Does Driving on the Left Worry You? Take the Poll and Tell Us
Wednesday April 25, 2007
Driving on the left side of the road, as they do in the UK and a few of its former colonies, worries some visitors. Will they make a mistake and end up driving right into oncoming traffic?
It is actually pretty hard to end up on the wrong side of the road, both the cars and the roads are engineered to prevent it. Here are a few tips and pointers to make driving in the UK seem even less daunting.
Still not convinced? Find out what your fellow drivers think by taking our poll. Or add your two cents by recording a comment at the end of this blog.
Comments
Drive on the left?! No way. Crossing the street and forgetting to look the other way is enough to get you killed!
I’m not so worried about accidentally driving on the wrong side as I am about knowing the unwritten rules of the road. I’d stay away from heavily trafficked roads and big city driving.
My daughter was injured and her car written off by a french man who drove his car into a one way system without looking in the correct direction. An easy error to make that I can understand having driven on the ‘other side’ of the road myself. Every time we drive our cars, there will always be a risk of injury. If you can drive around Paris or Rome, then London will be easy any day.
I have a long commute to work daily & I love to drive - I’ll drive just about anywhere, just give me a reliable navigator when I’m outside the USA. We’ve been to Great Britain on 5 separate trips & I drive, my husband, sister & brother-in-law take turns navigating. Driving on the left goes with the steering wheel on the right - keep the center-line beside the driver. I really find it easier to drive on the motorways at first - it’s like a rush-hour commute & the lanes are wider.
I didn’t have any problems driving on the left side. I had been really warred about this issue before moving to the UK, now I realize that driving on the left is the same like driving on the right. But I found another problem on the UK’s roads. I wrote an article on my blog about this issue Driving in the UK
My first experience with left hand driving was when we landed at Dover having traveled across the Channel from Calias, France. Fortunately, my husband was driving!!! Once we got all settled into our rented car and took the only available lane away from the ferry terminal (notorious road construction going on then), we found ourselves hurtling up the steeply graded White Cliffs, the engine whining, along with at least twenty other vehicles, mostly foreigners by the way they were all weaving from lane to lane, jockeying for the best position it seemed. I was reminded of the video game Grand Tourismo!!! It was frightening and exciting at the same time.
Then, at the top of the cliff, we went streaking around our first Roundabout!!! Our boys in the back were loving it all while I am gripping the the handholds.
My husband is South African born, so driving on the left was a cinch for him.
I am purely right hand driving American.
The only really dangerous experience was when we were almost hit head-on by a huge Mercedes flying around a corner on one of the tiny, quite country lanes that we traveled on to and from the vacation place at which we were staying.
I love the UK, and when we go back. I will drive!!!!
Sounds wild, Jana. Thanks for sharing!
Being from the UK, it only worries me less than driving on the right, like you lot!!!
Seriously, once you’re in a car with the steering wheel on the other side you get used to it quite quickly.