My Prius has a big prominent button on the dashboard that switches between the two. I always thought that was somewhat gratuitous, since how often are you going to need to switch them? I imagined there was some regulation about easily displaying both miles and kilometers.
As to driving on the left, I did the reverse when I moved from South Africa to the United States. I think that was a little easier, especially moving to South Florida with its luxurious, wide and straight boulevards. Intersections and choosing the right lane should come pretty quickly - there will usually be tons of visual cues (as others have noted be careful on the quieter streets). The longest thing for me was getting used to having so much more car on my right hand side. Initially I would tend to drift right since I never felt like I was sitting in the correct part of the lane. This too went away after a while.
I went on a driving vacation in NZ a few years ago and did several thousand kilometers on the left side of the road.
Luckily, my plane landed early Sunday morning, and I had a few hours where there were few cars (which was good, because there were some interesting turns for those first 5 or so minutes) but after that, you kind of get used it.
The biggest problems were:
[ul]
[li]accidentally turning on the windshield wiper when I meant to hit the turn signal (and vice versa)[/li][li]walking back to the car and attempting to get into the passenger seat[/li][li]looking the wrong way before turning. But I was so conscious of that, I kept looking both ways back and forth several times before turning (or crossing a road on foot).[/li][li]parking. I can’t parallel park (there’s a thread about it somewhere) trying to even pull up into a space on the wrong side of the street while I was on the wrong side of the car was not easy.[/li][li]edging toward the left side of the lane. (It turns out, I position myself in the lane by putting my body ~1/3rd of the way in from the left of the lane. Do that while on the wrong side of the car, and all of a sudden, I’m slipping off of the road.) [/li][/ul]
Wow, I just learnt something new. I didn’t realise that so many people never look both ways when crossing the street. I just assumed that everyone in the world did the “look right”, then “look left”, then “look right again” (or reversed). Even if it’s a one way street surely it makes sense to look both ways since I’ve seen people drive the wrong way down a one way street before. Is this common for people to only look 1 direction before stepping off the curb?
You must have done a lap or 2 of the entire country including both islands since NZ’s only about 1,500km from top to bottom!
I’ve always thought this has to be really strange and somewhat dangerous, since the driver will be near the edge of the road so his view for passing will necessarily be restricted.
I actually think it’s trickier than driving a LHD car in a LHD country. The “driver is nearest the centre of the road” trick doesn’t work, and it does feel weird to be so near to the edge of the road. And as you say, it can be dangerous.
Also, maybe having everything switched over, rather than driving your own car, gives you a stronger visual and psychological cue that you “aren’t in Kansas any more”, and that you should pay more attention to things like what side of the road you’re on.
I do this every few years in Ireland. Definitely listen to the people above about the automatic transmission. Just pay the money. I’d say, even if you normally drive stick, your brain needs all it’s processing power for navigating.
Get a car that is smaller than you are used to. People drive VERY close to each other there, so be ready.
Pay for the navigation system too, or download the local maps to your own GPS unit (most can handle this with just a memory card.) The roads there are not well marked, and the directions you will get are often useless at night. (Was that the big Rowan tree we just passed?" “No, I think it was a cow. . .”) It may be cheaper just to buy yourself one before you go. Be sure to put it in your checked bag.
For the first three days there I chant in my head while driving “left side, left side, left side” for the first three days after I get home “Right side, right side, right side”.
If you don’t like traffic circles, make yourself drive through a few several times before you go.
Keep a bag of change in the car at all times. You never know when you might need it to cross a bridge or leave a carpark.
Print a big, red, letter “L” on a piece of paper and stick it in the rear window of the car. This stands for “Learner” and will greatly increase the patience people show to you. They’ll give you a lot more space to operate in as well.
You’ll be fine. I’ve done it a number of times, both in a car and on a motorcycle.
The only thing that I found tricky is remembering which way to look for oncoming traffic. Very important when turning into a road. I had the same difficulty as a pedestrian. We here in the U.S. get very, very used to looking left when stepping off the curb.
