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Driving in the UK…thoughts

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abscate
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Driving in the UK…thoughts

Post by abscate »

A collection of pseudo random experiences on this.

1. Don’t hire a LHD car thinking it will make your experience easier. It won’t.

2 in anything but the most rural areas , use the flow to go with it. Just follow the gal/ guy in front of you and don’t think too much about left/ right

3 use the driver in the middle rule. Just like in the states, if you make a left or right turn, end up with the driver in the middle of the road. If you are on the side, there’s a problem.

4 roundabouts go clockwise, follow the flow

5 I have the most trouble figuring out which lane I enter a roundabout m and how you merge and change lanes I the roundabout , just go slow and indicate

6 a real gem. Sometimes I end up in the wrong lane and miss my turnoff in the roundabout. You just stay in the roundabout and make another turn . Put 50p in the “ second go” box as you pass by.

7 if you take the wrong turn, just go to the next one and do a U turn , using the roundabout, simple.

8 uk drivers indicate and are much more driving focused than the US. You will pass cars seoarated by 15 cm routinely, at speed. Focus on your RHS car position , and no phones , pizzas, posting on MVS , etc

9 try not to keep getting in the passenger door. It’s hard not to.

10 parking spaces are tight and backup cams on rentals are really nice

11 speed cameras and green zone/ bus lane cameras are everywhere

12 don’t drive in London
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Post by 850 LPT »

This is awesome, thanks for sharing. I will print this out take with me when we finally visit Ireland sometime in the future.
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Post by volvolugnut »

This closely matched my experiences driving in Scotland. Worst part is trying a 3 point turn around. Instinct is to return to the wrong side of the road.
Get a map (if you can read a map) to plan long distance trips and know the general direction you want to go.
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Post by abscate »

13, develop the habit of looking both ways before a turn or a merge, then it doesn’t matter where you drive

Barbara wouldn’t drive in the UK until she came up with (3) above, then it clicked
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