yellow stickers reading “Keep Right” to remind them of European driving customs.
Signs bearing similar messages will greet them when disembarking. A “Keep Left” campaign will educate motorists going the other way.
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