View Full Version : UK - Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road
imported_n/a
03-03-2002, 23:01
If you are from the UK, you will have to drive on the wrong side of the road and indeed the wrong side of the car! You will have to learn to judge the width of the car on your right as opposed to your left.
'Free Right Rule'. If you approach a red traffic light in the right hand lane you can turn right if it is safe to proceed, even if the lights are on red. Doubtless as you get used to this rule you will be 'beeped' from behind but do not be rushed and make sure it is safe to proceed.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
03-03-2002, 23:16
The way we remember to stay on the correct side of the road is that the center of the road always has to be nearest to the driver.
After a few times over in the USA driving, it's become second nature and I don't have to think about it too much now.
You'll also notice that the US is devoid of any roundabouts too (or at least we've never seen one!).
We find the drivers not as courteous as at home but probably not too different to those in London (no offence implied for those of you from London).
John & Sarah
John & Sarah Rooke
Orlando Villas
Edited by - floridadreamvilla.co.uk on 03/03/2002 19:17:15
orlandobabe
03-03-2002, 23:47
There's an itsy-bitsy roundabout way down in the historic area of downtown Kissimmee-in a housing estate-but I shouldn't worry about it too much-unless you are lost-like we were!
Orlandobabe
John I just have to disagree about the courtesy of the drivers. They almost always let you in and I've never had a driver deliberately speed up to prevent me from joining a road or sit on my bumper.
I drive a lot around the UK as part of my work and our drivers are generally a very inconsiderate and impatient lot (me as well sometimes!!). Probably because everyone spends so much of their day in a traffic jam!!<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
There are several roundabouts at the Crossroads, Lake Buenavista. The Americans go straight over them and the Brits go round them!! Makes for very interesting watching sometimes.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Edited by - Margot on 03/03/2002 19:51:25
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
03-03-2002, 23:59
The mention of roundabouts at a place called Crossroads - you've got to be having us on :).
We find that people will not let you out at a junction when we are in the US. Happens consistenly and I cannot recall being given way to. Maybe it's just us?
John & Sarah
John & Sarah Rooke
Orlando Villas
steph_goodrum
04-03-2002, 02:09
Re: the "Free right" rule, you have to watch for some intersections that have a "no right turn on red" sign, these are the only ones you can't turn.
Also overtaking is allowed on both the left and right side so make sure you check both before turning or changing lanes.
Re the roundabouts, our accountant in Winter Haven (an ex pat) said she sometimes drives up to Hampton Lakes just to drive round the roundabout as it reminds her of home.
Babblin Boo
Edited by - steph_goodrum on 03/03/2002 22:11:13
Having gone to the U.K. and driven on the left, I have nothing but admiration for everyone who can switch sides of the road without a problem.
On the right turn on red...you must come to a full stop first (that's the law..we know it's not always the practice) and yield to all traffic. You can also make a LEFT turn on red (after stop) if it's from a one-way street onto another one way street.
Roundabouts used to be more popular (American term is "traffic circle") but have declined in use because of the many accidents due to people's failure to properly yield right of way.
MMFAN
I find it's really easy to drive on the right and get into it straight away with no problems on arrival. The difficulty arises when I return home and try and drive on the left again! It's weird, you'd think it would be around the other way as I drive in UK the majority of the year.
Err, although we have loads of roundabouts/traffic circles in UK, that doesn't necessarily mean that people know how to drive around them properly and we too have lots of accidents, particularly at mini roundabouts. However, there are so many of them I can't see them disappearing. We have a term, when giving directions, of saying 'straight on at the roundabout'. When I was a passenger in a car driven by an Australian friend, she took this literally and was about to drive straight across the middle of a rather large roundabout until our shouting got to her!
I knew about the full stop on red but I think it's 3 seconds if nothing is coming. Is that right?
Blott
Edited by - blott on 11/03/2002 08:53:34
Edited by - blott on 11/03/2002 08:54:49
To Uk guests worrying about driving left hand cars, all the hire cars I've been in are automatic so there's no problem with sticking your left hand down between the seat and the door to change gear. This has happened to me a few times when I've driven a manual in Europe, usually at the most inappropriate times.
