# How difficult would it be for an American to drive in the U.K. for vacation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428 "2009-04-08T20:44:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/101 "2010-08-10T22:50:24Z")
I’ve done it several times. It’s a breeze. You’ll be so conscious of everything the first day that you’ll likely make no mistakes, and by the second day it’s almost natural. Of course you will, out of sheer habit, go to the wrong door at first pretty much every day. One thing that’s REALLY interesting is driving on some of the Caribbean islands that drive on the left rather than the right. What makes that so much of an adventure is that in most cases your rental cars will be U.S. cars intended for right side driving. That gets a little troublesome, at times. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/102 "2010-08-11T09:30:54Z")
Something perhaps not mentioned so far is the general high standard of driving in the UK. This should be a comfort to you. Of course we get our morons but on the whole (and having driven tens of thousands of miles across the globe…and 1500 across the continent last week!) those who’ll be driving around you are comparable to any other country in the world. They will probably do their best to mitigate any mistakes that you make. This is probably due to the effect of a strict test, and Darwinian process involving high speeds, busy traffic and narrow roads. The only thing we are crap at is snow, for that the Scandinavians are undisputed kings. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/103 "2010-08-11T10:37:07Z")
Another vote for “don’t drive in London”. I’m an experienced (british) driver. But after my first two weeks in the capital I sold my car, because I’d got so annoyed with trying to park the thing. And london’s public transport is very good (the tube only runs til about 1am, but the buses are 24 hour) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/104 "2010-08-11T11:18:55Z")
> [@sleepy67](#): > > > [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > > > Signage in the UK is a little different. Roads are numbered radiating from London - so the A1 heads to Norfolk, the A40 to Oxford, and so forth. > > Almost, roads are numbered on a radial system based on a few major cities. So the M1, A1, M11 etc start in London and head north, The M4 starts in London and goes west. The M6 starts in Birmingham and heads north. No, Hippy Hollow had it right. English and Welsh road numbers centre only on London, based on the A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 and A6. The A7, A8 and A9 radiate from Edinburgh. Some of these roads have been superseded by motorways and other A roads. The M1 and M5 should probably have been given different numbers but most other motorways fit in with the system for A roads. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/105 "2010-08-11T11:46:17Z")
That was the way it was supposed to work, when the numbering scheme was begun in the 1930s. Since then the road network has grown, and sections of the old roads have been superseded and renumbered so it isn’t as tidy/logical as it should be. Some anomalies have been produced; the M11 really ought to have been the M10 as it superseded the old A10 Great Cambridge Road, but this number had already been used for a short offshoot of the M1 - which has now lost its M-number altogether and been renumbered as part of the A415. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/106 "2010-08-11T13:18:22Z")
> [@yandoodan](#): > > Roundabouts, oddly enough, are not that bad, except for when they paint a dot in the middle of the intersection and claim it to be a “roundabout”. I never really figured out how you are supposed to circle around a dot painted in the middle of an intersection. The locals seem to just charge over them. This is quite an old thread, but I’ll just point out that many of these “mini roundabouts” simply indicate that roundabout-style priorities apply to the junction (i.e., give way to traffic from the right). While the letter of the law states that you are supposed to treat the painted circle as a solid island, in practice (especially when the road is quiet) you can just drive over it. Mini roundabouts can also give rise to a “stalemate” situation like a four-way Stop-signed intersection, where everybody sits there waiting for everyone else until one breaks the deadlock. If a car approaches on each of the three (or more) roads that meet at the mini-roundabout, in theory they each have to give way to the car to the right. In practice, of course, the BMW driver has priority. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/107 "2010-08-11T16:29:19Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > If a car approaches on each of the three (or more) roads that meet at the mini-roundabout, in theory they each have to give way to the car to the right. In practice, of course, the BMW driver has priority. 😉 Heh, just saw that exact scenario play out: BMW driving on to a mini-roundabout so carelessly another car had to emergency stop. Some stereotypes are true 🙂 Just to add that usually mini-roundabouts are painted on intersections that are busy but with insufficient space for a “real” roundabout. So it terms of going around the circle, my understanding was, trying to go around the circle on the narrower ones is more dangerous than just cutting across, so it’s OK to do the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Eelsemaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Eelsemaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eelsemaj)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/108 "2015-07-23T21:01:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I read it exactly the same way!🙂 > > Here’s a non-scholarly “[handy tips](http://www.rotorbrain.com/foote/follies/ukdriving.htm)” site that says: > > [Official U.S. Embassy advice for Americans driving in the UK](http://www.theamerican.co.uk/pr/driving.php). > Personally, having never been there or driven there, I can only say “I wouldn’t do it” unless I actually moved there, and even then I’d only drive in uncongested areas until I had the hang of it. In addition to the left-right difference, simple things like differences in [road signs](http://www.rebeccarose.info/yankee_site/theuk_driving.htm)and converting kmph to mph would be so alien. I don’t know why you need to convert to km. both the UK and the U.S. Use miles ---
