| A Guide to Driving Left Hand Drive in the UK |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Neill W |
| Monday, 09 June 2008 12:48 |
|
This is our idiots guide to left hand car driving in the UK with a left hand drive car and some tips on how to avoid the more embarrassing episodes… ‘I don’t know how you drive one of those!’ That’s a comment I’ve heard many times when people first see a left hand drive car in a right hand drive country. Many people brought up on a diet of right hand drive, UK cars think that driving a ‘left hooker’ as they call it is inconvenient, expensive to insure and that it’s just a matter of time before they dent it…. This brief guide helps anyone driving a left hand drive car for the first time and hopefully dispels some of the myths of left hand drive in the UK. Getting started. All people possess different ability and eye / hand co-ordination and pick things up a different rates. But there’s nothing new to learn here, it’s just a matter of adjusting your subconscious over to the left a few feet. Your mind has a blueprint of how things should look sitting in the driving seat and you just need to re-educate it that things look a little different now. You’ll probably stagger about and weave a little for the first mile, but after just that short distance, your mind has settled down. Even the most confident driver would do well to drive on a quiet road for the first mile or so, just to let this reset process take place. After that, you will just need reminding at various critical times such as the following: Turning right off a main road. Make sure you position the car towards the centre of the road as usual, but without crossing the white line and blocking the road. When you make the turn, aim for the left hand gutter of the road you’re turning into and be careful not to cut the corner. You’ll be pleased to hear we offer an alloy wheel re-finishing service. Going through gaps. Many a test drive has been punctuated by the occasional tweak of the wheel from my side….?a little further LEFT, sir…!? In fact, it’s quite simple - your driving experience has taught you that an average car will go through a gap this big. So as you approach, you already know looking at the gap that you can fit through, as you’ve done it hundreds of times in your right hand drive vehicle, so what’s the problem? Road positioning, that’s all. If you subconsciously know it will go through, set up the left hand wheels parallel with the kerb so that it’s not hitting anything and the right hand bit will follow. Then you can breathe out. Overtaking. You can’t overtake! The most common miss-conception. Again, it’s all down to road positioning. The highway code says that you should position your car at a distance from the car in front in order to achieve the best view of the road ahead. Lets face it, that’s probably the first thing most of us forget when we pass our test…..Time to relearn it. By dropping back an extra 15 - 20 feet and anticipating the gap in the oncoming traffic, overtaking is not a problem. After a while, in fact, it opens new opportunities, such as overtaking on left hand bends….but that’s another story. Fast driving. There’s very little different when it comes to fast A-road driving. The only two main items are right hand apexes and left hand turn in. If you like setting your car up to straight-line your favourite roundabout like a chicane, be careful. Most people have a fear of wrecking the right hand alloys on the roundabout itself and miss the apex. This means that they are then too far left and can run out of road on the exit and have to lift, or swerve to avoid the exit kerb. Don’t believe me? I’ve seen it done by a very experienced competition driver. The left hand bend turn in is more difficult because you are already sitting on the left and losing valuable visibility round the corner and secondly, the windscreen pillar is in your line of sight. Not much you can do about this except be careful - too far out and you risk clipping oncoming cars, too far in and you’ve no view at all unless the corner is completely open. Other useful tips. Toll booths - the bane of the life of a left hand driver. I’m quite good a flicking the pound coins into the bucket at the Dartford Tunnel, but otherwise, it’s seatbelt off and wriggle across. Don’t forget to put it in Park or put the handbrake on. If your foot slips and it’s in gear, make sure someone’s there with a video camera to record it….Using it as an excuse to wriggle across on top of attractive members of the opposite sex is a cheap shot and rarely works….. Getting in the right hand door by accident - sadly, I still do this. If you’re being watched, make sure you rummage through the glovebox like a kid going for the last sweetie before giving up and climbing out and getting in the other side. Confidence is everything with this one - it must look authentic. Fumbling in the door pocket when you meant to change gear - as with the example above, confidence is everything. It helps if packets of mints are left in both areas. Make sure you don’t hit the rev limiter while your hand is in the door pocket. And finally, if you’re driving in Europe on UK plates, don’t think the police won’t get you. I can tell you they can……..Your average traffic warden may not see the point in giving you a ticket, but some of our EU cousins have effective methods of speed enforcement if they want to give you a tug. Don’t believe me? Look here… If you’ve got a tale to tell, humorous or otherwise, contact us and we’ll include it on this page. Either make it printable, or I’ll change the names to spare the blushes. ‘Mile high’ submissions accepted, but we reserve the right of requesting photographic proof. |
| Last Updated ( Monday, 09 June 2008 13:00 ) |