Jacqui
PS When reversing, don't do what I've done twice. Sounds really idiotic but when you're tired you tend to forget and use the break as a clutch! Couldn't understand why the car kept slowing down and lurching until I got dug in the ribs by hubby<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>
Porky
Another tip is always have your foot on the brake pedal when you start the car - otherwise, as soon as you take the handbrake off and put it in gear, it starts moving all by itself!
Blott
Edited by - blott on 11/03/2002 10:26:56
Blott,
I learnt that trick first time out. I don't like the cars which have the gear shift stick (don't know the technical term for it) on the steering wheel, much prefer it down an the floor. I'm always convinced I'll break it off when it's up by the wheel - I'm rather ham fisted.
jacqui
Jacqui
Yes, so did I but I wish I had known about it first! It's very disconcerting to find you're 'on the move' when you're still looking over your shoulder to see if something's coming! <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle> It is, however, good for a 'creep' into a tight parking space. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Blott
--Most American cars with automatic transmissions require the brake pedal to be depressed while (whilst?) shifting from Park to any other gear. This started several years ago when people were driving their automatic Audi 5000's into walls. Turned out that Audi didn't increase the space between the gas and brake pedals when there was no clutch pedal. People were stepping on the gas pedal (or is that petrol pedal?)as they put the car into gear. Puts new meaning on my favorite phrase "Mind the Gap"
--You don't have to stop for a set amount of time before you turn right on red, but you do have to stop completely. The police officers look at the wheels of your car, to see no movement. If there is nothing to yield to (pedestrians or cars with a green light), you can go.
florida4sun
15-03-2002, 17:43
Actually it is not and I have a ticket for doing so. You are allowed to undertake only if the other lane is movingat slow unreasonably slow speed.
Martin
quote:
Also overtaking is allowed on both the left and right side so make sure you check both before turning or changing lanes.
Babblin Boo
Edited by - steph_goodrum on 03/03/2002 22:11:13
steph_goodrum
15-03-2002, 18:21
Just checked the Florida driving manual which states
"Passing on the right is only legal when there are two or more lanes of traffic moving in the same direction or the vehicle you are passing is making a left turn. Pulling off the pavement to pass on the right is against the law."
So it is legal in some instances but all the driving hints we have ever been given by Virgin, BA etc. all say is it is allowed.
Babblin Boo
MMFAN
Gas pedal is an accelerator pedal in UK English! And I can tell that you've been on the tube/underground! :)
Blott
Well we have another term for the UK-American dictionary. Undertake is Overtake. Now that will be confusing! Isn't the passing car OVERtaking the slow car? I guess it depends on your point of view.
As far as the overtaking/undertaking thing goes...as I understand it (and have no tickets in 28 years of driving), you cannot drive off the side of the road road to pass a car that is moving. However, on something like Hwy 192 where there are 2 or 3 lanes in each direction, nobody is going to get a ticket for passing on the left or right (as long as they're not speeding). The same is true for an Interstate Highway like I-4. Technically, you shouldn't undertake/overtake on the right, but you will get a speeding ticket before you get an improper undertaking ticket.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
16-03-2002, 02:12
I don't think I want an 'undertaking ticket' - what a dull profession <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>
p.s. not sure this translates into US English - if not, an undertaker is a Funeral Director - I must be sad, explaining my own jokes :)
John & Sarah Rooke
Orlando Villas
Edited by - floridadreamvilla.co.uk on 15/03/2002 22:13:32
It translated. I was looking at Florida4sun's use of the term "undertake" in his post. So is it undertake or overtake?
I thought it was overtake if you passed on the left side of the car and undertake if you passed on the right side (in US but the opposite in UK). I also think that undertake is a UK expression and not a US one.
MMFAN - I'm with you here and have been both overtaken and undertaken quite frequently in US (undertaking is not allowed in UK - you have to overtake only which is on the right side of the car) which is one of the reasons for the tip to check BOTH mirrors before changing lanes when driving in US! You don't need to do this in UK!
