In case I go to Europe…
Is the clutch, brake, gas pedals reversed for right steering cars?
How about the shifting pattern - any quick changes here?
I believe most European countries drive on the LEFT hand side of the road. The most notable exception is Great Britain.
Good site on the issue.
I think you mean that most European countries drive on the RIGHT. Britain and Ireland drive on the left, so the driver sits on the right. Apart from sitting on the other side, everything else is the same. The pedals go, left to right, clutch, brake, accelerator. The shift pattern is the same: 1st is usually top left, 5th is top right. Reverse is usually bottom right but is sometimes extreme top left.
You will probably find yourself banging your hand on the car door when you want to shift.
Right hand drive cars have the controls in the same (relative) position as left hand drive cars. Gas is on the right, brake in the left Sticks have the clutch to the left of the brake.
The gear shift on a manual is in the center, and the pattern is the same as an LHD car. (no reason why it should be different, same parts in the same place)
Hard parts for a LH driver is shifting with left, and not FORGETTING which side of the road they belong on.
Also the rear-view mirror is on the “wrong” side so you waste time looking in the opposite direction to where the mirror is. The last time I rented a car in mainland Europe I finished up using the side mirror as a rear view mirror instead of the internal one because I am too set in my ways!. I prefer to take my UK car abroad because I know where everything is and I seem to be able to judge the width of the car better when driving on narrow roads.
It takes a while to “switch” sides, but once you get used to it, you are surprised to imagine having ever driven on the other side. I think it took about a week (I wasn’t driving very much each day) for it to click for my system.
Swapping was eased by the fact that I’m currently driving an automatic, not a manual. My left hand still sometimes reaches for a non-existent gearstick though!
As a Brit who has driven on the Continent often enough, I’ll point out that swapping is actually very easy. The difficult bit is swapping back when one returns.
I’d go along with that. I’ve worked a lot and lived in the US. I’ve driven on the wrong side of the road twice, both times in England. Once I wasn’t thinking, but the second time I was concentrating hard - it was the first time I’d come across in roundabout in some time and I very carefully went round it the wrong way.
Is Britain the only country with the “give way to the right” rule/understanding for roundabouts?
Australia seems to be first in-best dressed, and here in the UAE it’s a free-for-all - with only the fastest, biggest, and blackest-windowed vehicles surviving.
I don’t this is the case. Even in France there are signs on the rounderbouts saying give way to traffic already on the roundabout. What is confusing about driving in France ( and other European countries ) is the rule about giving way to traffic turning out of a side street on your right into the main road. This usually applies only to towns Out on the open road this rule does not apply and is marked as such by a roadsign showing a yellow diamond.