Driving on the wrong side of the road - abroad

GAZ237

Dunroamin wrote: »

In my experience, it's always ridiculously expensive to hire a car in Italy.

Try to hire something other than a Ferrari next time

bod1467

As intimated above ... getting used to the gear change being at your right hand rather than your left is one of the things you'll find really strange at first. By the 2nd time you've opened the driver's door when going to change gear you'll have it sussed.

Fortunately the pedals are the same way round.

jbainbridge

Take a sat nav with you. Makes it less stressful for you and your passenger. It can also assist finding supermarkets / petrol.

Roland_Sausage

Since you are renting a car, get an automatic if you can. I've always found it makes things that bit easier as it is one less thing to worry about. And take a Sat Nav as mentioned above.

nickcc

Just come back from Costa del sol driving a new rental mini one diesel. Never driven the new mini before and had to ask rental drivers how you started the blooming thing as no obvious key and won't start unless you dip the clutch first. Doesn't take long to begin to drive like the locals and to be honest found their driving standards usually superior to ours. Changing gear with your right hand can be a bit baffling at first, especially with a six speed gearbox, but you quickly adapt. We've hired cars abroad for many years, including the USA where most drivers stick to the posted speed limits, and have never had a problem.

kelevraz

is alot easier than it seems, and if you wanted to practise driving on the wrong side of the road, i would assume what you really need is somewhere where you can practice going round a roundabout in the wrong direction, which i think would be quite hard to find

nickcc

One point I failed to mention was the increase in the numbers of Spanish police parked up near major road junctions even at 5 am, this almost certainly ties in with the increase of on the spot speeding fines for the unwary motorist. With the economy in the majority of Europe in the same or worse state as the UK I would expect this extra policing with on the spot fines to increase no matter which country you visit.

FreddieFrugal

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

get an automatic if you can

Is trying to figure out how to work an automatic whilst also getting used to the roads/signage etc. a good idea?

I think an automatic might be useful in future but I've never driven one before.

smashingyour...

IanRi wrote: »

Is trying to figure out how to work an automatic whilst also getting used to the roads/signage etc. a good idea?

I think an automatic might be useful in future but I've never driven one before.

What do you need help in figuring out?

Put it in drive and off you go.

FreddieFrugal

smashingyour... wrote: »

What do you need help in figuring out?

Put it in drive and off you go.

Sounds like witchcraft!