Driving in Scotland

[Julia Elliott]

I truly have so much respect for anyone who even considers attempting it. But my driving skills are barely passable in Canada , I can't imagine subjecting Scotland to me on the road, on the wrong side of the road. thank heavens for public transportation .

[The Q]

I truly have so much respect for anyone who even considers attempting it. But my driving skills are barely passable in Canada , I can't imagine subjecting Scotland to me on the road, on the wrong side of the road. thank heavens for public transportation .

The worst problem I found when swapping either way on roads was coming out of un marked car parks, or driving unmarked roads if something comes the other way you to pull over to the wrong side. There are a lot of unmarked single roads in Scotland (or Norfolk where I live now)!!

[CameronCat]

what struck me is how long one can drive in Scotland without encountering any other cars at all. We drove from one side of Skye to the other without seeing a single car on the road. Which was a good thing, because the road was a single lane with "passing places".

I'll just leave this here.... (Not Skye, but not far away)



Route A836, the road from Lairg to Tongue.

[MNlad]

I do agree with a previous poster that an Automatic Shift car is advisable. They just make life behind the wheel so much smoother and care-free.

Couldn't agree more. Having driven standard transmission cars for 40+ years, I though it would be a piece of cake until I had to make a quick downshift two miles from the rental agency on my first trip to Ireland. Thank God the pedals are in the same position on both sides of the pond. Driving on the opposite side of the road was not a problem, but I wasn't comfortable with shifting with the left hand until Day 3 of that trip. Automatics are definitely the way to go—you've got enough other things to contend with as you navigate unfamiliar territory without having to hunt for 3rd gear.

[Bluescelt]

My biggest blunder driving a standard was right after picking up the rental at Edinburgh Airport I stalled the car in the first roundabout. It took a few minutes to get the feel shifting with my left hand but after that no problems. I'll probably get a standard next trip.

[O'Callaghan]

Well, where to begin? Some people will tell you to get an international licence, but don't do this unless the rental agency tell you to. The US and the UK are both part of a treaty that makes your home licence valid for 12 months.

One of the things I don't think was mentionned is that most people drive manual shift cars in the UK. Consequently, rental agencies stock a limited number of automatics specifically for the purpose of renting them to Americans. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have any. Yet another reason to pre-book your car rental. And yes, regardless of whether manual or automatic, the gear shift is on the other side of the driver (it's still in the middle, but you will be sitting on the opposite side of it!).

Alcohol. I'd no idea that the Scottish limit was only 5/8 of that in England. The English limit is approximately the same as in the US. English and Scottish limits are in mg/ml, whereas the US uses %, but as the relative density of alcohol is only 1.028 (and all booze has more water than alcohol anyway), then 0.08% is roughly the same as 80 mg/ml. But apparently up there it's only 50 mg/ml.

It doesn't end there, though, because measures are not the same! A US 'fifth' (of a US gallon) is approximately the same as a UK 'bottle' (0.7 litres, I think). Not sure if shots are the same? In the UK they are 1/6 of a gill, but who knows how that relates to US measures? Beer is sold draught in pints, but they are bigger than a US pint, although the fl oz is smaller, just to confuse you. An American pint would be 16 fl oz, whereas a British one is 20 fl oz, albeit that's actually only 19.2 US fl oz. Of course, as we know, in the US they normally sell you beer in 12 fl oz measures (although a 'large' beer in the US unfortunately appears to be an indeterminate size), but if you buy cans in the UK they are either 9 2/3 fl oz or 15 1/2 fl oz, and the bigger size is equivalent to 14.9 US fl oz. OTOH, bottles come in the same measures as drought.

Confused? Given the lower Scottish limits, a 200 lb man should be able to drink one pint of beer or one large can or two small cans. OTOH, don't complain to me if you have problems. If you are drinking draught or bottled beer, be aware that you can also get half pint glasses/bottles.

You will probably also find the roads narrower than you are used to. Also, in America, many roads that only have one lane each way still have a shoulder. In the UK, none of those do.

