How hard is it for most Americans to learn to drive on the other side of the road in the UK?

Question

We are going to England next month and I'm debating renting a car so we can see a lot of places family was from in a 15 km radius in North Lincolnshire. I can't drive a manual transmission (which most of the rentals seem to be from my searches?) . . . but the main question I have is how hard is it to adjust to the other side of the road thing?

Answer 1

Piece of p**s.  I've driven in both LH and RH drive countries without problems.  Occasionally you forget momentarily, especially when there isn't any other traffic around.  Once when I lived in Britain I'd spent 5 weeks biking around Europe.  When I cycled off the boat, there was a cop whose job was to remind you to drive on the left, and he had to correct me.  But it isn't a serious problem.

Answer 2

I have driven in Europe and the US and i have easily adapted to being on the wrong side of the road so i am sure that you should easily adapt to being on the correct side for a change.Automatic transmission  cars are not very popular over here so i can understand why you are having problems with the rental companies, percivere and i am sure one will turn up eventually.

Answer 3

Quite easy, although you should take extra care at roundabouts and other junctions. I am British, and have done this the other way round (driving automatic and manual cars in Canada and in Europe), and it's fine.

Most rental cars are manual, although you should be able to find an automatic without too many difficulties. For historic reasons, automatic cars have never been popular in the UK (or Europe generally), but this is gradually changing. I certainly don't advise renting a manual car if you've never driven one before; one person I know did this and ended up embedding the car into a tree.

Answer 4

- Automatic transmission is prohibitively expensive in UK. It is a combination of things that are different. In the carribean they drive on the left side on some islands (including US Virgin islands) but most of the cars are American. The cars in UK have the seats on the opposite side.

- Roundabouts are not that common in America and many people find them intimidating. They are very common in the UK and you have the added disadvantage of doing them the opposite way.

- Also, you may know how to drive standard, but you have never done it with your left hand.

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It's a fun experiment and I would recommend it, but the problem is you are usually flying all night to get to the UK. It's a h**l of a lot to get used to on top of no sleep. If you are flying into Heathrow it is about 200 miles to North Linconshire. If you are flying into Manchester is about 100 miles.

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I would recommend that you try to get from the airport to your destination by train, and then rent a car at your destination. That way you are learning on a full nights sleep and you can practice on secondary roads before heading on the freeway.

Answer 5

It's not that hard...we have to drive on the "other" side of the road when we go to the continent and over to America.  You get used to it quite quickly...we also use miles here in the UK, not km.  It might help if you familiarise yourself with our highway code so you know what all the signs and road markings mean...take a look here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTra...

Edit

A couple of things that have occurred to me are:

1) In this country if you have passed your test in an automatic, you cannot drive a manual unless as a learner driver with a qualified driver with you, so if you have not driven a manual before then legally you will not be allowed to hire one.

2) If I remember correctly from my time in the States visiting friends, you are allowed to turn through a red light....don't try that here...red is stop and stop means STOP, though if you are at a red stop light and there is a filter arrow on green you can move in the direction of the arrow.

Answer 6

Japan has the same road system as in UK.  When I lived in the US, I safely drove American system without problem.  I think you will not have any problem on the left side of the road.

Answer 7

Most multi-tasks are difficult for Americans

Only joking

You will find it easy

The major bother you will have is at roundabouts

Have a great time