If you want a car with automatic transmission, you’ll have to reserve it in advance. Not every rental place will have one, and you’ll pay more. If you’re comfortable with a manual transmission, fine, but you’ll be shifting with your left hand. Not a big deal.
I found the whole process much easier on a motorcycle, for some reason.
I lived in Australia for 6 months in college and drove both there and in New Zealand, and it was cake. (My friend from Nottingham bought a car over there, and she had me drive it most of the time, which I thought was some strange.)
However, in the UK you’ll need to be careful on their narrow roads. And I wouldn’t drive in the city at all.
As for the manual, that was simple too. My mistake was in thinking that the pattern was mirrored too (it isn’t), so I was constantly putting it in the wrong gear. Just remember that 1st is furthest away from you (instead of closest) and you’ll be right.
Started in Aukland, drove up to the Bay of Islands, meandered around on the west side of the north island and eventually arrived in Wellington, flew to the top of the south island and drove almost all the way to the south (Dunedin) and then back up to Christchurch. Google maps puts it at about 3500 & that’s not including the “got lost for a few hours” meanderings.
You have not really driven in England until you have driven all around the country in a **Manual **shift, Left-hand drive, large-ish French minivan (rented in Paris, taken across on ferry)
No problems to report except taking and inserting your ticket to get in and out of paid-parking lots was a royal pain… :smack:
Granted, this was after several previous cases of driving (a “standard” RHDrive) in England. First time out ever, at least, was not out of Heathrow, but out of a small agency in Luton, at 11 AM – time and place specifically chosen so I could get 5-10 minutes of practice under my belt before hitting heavy traffic.
What works for me when driving in England is mentally reversing Right and Left, to the point I think of cross-over turns as “turning left” (even though I’m really turning right, of course. But “left turn = difficult, cross-traffic turn” instinctively.)
Interestingly, I manage to follow directions despite this mental reversal.
It’s not a big deal, really (driving an LHD car in a RHD country or vice versa).
It is a pain trying to see around things, but remember there are no pickup trucks, and far fewer SUVs and minivans, so you can usually see through the windows of whatever you’re following.
Of course, if it’s a commercial vehicle or horsebox or somesuch, you’re screwed.
The way British people do it is say that they’re taking ‘the third [or whichever] exit’ rather than turning right. Ahead of almost every roundabout is a sign with a diagram of the roundabout, with you at the bottom. You count the number of exits you need to pass as you go clockwise before turning left onto the one you need. Apart from anything else, if there are more than 4 exits at a roundabout, saying which one is ‘right’ isn’t possible .
We drove in the Virgin Islands, where you drive on the left. Oddly, the automobiles still had the steering wheels on the left…
Anywho, adapting was okay (especially when everyone kept shouting “Stay left!”) except for pulling in and out of restaurants, gas stations, etc. For some reason, my brain couldn’t figure out what side I needed to be on. So I just waited for a car to pass and followed it, the roosters, pigs, goats and donkeys not being particularly helpful in this regard.
So are all the controls flipped between RHD and LHD cars?
I’ve been in England, but I didn’t drive there. It was strange even getting used to the pedestrian aspects of things: walking out the door and thinking that I had to be on the far side of the street in front of me instead of the near side to catch a bus heading to my right; turning to the right instead of the left when boarding that bus, etc, etc. I seem to recall that pedestrians walked on the left as well.
Very helpful were the LOOK LEFT and LOOK RIGHT signs painted on the sidewalk at pedestrian crossings in central London, presumably to help clueless tourists such as myself. There were so many one-way streets and odd angles that it wasn’t necessarily obvious which way traffic was likely to emerge out of smaller streets anyway.
A lot of the acclimatization is really about retraining muscle memory.
Not really. The volume knob on the stereo is still usually on the left, the pedals still go clutch-brake-throttle from left to right, and the gearshift still has 1st on the left and 4th/5th/6th on the right.
