No, you didn't.

Regards, JEff

Mmmm.. I think he did ya know.

My US driving training was given by the gf who after a month of me moaning that she left it far too late to tell me we need to get off the highway (or I needed to pay attention to a road sign), went for an eye test. She now wears glasses for driving and all journeys are much calmer

I learned that generally the standard of driving is far poorer than in the UK. But the UK has more self-important drivers.

That you can pretty much drive in any lane at any time at any speed. And that turning right on a redlight is compulsory.

No, I think not. That may be true, but I wasn't comparing to the UK.

Ah yes, I hadn't noticed that part.

No problem, I'm kind of an outlier here at BE.

I still have vividly embarassing memories of an incident when I was a newly arrived expat in my wife's country about 15 years ago. An associate at the company where I was a consultant asked me to review the English-language essay her daughter had written as part of her college application. Weirdest vocabulary I'd ever seen, and I completely re-wrote it. Not a word was ever said, but I eventually came to realize that the original essay had been excellently written - in British English.

Regards, JEff

BTW, apropos of the stick/automatic issues. Although the pedals may be the same, the shifting hand will be different between the UK and the US. When traveling on the continent or any left-hand drive country, I have had no hesitation in renting a stick. I will never rent a stick in the UK -- I don't want to pile the "wrong" side of the road on top of shifting with my left hand.

My first few months in the US, when I only ever drove on weekends, was interesting as I would reflexively thrust my left hand towards the door handle to change gear!

Learning to drive on the other side of the road is not as easy as it looks.

You can always get confused very easily.

I learnt to drive here, I had an instructor and then also practiced out in a massive parking lot with my husband who already knew how to drive. It took me about a month, two or three lessons a week, he knew the route that the examiners took and we practiced that for about a week. The test took about 10 minutes, and included a right turn on red, a couple of stop signs and parking on a hill.

I never learned to drive in the UK. I had heard how "easy" the test was....and I promptly failed my road test (Texas) I passed the second time

Driving though is not just about passing your driving test.

It is also about driving safely afterwards.

I guess though, practice makes perfect.

Er...not with the drivers around here.

I know this is the BE site and we are as supposed to criticize American drivers but I've had some harrowing experiences in both London as well as New York City. In both cities, drivers seem aggressive with neither giving an inch.

In California, drivers tend to let other drivers switch lanes to get in front of them (even slow down to let them in) and few seem to think driving is macho.

They tend to be distracted. I don't think they're really aware there are lanes.

Maybe Americans don't use their turn signals enough (myself included) but I've seen London drivers use their turn signals and think they have an immediate right to move into a tight spot between cars (as long as the spot is big enough to fit the car). Or they put the nose of their car in a very small space to force the other driver to wait as the other driver nudges as close as possible to make it as difficult as possible for the driver to get in. It seems like two macho people trying to get their way.