Learning to Drive on the Left?
 

I've travelled in England before, but never driven there. It looks like I'll be renting a car there in a few months, and I'm wondering about learning to drive on the left.

A friend told me that turning onto cross streets is the biggest challenge.

I've started to wonder if there is an automotive video game with the cars on the left, to get some practice. Has anyone seen one?

Thank you!

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Middle_Seat

My first trip to England, I got a free rental car (back when you got those coupons with your award ticket). Within 15 minutes I had done $500.00 worth of damage to my "free" car & just left it parked for the remainder of the trip. In case you're wondering, no I DIDN'T have the brains to take out extra insurance. Why torture yourself? It's not as easy as it looks.

I have driven several times in UK and Bahamas.
Take a car with automatic transmission; I had troubles changing the gear with the left hand.
I always followed other cars if possible - the show you the right way (on crossings, round-abouts etc.)

I spent several years in Japan while in te military. Although I didn't own a car while there (why bother with the wonderful rail system?), I was elected as the designated driver whenever we went anywhere as a group, as I was the only one to have the guts to speed down the narrow Japanese roads with traffic. I even got used to shifting the opposite direction.

The best way to learn is to find a relatively empty parking lot and drive around for a while. Also, see if your local Saturn dealership has a left-handed drive car available (Saturn builds them for postal service employees).

No major problems, drive sedately and read up on rights-of-way. An automatic will indeed facilitate things.

The only time I got in trouble was early in the morning in Australia, when I was volunteered to go fetch some breakfast, and started driving on the wrong side.

Having grown up (and lived for 25 years) in a country which drives on the left it does take a little concentration but not that difficult. Suggest you make a little sticker KEEP LEFT and place on the dash or windscreen in your vision ( I believe most rental cars do have a reminder sticker) On the major highways you wont have too much trouble but if you venture in to the countrysides be careful at roundabouts (traffic circles)just always remember to enter the circle on the side of the road your are driving on = left.
Many roads have passing lanes with arrows which will help greatly and find some other driver to follow if you can.

Its amusing Monachos mentioning getting up in the morning and driving off on the wrong side, since even though I have lived in the USA for 24 years I find myself needing to concentrate just a little when I return from my former home, yet when I go back I just get in the driver's seat and off I go.
Mike

P.S. if you have a British standard VCR I am sure one of our Brit members could get you a road driving/code tape.




[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 06-29-2002).]

Deleted dup

[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 06-29-2002).]

No, don't have one.

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Middle_Seat

I've driven on the opposite side in Ireland and Australia. My biggest challenge is still roundabouts, as we don't have those in the U.S. I still can't tell who has the right of way in those, and more than once have circled around a second time to get out of one (have you ever seen the Vacation movie with Chevy Chase, where they continuously circle a roundabout in Rome because they can't get out?).

My first experience was in Dublin, leaving from the airport, which is on the outside of the City. Most of it was two lane country road, until you got to a stretch of motorway. I felt comfortable from the start, as I was not contending with a lot of traffic.

Have you considered flying into a smaller airport, or training out to somewhere where the traffic might be more managable? I would not want London Heathrow to be my first experience, knowing the traffic in and out of there.

You'll just as easily find roundabouts in France as you will in the UK, though they'll be driving the opposite direction.

Rule of thumb: Anyone in the roundabout has right of way over anyone wanting to enter it. Once you're in the roundabout, you have right of way over anyone trying to enter.

I've driven right-hand drive cars in Australia and the UK. I've never had a problem making an adjustment, save a few sheepish moments when I tried to enter from the wrong side of the vehicle, or reached to the incorrect side looking for the seatbelt.

I've found it pretty easy to drive on the left and actually find it easier in traffic than out on quiet country roads. In traffic there's usually a car in front of you to follow through turns, but on those roads with no other traffic I've found myself drifting over to the right and eventually getting honked at by a car coming head-on. I love roundabouts and wish we had them in the US. If you do get a little confused it does make it easy to just go around once again.

I did this in a rental VW several years ago, standard shift. I was grateful for the freedom, but it definitely added stress. I had access to an old mail jeep I was able to practice in prior to leaving.

Yes, roundabouts are the most challenging. My prayer life improved quickly.

Do try to head directly for an interstate or area where there isn't much traffic to practice a bit. If you have a passenger, that should help tremendously with watching and reading maps (I didn't).

After getting home, jet lagged, driving out of the airport, I was on the wrong side of the road. Our friendly PHX drivers quickly notified me of the error of my ways.

