[Jeff Higgins]

I spent a lot of time in the U.K. fixing airplanes. Not that they were prone to breaking them, just that they have a couple of very good MRO's (maintenance, repair, overhaul stations). Shannon, Ireland; Cardiff, Wales were frequent stops for me.

One of the most terrifying "near misses" I ever saw was when we were heading from downtown Cardiff out to the British Airways hangar, about an hour commute. We were a small team of only six or seven, so we just rented a couple of cars for the daily commute.

We had been there several weeks already and were about halfway to the hangar on what I think they call a "B" road. A rural highway, one lane each direction, just a center stripe dividing. We came up to a roundabout, the kind where they temporarily increase the lane count to facilitate traffic movement around it. And, well, unfortunately the kind with the center circle planted with trees and shrubbery, making it impossible to see through it. I hate those things - who on Earth thinks limiting visibility like that is insane.

So, anyway, sure as hell, as I'm following our structures guy just ahead of me driving the other car, he goes around the right side of this blind roundabout, at about 50 mph. My relief when we came out door to door on the other side was overwhelming. I was sure that he and everyone in his car was going to die, along with some hapless Welsh. He got very, very lucky.