Rules of the road, that is complicated because each of your states have their own. However, the UK does not have the rule you got from the French where the guy on the right has priority at a junction. Nobody has priority! Unless there is a stop line, and the guy without one has priority. You don't have to stop at stop signs either unless there is oncoming traffic, but as that only kicks in when only one vehicle is at the junction, in practice it makes little difference (unless the guy behind you can't figure out why you don't go). A more important rule is most likely to affect you when you are not even driving, namely that pedestrians DO NOT have right of way, so unless you want to get squashed, be very careful. And of course, as everyone drives on the opposite side, you have to look the opposite way for traffic, even if you choose not to drive.

And finally, always wear a kilt, LOL!

[SeumasA]

For our 30th anniversary we spent a week in Ireland followed by a week in Scotland. We rented cars both places and had no problems with driving in either country. Of course, I'm used to being in right hand drive vehicles--ex-postie here--even if it's on the right side of the road. My biggest problem was getting used to shifting left-handed, but I adapted pretty quickly.
When we picked up the rental cars in Dublin and Glasgow, the attendants at both places said, "You know, this is a pretty small car. And it has a manual transmission." My reply was, "Perfect. Just what I ordered." I was awfully glad we didn't ask for a bigger car when we started hitting the single track roads.
And I also vote for a good map over the GPS, although the GPS would have been nice in the cities. We relied on Michelin maps for both countries. My wife did a great job navigating while I drove.

[The Q]

Rules of the road, that is complicated because each of your states have their own. However, the UK does not have the rule you got from the French where the guy on the right has priority at a junction. Nobody has priority! Unless there is a stop line, and the guy without one has priority. You don't have to stop at stop signs either unless there is oncoming traffic, but as that only kicks in when only one vehicle is at the junction, in practice it makes little difference (unless the guy behind you can't figure out why you don't go). A more important rule is most likely to affect you when you are not even driving, namely that pedestrians DO NOT have right of way, so unless you want to get squashed, be very careful. And of course, as everyone drives on the opposite side, you have to look the opposite way for traffic, even if you choose not to drive.

And finally, always wear a kilt, LOL!

Not quite there are two type of road junction in the UK there is,
Give way, at which you do not have to stop if the road is clear, http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/give-...ngs-rules.html
and Stop at which if you don't STOP you can be fined, even if there is no traffic around, http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/stop-road-signs.html, especially if you cause an accident by failing to stop.

There are times when the pedestrian has right of way,
listed here http://www.2pass.co.uk/crossing.htm#.VZtqHE_bJaR

When turning into a road "you must avoid Pedestrians or Vehicles already in that road"

Also if a pedestrian is in the road when there is no footpath / sidewalk they have as much right to the road as you Do (as do cyclists, horses and Sheep)

What I have written above of course, does not apply to Motorways / Freeways where you shouldn't find any of the above!

[neloon]

Keep an eye out for speed cameras (with red/yellow stripes in Scotland) and also most of the A9 up to Inverness has "average speed" cameras.
Alan

[Benning Boy]

Thank you all so much for your advice. It has certainly helped allay some of my concerns. One of which was driving a car with standard transmission with the shifter on the left. My left hand has a mind of its own, and would probably balk if actually required to do useful work.


My sister-in-law is going to Ireland soon, where they drive on the wrong side of the road, too. She hasn't driven a stick shift in decades, but rented a car with manual transmission to save money, saying she guesses she'll have to relearn how to drive a standard transmission while also learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. She's an idiot. Nobody in the family likes her but my brother, and sometimes I'm not too sure about him, so I'd rather not follow her lead.

There's been a major development in our travel plans -- we now may not be going at all. There's a fabulous undeveloped 12-acre property near us that I've wanted to buy. It hasn't sold yet likely because it is mostly covered with Eastern Red Cedar trees thick as dog's hair. To me that's an advantage. I like pioneering. We've gone back and forth on. Sunday I took The Woman there and we walked all over it and considered the possibilities. Now she's hooked, and said, without me asking or hinting, she'd be willing to forgo the trip if it would help us to pay for the land. Which will it be, our own estate, or Ardverikie Estate? Stay tuned.