Visitors to the uk be warned

[stickman]

I think that's what made it so easy for me, no new pattern to learn. The engrained muscle memory did all the work and I didn't even have to think about it. Learning a new shift pattern would have taken longer and probably done some damage to the transmission as well.

You haven’t driven in England till you’ve driven over Hard knot pass and Wrynose pass both in the Lake District. Look them. By the way there’s a Roman fort you can see up Hard Knot.

[CBH]

I'm very impressed that you and your girl drive your stick-shift car !!

[Kitfoxdave]

Years back, went to Wales, England and Scotland. In Wales used public transport and freinds driving us around. In England, we took trains to York and train, taxi to Wall... utilized taxi to explore Hadrians wall... took train to Edinburgh and then went with friends to Ft William. In Ft William I hired an estate car (automatic bad leg so clutch is nogo), and carefully drove up the Grand Glen to Loch Ness then on to Skye. It took about a days drive in the highlands to get used to driving... I kept a close eye on vehichles in front and behind and pulled onto shoulder where there was sufficient room to let others pass. It was a pleasant drive. After a week in the highlands, we came by the south shore of Loch Lommond and got dumped into a golf tournament heavy traffic! I elected to take the first bridge over the Clyde and continue our explorations from there!
As they say, be careful and alert! We had a wonderful time without incident. When I got back to the states, it took a couple weeks to readjust!

[Pleater]

If you do decide to drive here, GPS might be useful as it prompts the correct lane to be in and how to get around the sometimes complicated combination of roundabouts - there is one in Christchurch which used to worry me but it is a doddle now as there is the blue line on the screen to show which exit to take, all I have to worry about are those drivers trying to negotiate the situation without guidance other than the road signs, which look as though they were based on a spider's web spun under the influence.

Anne the Pleater

[MacKenzie]

...the road signs, which look as though they were based on a spider's web spun under the influence.

That's no different in the US.

Until a few years ago roundabouts were few and far between here in North Carolina. Now they seem to be the solution for every point of congestion. And people are about as adept at navigating them as they are 4-way stops.

[SF Jeff]

That's no different in the US.

Until a few years ago roundabouts were few and far between here in North Carolina. Now they seem to be the solution for every point of congestion. And people are about as adept at navigating them as they are 4-way stops.

There's a great video on youtube about why roundabouts never took off in America, and why 4-way intersections dominate. They are slowly catching on now but it's a hard sell, which is also addressed in the video. I think it's on the Wendover channel. Well worth a look.

[OC Richard]

There's a great video on youtube about why roundabouts never took off in America, and why 4-way intersections dominate.

I've watched a couple videos on roundabouts in the US.

The bottom line is that study after study has proven that they vastly decrease accidents. At least one study showed that they decreased fatal accidents by 90%.

For people outwith the USA, note that the vast majority of accidents here occur at intersections, and the vast majority of those are cars making left turns.

Numerous cockamamy intersection designs have been created to avoid having cars make left turns. Here's a type I experienced in Utah, called the "diverging diamond" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnjqAwtkEkM

The simplest, most effective, and most obvious solution is roundabouts but Americans resist them simply because they're different.

[jsrnephdoc]

I refuse to drive anywhere where the sides of the road are flipped from what I've grown up with. It's too engrained in my mind. Trying to switch is dangerous. I'll stick to public transportation or taxis.

On my first trip to Scotland, about 20 years ago, my son, his birthfather and HIS spouse, and I spent a few days using transit in Edinburgh but rented a car to drive north. I had reserved a van because we had too much luggage, but when I arrived at the rental center it had been assigned to someone else. The only thing comparable the owner had available was his personal favorite, a Mercedes station wagon (I believe they're referred to as "saloons" in the UK.

He was obviously nervous about renting to a yankee unaccustomed to driving on the left, but consented to do so. His confidence in me as his customer was severely shaken when he asked me to get in to the driver's seat and I stepped around to the LEFT side of the car, plopped down on the seat and was visibly surprised momentarily not to find a steering wheel in front of me. I WAS conscious enough not to tell him what briefly flashed through my cranium:

" hmmm, perhaps there's a joystick."

But, the biggest challenge driving in Scotland from MY perspective is not just remembering to stay left, but piloting huge SUVs rented to tourist that are NOT meant to be driven on roads no wider than sheep's paths and navigable only because every quarter to half mile they're expanded for a few meters by "passing places." We lost almost an entire day while headed to Skye on my most recent visit 2 summers ago when the road was simply not wide enough to accommodate one of those behemoths and the edge was decorated by a large boulder that assassinated the left front tire.

[MacKenzie]

Numerous cockamamy intersection designs have been created to avoid having cars make left turns. Here's a type I experienced in Utah, called the "diverging diamond" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnjqAwtkEkM

Thanks for that video. A bit south of me they re-did an I-85 overpass/interchange like that. It is impossible to describe it to someone that hasn't seen it without a visual aid.

[BobF]

Strangely, we seem to be sort of okay with what we call traffic circles in Connecticut. I can think of three in my immediate area, and two of them have been around for as long as I can remember, and I’m 64. The other was just built a few years ago on US Route 1. The only time they’re a problem is when drivers don’t understand how they work, usually stopping when they should exercise the right of way or vice versa. The only other detriment I see is that they take more real estate than an intersection, and trying to take the necessary land by eminent domain and possibly razing buildings would cause quite the dust-up.

I've watched a couple videos on roundabouts in the US.

The bottom line is that study after study has proven that they vastly decrease accidents. At least one study showed that they decreased fatal accidents by 90%.

For people outwith the USA, note that the vast majority of accidents here occur at intersections, and the vast majority of those are cars making left turns.

Numerous cockamamy intersection designs have been created to avoid having cars make left turns. Here's a type I experienced in Utah, called the "diverging diamond" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnjqAwtkEkM

The simplest, most effective, and most obvious solution is roundabouts but Americans resist them simply because they're different.