Marky-San

I actually would like to try this out - never having done it abroad - is there such a thing, even a demo that anyone knows of that would help out?

I just have this insane fear of belting down a dual carriageway and becoming a statistic

Brendan Hughes

I don't think a simulator will help you, particularly if you then get out of the simulator and drive home on your normal roads.

The problem is more with your subconscious than your conscious, and this takes a couple of days to change, if not a week. Generally you won't die on a dual carriageway as driving in a straight line is simple; junctions/roundabouts are the challenge, so at least you'll make a major mistake at low speed and all you get then is an insurance claim in a foreign language. Unless you do what I did:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=354261

ps hello jasey

Marky-San

Er thanks for the reply. Very deep - someone on scoobynet mentioning something sensible


I think there a high chance of obituary headlining if my subconscious is driving in the uk, whilst I'm going down a US highway?

GC8

Try not to drive tired; this is when youll go the wrong way around a roundabout, or more likely; pull from a sideroad onto the wrong (oncoming) carriageway.....

Simon

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

The first 5 minutes after getting into the car are the hardest - this is at the beginning of the day, after lunch - basically after any stop.
You just have to make sure that when you sit back in the car you think 'keep my side of the car next to the edge of the road'. Once you've driven a few miles it should come fairly naturally.

The only sticking point may be at junctions - trying to work out which directions you need to give way to, and then which direction/side of the road to depart. But once you've mastered a few, all becomes clear.

After 2 weeks driving around Europe recently, I was actually worried about driving on the correct side of the road back in the UK!


Having said all that, if you're sat on the wrong side of the car to start with (doubt you'll take the car on a ferry to the USA), this is usually enough to keep your brain concentrating hard enough that it won't lapse into UK mode.

STi-Frenchie

I drove on the wrong side of the road for the first time when I was in Scotland last year

I found it a bit bizarre as everytime I tried to change gear I would find myself clutching (awful pun) at the door handle!

I took it easy and kept to the speed limits and was fine after a day.

GaryCat

I used "Tight Right, Long Left" to help me remember which side of the road I should go to at junctions. The trouble was i then forgot which was left and right...until I realised my wife was on my right and she is *always* right

The real problem is when you are confronted with an emergency situation and you go back to your UK instincts... so concentrate and plan ahead.

STi-Frenchie

Hire a car in the country you are driving in and just remember that the driver should always be towards the centre of the road, not the outside. Easy peasy

ScooBStu

The only problem I had is that I was trying to rest my arm on the window ledge as I do here in the UK and my girlfriend was not too impressed as I nearly elbowed her in the face!!!