**Author:** ![Thomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Thomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thomato)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/109 "2015-07-24T08:21:22Z")
> [@Lillith\_Fair](#): > > I liked the traffic circles. We should have them in the US and force people to learn how to use them. I wish that would happen in the UK as well - so many idiots on the road! If you’re going beyond the 12 o’clock point on the roundabout, you indicate right. (Clockwise, remember!) You indicate left when you’re going to leave on the next available exit. A lot of drivers don’t bother indicating left to leave the roundabout. This means those waiting for them to keep driving round are left waiting for a mass of air instead of the selfish b\*&74£d who doesn’t give a hoot about anybody else on the road. When “turning right” - so going beyond the 12 o’clock point on the roundabout - those who don’t indicate their intentions risk an oncoming driver assuming they are not turning and driving out onto the roundabout either in front of them or simply into them. Most Brits get this right, but some still get a biiiiiiig hoot from the driver trying not to drive into them! ---
**Author:** ![Thomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Thomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thomato)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/110 "2015-07-24T08:25:56Z")
I just remembered - I’m off to the USA in August! 8 days in Detroit. Any tips for up there? I’ve driven around LA, SF, NY, Connecticut & Boston areas & just wondered if there’s anything new I should be alert to. Especially driving a big old Dodge Grand Caravan thing on the wrong side of the road. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/111 "2015-07-24T09:32:12Z")
> [@Thomato](#): > > I just remembered - I’m off to the USA in August! 8 days in Detroit. I’ve driven in Detroit a few times, and it’s not all that different from driving in the rest of the US. Some local things: (1) People drive fast in SE Michigan. The speed limit on the interstates is 70 mph, compared with 65 in the neighbouring states, and traffic flows at about 80 kph, with a proportionate increase in speed on local roads. (2) Turning left onto or off main roads (not interstates) often involves a hook turn. To enter the main road, you turn right, then make a U-turn on a dedicated lane for the purpose. To leave, you make a U-turn after the cross road, then make a right turn. It has the effect of making the intersection into an elongated roundabout, so it works well, and it’s usually indicated by traffic signs, though you’ll find them cryptic until you work out what’s going on. I think this is unique to SE Michigan – I never saw it in the neighbouring Indiana, Ohio or Ontario. (3) Some of the inner suburbs of Detroit look like a major war went through in the last few months: empty blocks, wrecked buildings, etc. It’s a major problem, the result of the flight of white people and middle-class black people to the suburbs, but I didn’t find it a problem driving through. I wouldn’t want to walk through those neighbourhoods at night, however. Downtown Detroit is not a problem, and the suburbs are fine, especially Dearborn (the home of the Ford Motor Company, the Henry Ford Museum and the Greenfield Village – the last two not to be missed if you are visiting!) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/112 "2015-07-24T13:59:02Z")
I’m amused by the worry people seem to have. I learnt to drive in the UK (and hence on the left hand side) and the first time I ever drove on the right hand side of the road, ignoring going down a straight road for a couple of hundred metres in the middle of nowhere outside Sioux City, was in the Alps. In winter. Now that was scary. I had been on a ski trip with friends. We’d driven down in a rented minivan but no one asked me to drive because I had no real experience and a lot of the driving had been in the German Autobahn. But circumstances (due to someone injuring themselves IIRC) meant I had to step up once in the Austrian Alps. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/113 "2015-07-24T14:01:51Z")
People will change lanes without signaling constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/114 "2015-07-24T15:22:32Z")
And if you love roundabouts, your should really enjoy the Magic Roundabouts in Hemel Hempstead and Swindon (multiple mini-roundabouts arranged around a central roundabout)… > **[Who's got the best roundabout - Hemel or Swindon?](https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/5065340.whos-got-the-best-roundabout-hemel-or-swindon/)** > > JUST when you thought all those digs at Swindon had well and truly ceased, the town has become the butt of yet another slating – this time from… And a personal favourite of mine, a roundabout where the number of lanes changes as you traverse it… [![](http://saddsa.co.uk/dipod/uploads/LCR.jpg) ](http://saddsa.co.uk/dipod/uploads/LCR.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428/115 "2015-07-24T15:48:11Z")
Don’t get it wrong [http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/garforth-triple-fatal-crash-american-driver-jailed-1-2817656](http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/garforth-triple-fatal-crash-american-driver-jailed-1-2817656) Believe it or not, that was the second fatal crash on that road within around 20 yards, the other was a car that had parked on the same sweeping bend and was stuck from behind - 4 seriously injured and 1 died in that one, another died later on in hospital. [http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/leeds-woman-killed-in-head-on-crash-updated-1-3257213](http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/leeds-woman-killed-in-head-on-crash-updated-1-3257213) Both accidents took place at night but otherwise conditions were good - seems there’s a lesson, without as many visual cues, you are much more at risk of getting it wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-for-an-american-to-drive-in-the-u-k-for-vacation/492428.md?page=5)