Driving on right hand side

oldhand

When we were in spain I rang the wife who was out in our hired car,I told her "honey be careful I just heard on the radio theres a car driving the wrong way down the motorway",she said "one?theres dozens of them"..................

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Driving abroad on the other side of the road, there are a few things to watch for:

1) Concentrating as you do a turn to ensure that you take up the correct side of the road.

2) Looking for traffic on the correct side of the road.

3) Getting used to the controls is overriding your learnt instinct so you'll find it odd for a while.

4) Do check local road rules especially who has right of way. It is not just France that has priority from the right, Germany has it too, though most countries sign priorities with the yellow diamond with the white border. As already mentioned, some roundabout systems are different.

5) Check what the "hidden" speed limit rules are: in the UK we have the lamppost rule, in many European countries the sign on entry to a town or village denotes the start of a speed limit.

When hiring a car, the company should give you advice, but look it up on Teh InterWeb.

Top tip: you are on holiday, take your time, obey traffic rules.

Top tip 2: when returning to the UK, allow time to adapt back.

WellKnownSid

Also worth adding - stop signs. Universally ignored in the UK - they have the meaning of "stop" in most of Europe. In Spain, police cars will regularly park at stop signs where there is VERY clear visibility and absolutely zero need to actually stop. Ker-Ching... Easy money for the weekend when you don't bring your car to an absolute stop...

SuperAllyB

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Also worth adding - stop signs. Universally ignored in the UK - they have the meaning of "stop" in most of Europe. In Spain, police cars will regularly park at stop signs where there is VERY clear visibility and absolutely zero need to actually stop. Ker-Ching... Easy money for the weekend when you don't bring your car to an absolute stop...

Speak for yourself, I was taught the difference as a learner and haven't forgotten.

Gloomendoom

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Also worth adding - stop signs. Universally ignored in the UK - they have the meaning of "stop" in most of Europe.

Universally? Are you sure that it isn't just you?

WellKnownSid

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Universally? Are you sure that it isn't just you?

Well, having driven 250k miles myself on the right I can safely say it's a rule adhered to far more than in the UK.

bod1467

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Well, having driven 250k miles myself on the right I can safely say it's a rule adhered to far more than in the UK.

This is true. In the UK you'll see lots of drivers treat a Stop sign more like a Give Way and not come to an absolute stop. Do that in many parts of Europe and you'll get collared and fined.

oldhand wrote: »

When we were in spain I rang the wife who was out in our hired car,I told her "honey be careful I just heard on the radio theres a car driving the wrong way down the motorway",she said "one?theres dozens of them"..................

Badoom, and indeed, Tish.

gingerdad

I love driving overseas just done over 1000 miles in Denmark/Sweden.

It's a lot less stressful than the UK.

My top tip is always make sure your steering wheel is towards the middle of the road (assuming it's LHD)

Also good to check local rules and road signs.

DominicH

Maybe people are simply not used to Stop signs, since they are pretty rare and the regulations do not encourage their use. I can't think of a single one near me or on the routes I usually drive. That said, yes, the word "Stop" is a pretty big clue to what you're supposed to do.

MacMickster

There can initially be a tendency to drive a bit too close to the right hand side, as you are used to sitting on the right of the car when driving. Just try to be aware of your road positioning for the first few miles (particularly when passing parked cars on the right) until your brain makes the adjustment.