How difficult would it be for an American to drive in the U.K. for vacation?

In My Humble Opinion
61

I didn’t read through all the posts, so sorry if I repeat anything (consider it reiterating good advice! :slight_smile: )

We went to England and Wales in 1997 and did most of our own driving. Actually, I did most of the driving and the spouse navigated, which is a great idea because I’m a more assertive/aggressive driver than he is and he’s better at reading maps and adjusting directions on the fly than I am.

I got used to the wrong side of the road fairly quickly. Roundabouts, too, once I got the hang of them, and ended up enjoying them a lot. The parts I had trouble with were mainly:

  1. Making turns into the wrong lane, particularly when making rights (which would be our lefts). Even after I was getting pretty good at the whole thing, I still had to adjust many times to avoid turning into the wrong lane.

  2. I can’t count the number of times I went to use the turn signal and ended up activating the windshield wipers. :stuck_out_tongue:

We had an automatic, so I didn’t have to worry about shifting. And, contrary to everybody’s advice, we did actually drive in London. During rush hour. And lived to tell the tale. The secrets of my success were two: I was aggressive and forced my way in the same way the locals were, and I had a very good navigator. We only ended up driving the wrong way in a buses only lane once! I don’t actually remember why we were driving in London anymore, since most of the time we took the train in from outlying villages where we were staying. But it’s not quite as bad as people describe it, at least not in my opinion.

62

Can’t add anything to the advice, but I’m curious. I drive a stick and am curious if the gear progression is the same. Meaning, in my car, first gear is up to the left, second is down left, etc.

Is this reversed on a UK car, or is it the same?

I’ve dreamed of someday going to Ireland and, if that ever happens, it would be nice to be able to get around when and where I wanted to go.

What concerns me is the shifting. I’m right handed. When I try to do things with my left hand that I can do with my right, it automatically does things in mirror image. I can freak people out by writing backwards with my left hand with absolute ease. Other motions are automatically “backwards” as well. It’s really quite bizarre.

Anyway, I’d be terrified that I’d be constantly putting the car into the wrong gear…

63

To the point that a lot of crosswalks in London have reminders to look both ways.

64

That may be partly because a lot of London streets are one-way streets, so you should look both ways unless you are completely sure which direction traffic is going.

65

Really Not All That Bright addressed that question a couple of posts ago. The gearshift and pedals are oriented in the same way as you’re used to. Ireland, the country, is not actually part of the UK, but it’s the same there.

66

It’s the same. Superficial things can be changed for RHD/LHD, but nobody’s going to build mirror-image gearboxes. You might think you’ll find it weird, but by the time you’ve trained the correct hand to change gear, you’ll have no problem negotiating them.

67

Yes, I’ve never seen those instructions as particularly intended for tourists as opposed to the general pedestrian public - although I seem to remember a few, around Tower Bridge, which have French as well as English inscribed on the road.

68

Never really noticed them outside the touristy bits of central London, though. But I suppose they may be aimed at British tourists/occasional visitors, just as much as foreigners.

69

I liked the traffic circles. We should have them in the US and force people to learn how to use them.

There are a lot of roads out in the country that are quite narrow and bordered on each side by hedges. There are occasional little spots where you can pull your car over to let someone get by. When you come up upon a car and there is not room for both cars, one backs up to a good spot to let the other by. I found that usually people would go ahead and back up for me because it would take me so long to figure out where to back up to. (I hope makes any sense.)

70

Thanks, Ximenean. I didn’t want to call Ireland “UK” but wasn’t sure what to put there! Sorry if I offended anyone! (Though, isn’t Northern Ireland considered part of the UK?)

My curiosity was based on the fact that if the steering wheel was on the left, etc., that maybe the gears were done in an opposite manner.

My weird thing with my left hand doing the almost exact opposite of my right is so strong that I would be too afraid to go stick should I ever get to Ireland since it’s the same as here. I guess if it ever happens that I get to Ireland, I’ll get an automatic!

71

They’re called roundabouts, and the term was coined by an American, so I don’t want to hear any of that, “well that’s not what we call them here!” nonsense. :smiley:

72

Aren’t they called “rotaries” in Canada?

73

Yes, Northern Ireland is part of the UK. ‘Ireland’, depending on the context, can mean either the Republic, or the whole island.

74

I’ve driven in England and Ireland many times and did just fine. I’m not the world’s best driver by any means. I am very much a creature of habit. So, if I can do it, anyone can! You’ll be surprised how quickly your brain switches over.

My experience with manual/automatic transmissions is that when you’re used to driving a manual, you do fine. If it’s been a while or you’ve never driven enough for it to be second nature, you have a bit more trouble trying to think through switching gears, driving on the left, figuring out how you’re going to read a map that you’re holding with the opposite hand from usual, etc.

Roundabout aren’t that hard. Read the signs before entering so you know where you have to go, yield to traffic in the circle, signal before you exit (we have traffic circles here and no one signals; in the UK, they do).

