In a country where this is the norm....

[Improviser]

Have you ever driven on the left side on the road, or did you just take a taxi or remained a passenger in the car driven by one of the locals?

If you did drive on the left side, was it a hard adjustment for the brain like trying to regain propioception after a knee replacement? Well, for that there is training at PT.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Have you ever driven on the left side on the road, or did you just take a taxi or remained a passenger in the car driven by one of the locals?

If you did drive on the left side, was it a hard adjustment for the brain like trying to regain propioception after a knee replacement? Well, for that there is training at PT.

Driving in right side side seat on left side wasn't too hard. Easiest thing in my head was driver seat is closest to the center of the lane. Riding as a passenger in the left seat on a car on left side of the road was a harrowing experience.

Parking in parking lots was more difficult than driving. Turning right seemed to be harder for me in tight spaces than turning left.

Driving a manual and using left hand to shift and working the gears towards me was definitely a trip. Glad they were rentals because those transmissions took a beating from this Yank.

I was over in England for 4-6 weeks for work a few times and it was coming back to the states, driving in neighborhoods without road markings where'd I'd find myself staring at headlights coming straight at me and realizing I was on wrong side.

 

[businesslawyer]

Have you ever driven on the left side on the road, or did you just take a taxi or remained a passenger in the car driven by one of the locals?

If you did drive on the left side, was it a hard adjustment for the brain like trying to regain propioception after a knee replacement? Well, for that there is training at PT.

Once. 3 years ago I rented a car in downtown Edinburgh and drove to St. Andrews for the day. Being on a highway was fine, but driving through city streets, and through narrow roads going through small towns, was somewhat scary.

 

[husky429]

Manual transmission was the weirdest thing for me. I drove the NC500 in the Scottish highlands and around the rest of the country. Manual was cheaper so I figured I'd go for it. Must have stalled 20x in Edinburgh that first few days. I drive manual every day at home. I don't think I've stalled in years other than there. Very odd adjustment

 

[Greedo]

As others said, driving manual was the weirdest part. I adjusted to being on the left pretty quickly because you’re still sitting closest to the middle of the road. Getting used to using my left hand to shift was really weird though. That felt really unnatural.

 

[Pawsox]

Drove for a week in Australia and a week in New Zealand last year. The only hard part were the round abouts, which they love over there. Only screwed up once, but thank god it was a shopping center parking lot. It was weird getting back to the US and driving on the right again.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Drove for a week in Australia and a week in New Zealand last year. The only hard part were the round abouts, which they love over there. Only screwed up once, but thank god it was a shopping center parking lot. It was weird getting back to the US and driving on the right again.

I am a huge fan of roundabouts.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I am a huge fan of roundabouts.

I'm not sure my father's driven through a roundabout since 1987 without saying "I just can't get left!"

 

[8893]

Driving in right side side seat on left side wasn't too hard. Easiest thing in my head was driver seat is closest to the center of the lane. Riding as a passenger in the left seat on a car on left side of the road was a harrowing experience.

Parking in parking lots was more difficult than driving. Turning right seemed to be harder for me in tight spaces than turning left.

Driving a manual and using left hand to shift and working the gears towards me was definitely a trip. Glad they were rentals because those transmissions took a beating from this Yank.

I was over in England for 4-6 weeks for work a few times and it was coming back to the states, driving in neighborhoods without road markings where'd I'd find myself staring at headlights coming straight at me and realizing I was on wrong side.

Yeah I’ve done it a few times and I focus on the exact same thing: driver is always closest to center lane. Everything else falls into place after that for me, including driving stick. But I love driving stick. Even on the Ring of Kerry.

I also had the same experience as you when I returned after our three-week trip a few years ago. For a few days I caught myself on the other side a few times and had to mentally check “driver is closest to center”—OOPS!

We were supposed to go to St. Croix in April but Covid obviously scotched that trip. From what I am told you drive on the other side there, but with American cars, so you can’t follow the driver-is-closest-to-center rule. I had rented an automatic for that trip because there were no standards available in the size we needed, but I have to admit that I wasn’t that disappointed because I was concerned about keeping my bearings straight.

 

[arch]

Proprioception (/ˌproʊprioʊˈsɛpʃən, -priə-/ PROH-pree-o-SEP-shən), also referred to as kinaesthesia (or kinesthesia), is the sense of self-movement and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense".

And no, never did.

 

[cohenzone]

Drove in St Thomas VI two years ago. I found it helped that the driver was on the American side, I pretended it was like being forced to drive on the left side in a construction zone. I only drove at night once and that was tough. St. Thomas roads away from the coast are narrow, hilly and winding. Headlights coming at odd angles and trying to keep an eye on the near shoulder and hold the lane.

 

[Pawsox]

For some reason, the very first time I drove a rental car on the left side of the road, I thought the gas pedal would be on the left and the brake on the right. Thank goodness it wasn't. I figure since most people are right footed, the cars are designed that way across the globe.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Drove for only time

Drove in St Thomas VI two years ago. I found it helped that the driver was on the American side, I pretended it was like being forced to drive on the left side in a construction zone. I only drove at night once and that was tough. St. Thomas roads away from the coast are narrow, hilly and winding. Headlights coming at odd angles and trying to keep an eye on the near shoulder and hold the lane.

Funny, I was going to say the same thing for Saint John. Fun to get the practice in on their roads that are farther from downtown.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Drove for only time
Funny, I was going to say the same thing for Saint John. Fun to get the practice in on their roads that are farther from downtown.

Apropos of nothing, St. John is awesome.

 

[David 76]

Freaking' Brits!

 

[Improviser]

Proprioception (/ˌproʊprioʊˈsɛpʃən, -priə-/ PROH-pree-o-SEP-shən), also referred to as kinaesthesia (or kinesthesia), is the sense of self-movement and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense".

And no, never did.

Cool.

Did you study Greek?

 

[Sky ball]

I lived in the USVI for a while and you drive on the left with American cars so that is kinda weird. I had no issues as I was always careful. I did have issues when I came back to the mainland as I thought I could drive easily as I had driven that way my whole driving life. However, my confidence was high so not paying attention to what I was doing I would unconsciously revert to USVI left side driving. Thankfully never got in an accident.

 

[Austin316]

Have you ever driven on the left side on the road, or did you just take a taxi or remained a passenger in the car driven by one of the locals?

If you did drive on the left side, was it a hard adjustment for the brain like trying to regain propioception after a knee replacement? Well, for that there is training at PT.

I went to Australia for work and it took some getting used to. I will say the Aussies are passive drivers in Brisbane. Also the KMPH on high ways isn’t very fast. Need to be very careful in general

 

[McLovin]

I am a huge fan of roundabouts.

At first I thought this said "round butts". Which I would have agreed with.

 

[SoFla Steve]

I am a huge fan of roundabouts.

I traveled for business quite a bit and ended up in East Kilbride, Scotland -- The Roundabout Capital of the World. I wasn't driving (company forbids driving in foreign countries), but the system seemed to work well. I don't think I could have gotten through unscathed. I would have killed us on the first day.

My brother and I were in the UK on vacation when we considered going on the highlands malt whisky trail. When I checked out the package, I found all you got was a map and entrance tickets. I expected a tour bus. Imagine two Yanks in an unfamiliar country, going from distillery to distillery, tasting after tasting, on mountain roads driving in the left-hand lane. We didn't try it because wouldn't have made through the first day.