Cambodia used to drive on the left, but in a bid to cut down on the number of stolen cars being taken into Cambodia from Thailand, the government there decreed a switch to right-side driving. I think that was in the 1990s. But who could afford to buy a new car in Cambodia? So suddenly you had all these right-hand drive cars plying the right side of the roads. Once we hired a taxi to drive us from Poipet, on the border with Thailand, to Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat. Passing was pretty hairy, I’ll tell ya, especially when we were behind a large vehicle of some sort. The driver would edge over until he was able to see if anything was coming! It was a 2-1/2 hour ride, and after Sisophon, about halfway, the “highway” was dirt, so the dust being kicked up made it even harder to see.
We were just there again last July. Flew to Siem Reap this time, but Ive heard that “highway” is paved all the way now. And we noticed a lot more right-hand-drive vehicles, although the left-hand drives were still numerous.
This is my #1. The other person is responsible for frequent reminders- especially first thing in the morning that “take a short left turn and stay to the left”. Roundabouts similarly just mean that you have to exit quickly and stay left and having someone remind you of that is immensely helpful.
There were no near-death events, but it is helpful to have somebody doing a running monologue especially if they are navigating anyway.
I drove in the UK for the first time about seven or eight years back and remembering what side of the road to stay on was not difficult for me, nor was shifting with my left instead of right hand. What did take me getting some used to was the feel for where my car was. I had to pay close attention for a bit to the road and my position to properly line myself up with the right side of the lane. Even though I was in the seat on the right side of the car, my spatial sense still wanted to place me as if I were sitting in the left front seat, or just farther left than I actually was. It’s kind of hard to describe.
I didn’t have any issues driving in London traffic or the countryside, but that part was slightly disorienting and took a little bit getting used to. It was similar in feeling to the first time I drove an RV and how I had to get used to where I was in the vehicle and how large the vehicle actually was to properly orient and line up my spatial awareness, visual input, and actual location of the vehicle on the road.
This. My sense of where the car is in relation to the road is so automatic, but intrinsically linked to sitting on the left side of a car. Sitting on the other side and trying to stay on the “wrong side of the road” I was constantly a bit off and it didn’t help that my girlfriend in the passenger seat was overly nervous and kept shouting “curb! curb!” whenever I was anywhere close to the edge of the road. Honestly, I only clipped two hedges, and didn’t hit any parked cars!
I’d rather not do it again. I’m used to not having to think so hard when driving, and that level of concentration was exhausting.
Thirding this. You have two options. One, get the smallest car you can so that you have more wiggle room for error or (two) get the biggest car you can so that you don’t care.
You can also kind of practice by going on Google Maps Street View and “driving” from the car rental place to your first destination. It might make you feel a little more comfortable once you’re their in the flesh.
I do think that British and Irish drivers have a sort of ingrained understanding that the rest of the world doesn’t do things their way so they have to compensate for our stupidity. The few times I turned into the wrong lane, the other drivers were quick to realize what was going on and slowed down to give me time to “Oops” and fix it. I wouldn’t count on that in London proper however.
I drove my American car through the UK and in London. It mostly doesn’t take long at all to get used to. Beware of roundabouts, though!! You will want to enter them clockwise. So, it takes a conscious effort to do it the other direction! I went in clockwise a couple times before I realized I was fucking it up. Luckily, there were no other cars to crash into.
I’ve driven in England, Uganda (former British colony), St. Thomas (USVI), and Japan with few if any problems.
Way long ago, however, my wife was touring in England with a friend (who was driving). They missed a turn and turned around. The friend had a momentary brain fart because of the missed turn and was on the wrong side of the road. My wife woke up in an ambulance, having suffered a broken collarbone from the head on collision.
Chances are if we do this, my husband will drive because I’m a much better navigator than he is. He’s good at knowing where he is with respect to his surroundings - I learned that when we were boating, so I expect he’d be a better backwards driver than I am.
It is reassuring to hear from so many of you that it probably won’t be a big deal. Time to start further research.
Driving on highways is pretty straightforward. At intersections, make sure to check both ways (because cars will not be coming from where you expect them to come from). And left and right turns will be a little confusing because you’ll tend to want to go into the wrong lane (but if you’re paying attention at all, you won’t do that).
The thing it took the longest to adapt to was turn signals (if I had a dollar for every time I meant to signal right and accidentally flipped on the windshield wipers, I could have bought a very nice souvenir) and actually getting into the car. The person who intends to drive will automatically walk to the left side of the car every single time.
I don’t remember turn signals/indicators being a problem. We’re they on the left side of the steering stalk, just like in the US? If they weren’t, then my adjustment must have been automatic, as I don’t remember having an issue.
In the car I drove, it was reversed: the turn indicator was on the right side of the wheel, and wipers were on the left. I’m betting it either wasn’t reversed in your car, or you don’t typically signal your turns :). There’s no way to easily overcome years of muscle memory without really concentrating.
I’m an instinctual signaler, so it probably had the signals on the left. That said, I don’t really remember screwing up the hands for the gear shift, either, and that’s a lot of muscle memory there, too.
I’ve driven in the US and in the Netherlands but live in New Zealand so normally drive on the left.
The big thing I had to watch was driving too close to the curb. I actually hit the curb a couple of times on right hand bends as I was too close. I think it was the position of the driver’s seat in relation to the car body was subtly wrong.
Indicators are interesting. My Subaru Legacy has the indicator stalk on the right, wipers on the left. Both my other cars, a Volvo and a VW, have them the other way. I have more trouble when I switch between my own cars than I did driving in a European car (Opel Astra). I believe the EU has mandated that indicators should be on the left in all European built cars. I’m not totally sure about that. Maybe UK built Nissans etc are the same as the Japanese version and maybe they’re not.
I should mention that you need to be careful at roundabouts (traffic circles). For some reason, I always had to stop and think a moment to make sure I went left instead of right.
The car I was driving with indicators on the right was a Toyota, so it fits with your observations about European vs Japanese.
The gear shift is tougher to screw up because there isn’t a knob in the usual left-drive place. But that wiper switch is just sitting there ready to fool you.
I’ve done it in Cyprus a few times now. I didn’t find it difficult to remember which side of the road to drive on, as well, everyone else is also driving on that side. I did find it more disorienting to remember which side of the car to get into. And I nearly got run over more than once as a pedestrian in London for the same reason. And for sure, if you don’t drive stick shift at home, don’t do it on the “wrong” side of the street.
More anecdotes: it becomes easier, but I’ve made a couple of simple but not dangerous mistakes.
In South Africa 2012 or so, I made a right turn as soon as the light turned green. Oops. I got honked at as if I were an asshole rather than a bad driver. Lesson learned.
In New Zealand 2016 I started to turn left into the oncoming lane rather than my own lane. No cars were there to hit (they would clued me in!). Instead I “corrected” myself by using the turn signal to go straight, ostensibly to fake that I was inadvertently in the lane I didn’t want to be in. Nope, it doesn’t make much objective sense but subjectively it makes me feel better. The rest of the trip was flawless, and this was in a pretty large Class B motorhome. By the end, I was driving in small, little Auckland streets like a native trucker.
Give yourself time; it will become second nature.
On the other hand, do be careful crossing streets when you’re on foot!