[stcredzero]

The skill and spatial awareness of the vehicle necessary to cope with this sort of environment is far greater than that needed to deal with even the most demanding driving environments of America.

One day, I lucked out and found street parking near the convention center in Houston. I had to drive forwards then back into the unmarked space, which was obscured from view by the angle. I make sure to leave a good three feet of space from the car behind, and observe that there's space behind that car too. A few hours later, we come back to the car, and there's a woman in the car behind on the phone complaining about being "parked in."

(What's more, if you cranked up the stereotype dial when you imagine the scene, you'd be pretty accurate. No pickup truck, though. It was one of those Chrysler 300 style cars.) [heavy sigh]

EDIT: Contrast the above with what I observed in Sligo, Ireland, taking the bus to see some archaeological site. At this one bus stop on those twisty little roads, the mother and her child getting off the bus had to back up and flatten against the wall while the driver maneuvered out of this one bend in the road. If the driver had been wrong by a foot and a half -- and mind you, this is a full sized city bus -- he would've crushed them against the wall. Apparently, this was a regular occurrence!