R J Carpenter

mrtravel wrote:
    >
    > No need for a flag, they can tell by your driving.
    >
    > Remembering to drive on the left is not the hardest part.

    > Other problems:
    >
    > 4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.

Is this to prove that you've forgotten that you are in Britain? )

[Couldn't resist]

Pulaski

I have checked up and it appears to be 1967 - http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

I could have sworn I remembered it happening, but I was less than a year old in January 1967.

licrimlawyer

On Sun, 21 Jul 2002 19:46:22 GMT, mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote: SNIP

    >4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.
    >
SNIP

Don't you mean "stay LEFT" except when passing?

A.Spencer3

mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > > 4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.

Just like all too many UK drivers do!

Surreyman

David Lewis

In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel
<[email protected]> writes
    > Remmber to go the right way (usually left) around the traffic circle.

It's a " roundabout" not a "traffic circle."

One *always* goes left round one. Do not try going right!

Marie
--
David Lewis [email protected]

Alan Thomas Har

Pulaski wrote:
    >
    > Sweden drove on the left until January 1 1978, and Italy did until sometime after
    > WWII - you can still see aged trucks on the road in Italy with their steering
    > wheels on the right side (as I'm British, albeit US resident, you can make your own
    > mind up on what I mean by "right"!) and Mussolini's open-topped Alfa Romeo limo was
    > also right hand drive.
    >
    > --

Not quite as late as that and even more complicated!

Mussolini introduced universal driving on the right. Previously, according to
accounts I have heard, Italians drove on the right in the country and in the left
in towns!!!

The heavy goods vehicles with steering wheeel on the right date from a period when
Italy took the view that it was safer for heavy vehicled to be driven from the side
nearer the kerb. Until very recently, at least, Naples used trolleybuses with the
driver seated on the right of the vehicle, giving him a better view of passengers
borading and alighting from his vehicle. Until fairly recently, at least, Italian
motorways normally had dedicated toll booths for HGVs with right hand drive, with the
operator sitting in a raised position to be level with the cab of a lorry.

Alan Harrison

Mrtravel

David Lewis wrote:
    >
    > In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel
    > <[email protected]> writes
    > > Remmber to go the right way (usually left) around the traffic circle.
    >
    > It's a " roundabout" not a "traffic circle."
    >
    > One *always* goes left round one. Do not try going right!
    >

I saw one with signs pointing right.

Mrtravel

R J Carpenter wrote:
    >
    > mrtravel wrote:
    > >
    > > No need for a flag, they can tell by your driving.
    > >
    > > Remembering to drive on the left is not the hardest part.
    >
    > > Other problems:
    > >
    > > 4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.
    >
    > Is this to prove that you've forgotten that you are in Britain? )
    >
    > [Couldn't resist]

Mea Culpa.. A bit of confusion over the vacation I just got back from. Of course, in
the UK, stay left, except when passing.

Mrtravel

[email protected] wrote:
    >
    > On Sun, 21 Jul 2002 19:46:22 GMT, mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote: SNIP
    >
    > >4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.
    > >
    > SNIP
    >
    > Don't you mean "stay LEFT" except when passing?

I was seeing if anyone was paying attention.

Bernd Felsche

Pulaski <[email protected]> writes:

    >One tip for you, the most important, above all others ...... please, please DO NOT
    >consider, even for one moment, driving in central London. If you want to "do" London
    >the only sensible way is on public transport. I would recommend that London is
    >either the first (or last) place you visit, and arrange your rental car either after
    >(or before) London.

    >The reasons:

* Congestion charge. You will have to pay a fee because the Council think the roads
are congested. They're not really badly congested; if you have the time to wait for
other traffic.

Interestingly; they don't impose a congestion charge on the at times severely
over-crowded tube.

Another reason is that they like to support the delusion that cars are gross
polluters in the city. They aren't; the buses they encourage everybody to use,
produce about 100 times as much nasty stuff as a car; notably the filthy plumes of
diesel smoke.

    >* Parking in central London is (i) scarce and (ii) very expensive - could easily be
    > $40 a day/ $10 an hour. (iii) often not convenient for tourist attractions.

Didn't know they accepted dollars. Depending on where you're going, you can at
times find free parking - don't count on it though. In a couple of trips into the
city, _before_ the congestion charge came in, I managed to find free parking spaces
without too much trouble; and twice, right in front of the place I wanted to see.

    >* The roads are not laid out in a grid, or even close to one.

It *can* be done. But if you're not on a well-marked route (i.e. just about anywhere
     you will need a navigator.

Very easy to become disorientated otherwise.

    >* Many roads are one-way, so you can't go where you want to.
    >* Many roads are for buses and taxies only (see above)

* Pedestrians behave like lemmings are reputed to behave. They often step onto the
road without even looking.
--
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia \ / ASCII ribbon
campaign | I'm a .signature virus! X against HTML mail | Copy me into your
~/.signature / \ and postings | to help me spread!

A.Spencer3

mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > I saw one with signs pointing right.

Er ... you are allowed to turn right at roundabouts! Just take the 3rd. left ......