Gosh, this is getting very complicated!
Blott
OK, I understand now. Americans don't distinquish between what side of the car you pass on....it's just overtaking someone (actually most people say "passing"). Undertaking is definitely reserved for more morbid activities.
One thing I have noticed while driving around Disney. The local people are very impatient with tourists that drive more tentatively, no matter what the reason (lost or uncomfortable). I am neither lost nor uncomfortable driving near Disney, but I still watch out for smaller cars driven by younger drivers...which possibly means a Disney worker who is both familiar with the area, and in a rush to get to/from work. We even got cut-off once by a driver we recognised...he had been our driver/guide on the African Safari at Animal Kingdom. He was still driving like he was there!
Just saying 'passing' sounds eminently suitable to me but, you know the British, we always have to complicate things with terminology or an explanation!
Oh boy, having been on the Safari ride at Animal Kingdom, just hope I don't meet him when I'm driving! No matter how many times we go to Disney, we always manage to get lost - it's got something to do with looking for signs which never seem to say what you're expecting and when you do figure out which one to follow, the sign disappears, you've missed it and you can't turn around! :)
Blott
catherine
13-04-2002, 02:40
I also, like Blott, have no trouble driving in Florida and find it difficult to adjust when I come back home. I have always put it down to the fact that I am left handed and so think 'the other way round' from the majority.
I have no problem with driving on the right side of the road, but I do get lost a lot. Why are road signs hung high above the roads where at night your lights can not light them up and are therefore unreadable?
I have also be caught out by lanes that seem to suddenly branch off without warning.
I still prefer driving in Florida instead of London, and hope to go for a Florida drivers License.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
10-05-2002, 19:23
I know what you mean about getting lost in Disney Blott.
I don't think they have thought out their roads in Disney very well at all as you can often see where you want to go, but just can't seem to find a road or a turning that takes you there. Very frustrating <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>
John & Sarah Rooke
Orlando Villas
I am a semi-retired musician and have driven all over the UK. I find drivers here are good - my American mate reckons the Brits are gentlemen on the road and his countrymen are animals. A couple of musicians have been over with me recently (first time) and one is so impressed by the courtessy and patience of Florida drivers he keeps on about it now he's back in the UK. The Big Band I play for during the summer (when in Britain) has asked me not to invite him again all they get is how good the American drivers are and how friendly the people are. I've got to agree on both counts.
Kilo
I agree with Carla. I have always found the americans quite courteous on the roads not like here in England. Its everyone for themselves. They seem to think everyone knows where they are going so you don't have time to read road signs before someone is testing out their horns. I really hate driving in the UK. It takes a bit of getting used to in America but I much prefer it to here. That is until you get the lorries passing you, which tend to be a lot longer than ours.
Maggie
LOL Your wrong side is the right side to me and your right side is the wrong side to me. I remember visiting London and driving. I will never ever do it again! LOL
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
29-04-2003, 13:40
I have to admit that I find driving on the right side of the road in the US very natural (must be something to do with being right-handed). When I return to the UK it takes a real effort to keep to the left side of the road.
Since I have returned from Florida I do occasionally find myself driving down the wrong side of the road - especially in supermarket car parks etc!! I guess because I conditioned myself to ensuring I was on the 'other' side in the US I have intermittent lapses now - especially when I'm tired!! I just hope that I do not have an accident!!
Daniel Ramsey
29-04-2003, 15:01
Well folks, I'm an American, living in Alaska, never been overseas, I drive a concrete mixer for a living and my dad was a cross country truck driver his whole life.
I actually wonder if the reason for the way your cars and roads were set up was because there was an abundance of southpaws?:D I mean left handed folks to be specific, that would drive me nuts in the brain shifting a 13 speed big rig transmission with my left hand! As far as defining safety bear in mind that if you are on any side of those big rigs the driver may not see you, especially when they need to make right hand turns as the truck often must move over to the left to make the turn cut.