JP

One trick I learned for entering roundabouts: Memorize where to look out of the car for oncoming traffic--it's the driver's right side window. As you approach the roundabout, just remember to look out in this direction and bear left.

More recent roundabout signs have a gap in the circle indicating the direction NOT to travel: in the US it is in the lower left, in the UK, in the lower right (car enters at bottom of circle).

OK, here is my patented 100% guaranteed method for feeling comfortable and stress-free driving on the left. It works in all LH-drive cities in the world except Bangkok. The secret? : Learn to drive in Bangkok first.

The major problem is that we tend to drive TOO far to the left. (One's instinct is that the drivers coming in the other direction on the right are too close for comfort.)

When I returned my rental car in Ireland, the first think the agent checked was for scrapes on the left side of the car, mentioning that is where damage is most likely to occur.

Heed the advice of the folks who have recommended that you get an automatic transmission car. Even if you are used to driving a standard transmission, you'll find that having to shift gears with your left hand requires an extra degree of concentration. When you also trying to focus on driving on the left, and trying to remember who has the right away going into and out of those **** roundabouts, it's just something that you don't need to be worrying about.

We picked up our car at Gatwick Airport, and headed straight for Hampton Court Palace. It was such a harrowing ride that my son got out and kissed the ground when we got there. The truth is that I felt like doing the same thing.

Here is a website with useful information on driving in England:
http://england.visualenc.com/pages/driving.html#driving

It even has an animated roundabout.

In Australia we also drive in the correct side of the road (left of course http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif). But most visitors to Australia don't find the driving as much of a problem as coping with the metric system. And the hardest to come to grips with is our use of metric time.

When using metric time, you have to remember that there are 100 metric seconds in a metric minute, and 100 metric minutes in a metric hour, and 10 metric hours in a half-day.

It really is much simpler than that imperial time system used in the USA. But make sure you get a dual-time-system watch or alarm clock before travelling, otherwise you will find yourself waking up at the wrong time http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif.

PS. most people just blame it on jet-lag (both the driving and the time calculations).

Have a great trip ... and watch out for the round-abouts.

The best road sign I have seen was in the UK (Yorkshire moors actually) that read "Gan Canny for 1/3 mile".

Speaking of Australia....I remember almost taking out a tram in St. Kilda (Melbourne). Watch out for the trams http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Ahh yes. Driving in Melbourne has its own rules. Watch out for those hook turns! I lived there for 5.5 years (decided to move home after 15 winters) and always selected my route to avoid trams and hook turns.

Can't say that I agree about getting an automatic -- it takes about 5 seconds, maybe less, to get used to shifting with the left hand instead of right. Auto cars tend to be larger, less fun, and decidedly more expensive.

rb.sr had a particularly insightful comment about driving "too far on the left." When driving in N America or Europe, the driver is accustomed to seeing his/her driving lane from just left of center. Getting the same view from a right-hand drive car in Aus/UK/Ire/etc. can put the left (passenger) side of the car awfully close to that retaining wall on the side of the road.

A final caution about driving in Australia: They've tentatively planned to switch from driving on the left to driving on the right in 2004. They're planning to do it gradually, beginning with trucks only from January through March, then passenger cars beginning in April. You might wish to avoid driving there until things get sorted out.

Wideman

A joke, right?!

I've recently read that the instant check for left-side damage includes alloy wheels. If you have a choice, get the car with steel wheels & hubcaps - the damage costs may be lower.

I've driven a rental car in Britain several times in the past. I haven't had trouble with shifting a manual, but frequently will turn on the wipers trying to find the turn signal. My wife's job is to sit in the passenger seat and say "LEFT! LEFT!" (or "Keep to the LEFT, please," in a proper British accent) at intersections.

One trick I have used to keep myself honest is to remember that the view outside the driver's window should be that of the median/divider strip on the road at all times. It also helps when switching from left to right hand drive and viceversa, since the rule still holds.

The windshield wiper vs. turn signal thing is a big problem with me, too, but in my experience it has been that way only in Japanese-built cars. The Fords and Vauxhauls (British version of Opel) have them the same way around as U.S. cars.

After damaging a plastic wheel cover in France recently (fortunately I wasn't charged for it), I decided that maybe next time I'll start my rental by taking them off and putting them in the trunk.