Surreyman

David Lewis

In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel
<[email protected]> writes
    >
    >
    >David Lewis wrote:
    >>
    >> In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel
    >> <[email protected]> writes
    >> > Remmber to go the right way (usually left) around the traffic circle.
    >>
    >> It's a " roundabout" not a "traffic circle."
    >>
    >> One *always* goes left round one. Do not try going right!
    >>
    >
    >I saw one with signs pointing right.

Please tell me where so that I can avoid that strange place. they must have lots of
road accidents!

Marie

--
David Lewis [email protected]

The Oik

"David Lewis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel
    > <[email protected]> writes
    > >
    > >
    > >David Lewis wrote:
    > >>
    > >> In article <[email protected]>, mrtravel <[email protected]>
    > >> writes
    > >> > Remmber to go the right way (usually left) around the traffic circle.
    > >>
    > >> It's a " roundabout" not a "traffic circle."
    > >>
    > >> One *always* goes left round one. Do not try going right!
    > >>
    > >
    > >I saw one with signs pointing right.
    >
    > Please tell me where so that I can avoid that strange place. they must have lots of
    > road accidents!
    >
somewhere near High Wycombe, there used to be (maybe still is) an INSANE arrangement
of 5 or 6 mini roudabouts, on a larger, two way loop, round a dinky park thing. I'd
like to think its gone - certainly, *I've* never been back!

Lord Vader

I spent a week, as a tourist, driving in the UK.

1. Avoid renting a car in London. Its a nightmare navigating the roads. The
driving part is ok and driving on the left and shifting with your left hand is
a breeze. Its the way the street names seem to change every three or four
blocks, and then you have to find the street names on little tiny signs stuck
to the sides of buildings. That part was nightmare. York was different only in
that it was smaller.

2. Keep looking over to your right and over your right shoulder when entering traffic
circles and pulling onto another road from the left. We almost got creamed by
trucks and buses three times because I failed to remember that.

3. I rented a Ford Mondeo stick shift with a sunroof. Sweet car.

4. Driving back from York to London I noticed that the passengers trains ran much
faster than the traffic on the A1 (I think I was on the A1).

5. Other than that it was great.

On Sun, 21 Jul 2002 19:46:22 GMT, mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Dan Stephenson wrote:
    >>
    >> >> now, obviously I haven't seen a UK Highway code since I passed by test
    >> > (many
    >> [...]
    >>
    >> Uhh, is there a "American driving in Britain for the first time" flag I can affix
    >> to the aerial?? Maybe an American flag placard on the dashboard.
    >
    >No need for a flag, they can tell by your driving.
    >
    >Remembering to drive on the left is not the hardest part. Other problems:
    >
    >1. Looking left at the rear view mirror takes getting used to.
    >2. Remmber to go the right way (usually left) around the traffic circle.
    >3. Be careful about how much distance you have on the left (pax) side of the car. If
    > you are used to driving on the right, you now have to adjust to judging the
    > distances from the left side of the car to parked cars or other objects.
    >
    >4. On highways, stay right, except when passing.
    >
    >5. I rented a manual car in Cyprus and had no difficulty with shifting. I thought it
    > would be more of a hassle shifting with the other. I previously only rented
    > automatics in the UK and Oz.

M

I just got back from driving around southern England, as a tourist, for 8 days. First
time to England but not 1st time driving on the left, have actually done quite a bit
of that in other areas of the world, so that was no problem. I had long since gotten
over hitting the windshield wipers to signal or slamming my hand into the drivers
door to reach for the stick shift. I didn't drive in London, so I can't say what that
is like other than yes I would assume that to be a nightmare navigating. I found
drivers to be relatively tame compared to other parts of Europe. The motorways and
roads were great, I think you were on the M1 not A1, A1 is in Italy. There are
traffic circles everywhere which was no trouble you just have to get the knack down
of entering and exiting them using the proper lane and keeping watch on traffic. Road
and street signs were great, I never got lost. Although if you go with a good roadmap
that helps alot. Only caution for anyone that is a little heavy footed, there's
traffic cameras all over the place, I'm expecting a UPS shipment of tickets

"Lord Vader" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I spent a week, as a tourist, driving in the UK.
    >
    > 1. Avoid renting a car in London. Its a nightmare navigating the roads. The driving
    > part is ok and driving on the left and shifting with your left hand is a breeze.
    > Its the way the street names seem to change every three or four blocks, and then
    > you have to find the street names on little tiny signs stuck to the sides of
    > buildings. That part was nightmare. York was different only in that it was
    > smaller.
    >
    > 2. Keep looking over to your right and over your right shoulder when entering
    > traffic circles and pulling onto another road from the left. We almost got
    > creamed by trucks and buses three times because I failed to remember that.
    >
    > 3. I rented a Ford Mondeo stick shift with a sunroof. Sweet car.
    >
    > 4. Driving back from York to London I noticed that the passengers trains ran much
    > faster than the traffic on the A1 (I think I was on the A1).
    >
    > 5. Other than that it was great.