In Alaska we have trucks that haul routinely two 45' trailers, similar to the roads trains in Australia. Play it safe and give any big rigs room, and here is something else that may either be advice or a warning but there have been reported cases in the states even here in Alaska of youths or groups that prey upon drivers and have shot at them for no good reason and that usually happens when you try to pass them and you flash your high beams, they regard that as a challenge. If I remember correctly thats normal in Europe to flash high beams wanting to overtake a slower vehicle, here its a rude gesture that myself even irritates me. We have a lot of road rage drivers, it doesn't take much to set them off and sadly the consequences can be tragic. It does happen in Florida, it happens everywhere.
In Alaska it gets interesting.....because almost everybody living here carries either a high powered pistol or rifle in their trucks, I do because its what we have to do, unless we want to rid most of our state of bears and moose. Moose are deadly, I watched one kill a man in Anchorage inside the city limits, on a university parking lot no less. By law we cannot harass or scare off the animals but we can defend ourselves.
Hope that wasn't offensive but this IS the last frontier I live in.:) Just thought this might be interesting.
Daniel,
Flashing your headlights to someone as you approach them is just as irritating/rude gesture as it obviously is in the US - we have the same sort 'road rage' incidents over here, can't say that we have too many cases of 'challenges' resulting in shootings though!!
The only time headlight flashing is not considered rude (or a warning that cops are ahead so slow down!) is if you are in a traffic situation where you allow someone to go. This is more likely to happen here in the UK where we have narrow roads with lots of cars parked, and driving up and down some of them near the town centres are a nightmare as parking gets more and more expensive in the centre, so workers park on the surrounding roads to avoid paying anything. This then caused congestion and you have to weave in and out of parked cars to get down a road that should have ample room, but with cars parked both sides of the road it results in room for 1 car only.
Can you tell I live a 10 minute walk from our town centre? And sometimes lucky if I can park on the road outside our house - and just who is paying the rates here I ask myself?[}:)]
Sorry Fiona,
I should have written "Flashing your headlights to someone as you approach them FROM BEHIND is just as irritating/rude gesture as it obviously is in the US"[:I]
Yes flashing to indicate allowing someone out or through a gap etc. is helpful (although you would still fail you driving test if you do this or respond to this as it is not within the Highway Code.)
I only flash if someone has on their high beams blinding me or if the person doesn't have his or her headlights on at all. Flashing from behind is irritating and that's what the flasher is trying to do to you. [:o)]
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
10-05-2003, 21:38
I have to say that although this topic is entitled driving on the wrong side of the road I actually find it more natural to drive on the right. I read an article somewhere that driving on the left was established because it was easier for a horseman to whip the horse this way. Thought it a weak arguement, didn't they use the horse as mode of transport anywhere else in the world?!!! Anyway as I haven't whipped a horse in years I wouldn't know if it's easier from the left or the right, what I do know is that I would prefer it if we drove on the right globally.
Sarah
We found a couple of roundabouts - one in Clearwater Beach after you cross the bridge. It was causing chaos the day we were there. The best one was in a back road in Tarpon Springs. Quite small, but you should have seen the struggle the stretch limo had to get around it! He had to keep reversing and then taking another bit. I'm afraid I video'd it - sad I know, but quite unique.
I do have one question though. The four-way stop was one I couldn't work out. How does that work? In the UK, the nearest equivalent is the mini-roundabout, but it has clear rules, you give way to any traffic on your right. Occasionally you get a situation where everyone has stopped but not too aften. In the four-way stop, who has the right of way? I had several situations where three of us were all looking at each other! I just drove on when that happened, and never got a complaint via a car horn.
Normally, it seems that the first one who stops at a four way junction is the first to go, followed by the next one to stop, etc so that everyone takes their turn relating to how long they have waited.
There are some mini roundabouts (traffic circles) in Oak Street W in Kissimmee and we sometimes go there if we feel a bit homesick! The give way rules are the same as in the UK, ie you let traffic already on the roundabout go first (or give way to the left).
chrizzy100
27-05-2003, 01:26
We have roundabouts on the Cape in Mass....great fun when all the Americans come here in the summer and have never seen one before....we were hoping to have seen the last of them in moving down south.....:(