The Americans here who are scared of roundabouts have obviously never driven in Massachusetts http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

I have a standard in the States and getting used to a manual transmission in JNB this spring was very easy after the first few short drives. I completely agree with the turn signal/wiper problem. It took me so long (and many snickers from the passengers) to learn the "correct" side to find the turn signal. It is so engrained in my head, that after returning to the States for three months, I now still turn on my car's wipers accidentally about once a week.

I was passenger in an overpacked minivan once in Boston. Death awaited at every corner...

JP

That's not true, Frequent Freak. It was in Massachusetts that I developed my fear of roundabouts. It's total anarchy there. Whoever has the most guts, that's who gets the right of way.

When I was in Australia last year I had several lessons in driving on the left side. I consider myself a very good driver, but when I am Down Under....Watch out. You think it is easy, but it is not.
I felt like I was 15 and in driving school all over again.

I never had much problems with roundabouts when I first moved to England: road design is such that it naturally pushes you towards taking it in the right direction.
The one thing to be careful, as somebody mentioned earlier, is early morning or late evening (viz. when you are not yet 100% fully with it or when your concentration starts to wane) when one can all too easily turn onto the right hand lane, especially on country road. You can practice as much as you want on a parking lot. This won't help with this.

And as a pedestrian you need to be careful to look in the correct direction. In Sydney (which obviously gets a lot of visitors used to cars approaching on their left) many major intersections have painted on the road where pedestrian cross "Look Right" or "Look Left" as appropriate.

It is very easy to kust look in the direction you are expecting the traffic to approach and then step out ... and *& http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...m/thumbsup.gif&*$#

I'm a left hand driver (UK) with experience of driver both RH and LH drive cars abroad.

The dangerous times are when you're not concentrating on the fact that you're on the wrong side. When you first pull out at the beginning of a journey. When you pull off a motorway having "cruised" for an hour. After turning off a road with little traffic.

To this end, do as much as you can to reinforce the unfamiliarity of it all (the worst thing is taking a UK car to France - if you get in through the "wrong" door, you're instantly reminded to do things differently).

So don't (IMHO) get an automatic (unless you have a weak left wrist!). Having to change gear with the "wrong" hand will constantly remind you that it's all a bit different!

Safe driving...

When we had to rent a car in England, my wife drove!

Automatic cars in Europe rental agencys tend to be luxury models. I've never driven a manual (and never will, it is against my code of ethics).

And presumably against the law as well! Is the the case in the US? Over here, if you pass your test on an automatic, that's all they'll let you drive!

No, they have no idea what kind of car you drove to get your license.

Considering the number of people I see every day who have no idea that a red light means stop, I not sure if you even need a license anymore.

"I ain't scared". But when mrsgregseattle and I drove in MA on our first date/trip, she kept putting both her hands on the ceiling and screaming with her head down everytime we went into a roundabout ... small town girl that she was, it was fairly unnerving for her. Me, I tried using my normal urban Chicago / former courier / driving style (don't look just drive, as the MA locals do). But she was clearly giving them signals to to my inherent weakness and we were trampled upon rightly. She still does this today when she wants to p*ss me off while I am driving, as it was that awful of an experience for me to be put in such a small place on the road.

As for the otherside of the road thingy, I agree with rb.sr and wideman's perspective about watching the left side. I wacked up pretty good the left side of a Budget rent-a-car on a guardrail on a sweeping left hand on-ramp a while back in my youth from that little perspective problem... Definitely get the insurance if it's your first time at it. (subsequent times have been much better)

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

This reminds me of the last time I was at the registry getting my license renewed. There was an elderly woman in front of me at the eye exam. The Woman said to her "Please read the 5th line from left to right" the elderly woman responded " X Y W M R O V" and the woman replied "No, Try again" The elderly lady responded again " Z U W N B A T" to which the woman from the registry said "No, try again"
Well, this went on 4 times and finally the elderly woman got it right, and had her license renewed. Yikes.

As someone who had to deal with a boss who wanted to "try" driving in the UK, here's my tip: make sure someone else is in the left-hand front seat to navigate for you. My boss didn't have any problems handling operating the car, but navigation is difficult if you're spending all your time watching the road. Also, be careful going out after dark until you're comfortable. We found that after-dark driving is more difficult trying to read road signs and so forth.

All you good people who are coming over here to "try the other side of the road", just post to say when when you are coming.

I'll take the train that day.

PS : We Brits have the same situation to handle when we visit the US, of course. But we have a third combination, when we drive our own, British-configured cars over to France. In that situation you are even more likely to make an error, for while the rules are reversed your car is not.

** - Just kidding about the train bit. Have a good time over here and drive safely.