Frankly, the hardest thing is that some of the country roads are very narrow with hedges or stone walls on the side. It’s nerve wracking just driving them by yourself, but there always seems to be a giant tour bus headed in the opposite direction and they never give you room! I second the advice to get a SMALL car (gas is frightfully expensive anyway).

Also, plan your route ahead of time. The street directions are a bit different in that they always indicate the next town not north/south/east/west. Luckily, even the small roads through the villages are well marked. Also, exits from the motorways are numbered by which exit they are not how many miles you’ve driven (so exit “3” could come 15 miles past exit “2”).

Almost forgot: everyone puts on their handbrake when they park, even when they have an automatic. I never do that here, but I don’t tend to park on the same inclines as I did there. If you decide to use the handbrake, don’t be a dork and forget to disengage it before driving off. Not that I’ve ever done that or anything… :rolleyes:

75

great article. I will bookmark this

76

I find that scary too! There are so many differences.

Obviously there’s the right-left thing. Then you have the difference in road signage, size of roads, priorities etc. Many American citizens have never driven a manual car, yet that’s the norm in the UK. Did you know that if a British driver passes a test in an automatic, they are not legally permitted to drive a manual vehicle under that licence: if they later wish to drive a manual, they have to take a test in a manual vehicle to prove themselves capable of it! This means an American tourist can turn up, travel-weary, possibly never having even seen a manual “shift” in their life, and drive one on what in the UK would be an automatic-only licence, something a Brit would not be allowed, and on the other side of the road! No wonder there are accidents… at least we Brits have had Europe as a practice-ground if we hire a car in the States.

Speaking of the States, there are a couple of USAF bases about 50miles south of where I live. The Americans living there drive US-spec LHD cars both on and off base, but are limited to a lower speed limit by their own military rules. The US military police patrol both on and off base too, an interesting sight on UK roads! I’m not sure what their advice to drivers is, but it might be an idea to contact the USAF and ask - they probably have an info pack they send out, as service men are very often only in the UK for a few months at a time, so there are always new arrivals. I think they recommend not driving at all for a week or so after arrival, but obviously on a short break that may not be possible.

I remember a few years back a US citizen hired a car and turned out onto the road after looking the wrong way. He was untouched, but a coach swerved to avoid him and crashed: the driver of the coach died in hospital, I believe. Always, always, look both ways lots of times before joining a road and never drive abroad when you’re tired. Changing roads is the easiest time to slip up, especially on quiet roads, as many people have said. The other thing to note is that if you find yourself on a small country road with not much room for two cars you may come round a corner and see someone heading straight for you. The natural thing to do is to pull to “your” side of the road - ie left for Brits, right for US drivers - which of course could cause a problem! If you can have more than one person in the front, ie have your front seat passenger act as co-driver and keep watch both on you and the road, it could save lives. Don’t forget that although so many of us do it regularly, roads are very dangerous.

However with care it is possible to get used to. Living in the UK and holidaying in France, I’ve driven many a time on the other side of the road, both in British RHD cars and French LHD hire cars. I think the strangest experience I had was in the French car, driving from the passenger seat - less the changing gear with the other hand, but the feeling of being in the wrong place! I’m quite happy with either now, on either side of the road. Driving in America I find interesting - it seems strange to me to drive on the right, yet have road signs in English! Most of the time if I’m on the right it’s in Europe, so all the signs are in other languages…

Anyway, I’ve babbled on for long enough now and really should get some sleep!

Goodnight all, and happy holidays, wherever you take them!

PS feel free to email me if you want more advice, or have any specific queries. I trained as a driving instructor and often drive abroad, so am fairly knowledgeable.
tfcmonument@aim.com

77

Ok, I really will go to sleep in a minute - but this reminded me of something:
I seem to remember a few years ago that a State in the US introduced a roundabout where nobody knew what one was. It was opened on the Friday and closed again on the Monday after, I believe, over 200 accidents! Perhaps the introduction of these should be done with more information in advance? :slight_smile:

78

I’m from the UK but I’ve drove (or driven)? in Spain and Germany. It took about 15 minutes to get used to it.

It’s no big deal, I found it much more difficult driving a left-hand-drive car in the UK.

79

What’s the point of the five minute edit window?

Anyway, as I was saying, My Aunt from Los Angeles (that’s in California, for those that didn’t know) comes over to England about once every five years or so, she has no difficulty adapting.

80

It’s not too different from my time in HS in the halcyon days of well-funded public schools which provided separate classes in driver education and driver training.

Driver Ed was strictly a classroom course which covered rules of the road, safety related advice, and so on. Probably there were also some gore films to emphasize the dangers of drunk driving, but I’ve forgotten. The teacher, who normally taught English, was blind, which sounds bizarre for a course on driving until you know that it was just theory. In general, driver education probably was about equivalent to the material on the written driving tests.

Driver Training, by contrast, was taught using actual driving simulators, as well as us being taken out to drive actual cars. Again, it’s amazing to think we had all this on the public school district’s dime in those days.

As for driving in the UK, I feel disoriented every time I see this being done on TV or in films. I suppose one gets used to it though, in practice. I wouldn’t want to try it with a manual transmission though.