Driving Abroaad (On the wrong side of the road)

[AnnaKarpik]

... an argument when my other half says 'next left' and I turn right 'cos I menally associate 'left' with 'the side of the road I'm driving on' ! And vica versa with 'turn right'.

I thought that might just be me!

 

[beeboo]

I thought that might just be me!

Looks like I'm in good company here!


My only other tip would be look and look again when you're pulling out of junctions etc - I was driving on quiet roads (where you do get more muddled due to lack of references, as mentioned above), and despite not having a problem with the side of the road I should drive on, I kept wanting to look in the wrong direction to see if the coast was clear. Make sure you look both ways regardless, just to be on the safe side!

 

[ChrisFilter]

You go the same way round roundabouts

Well, anti-clockwise instead of clockwise, but the concept is the same..

 

[Cobbles]

Looks like I'm in good company here!


My only other tip would be look and look again when you're pulling out of junctions etc - I was driving on quiet roads (where you do get more muddled due to lack of references, as mentioned above), and despite not having a problem with the side of the road I should drive on, I kept wanting to look in the wrong direction to see if the coast was clear. Make sure you look both ways regardless, just to be on the safe side!

Too right - and not just in the car - the number of times you look the wrong way when playing pedestrian........

 

[trashpony]

Well, anti-clockwise instead of clockwise, but the concept is the same..

It's so long since I drove over there I'd forgotten. Which is a bit worrying. I'm sure I remember driving clockwise round the big roundabout at the Beaux-Arts when I was learning to drive ...

It was four lanes too - so you'd like to think I was going the right way.

zenie - if you're driving through Belgium, when there is a side road and there's no priority one road over the other, you give way to the right ...

 

[AnnaKarpik]

And this is really important; if you're turning into a street without traffic lights for pedestrians, you have to give way to pedestrians and cyclists crossing, they have right of way and expect you to know it. The rule is that any roaduser making a turn gives way to any other road-user going straight ahead.

 

[snorbury]

after a heavy lunch in some distant field, remember you are driving on the wrong side of the roads before you have a head on collision with an angry farmer

 

[Pie 1]

after a heavy lunch in some distant field, remember you are driving on the wrong side of the roads before you have a head on collision with an angry farmer

Except that in those distand fields, the farmer's probably just had a 'heavy' lunch and is probably on the wrong side of the road as well.

 

[bugsy7]

Remember that you're required by German law to carry a hazard-warning triangle and First-Aid kit. If you also have spare bulbs with you, you won't be fined if you're stopped because one on the car is faulty, since you can immediately replace it.
German drivers will take out-of-town plates into account and afford you leeway. So if you're driving in "HH" Hamburg on "LÖ" Lörrach plates, or even better foreign plates, you'll have no problems with irate drivers.
One road to be wary of, just in case you happen to be driving in Hamburg, is called Sierichstraße. It's the only two-way one-way road in Europe. It has four lanes and until ((I think) 13:00 hours, it's one-way into the centre of Hamburg and after that one-way in the other direction. Also, a lot of roads in German cities and towns have what's called a "green wave" - "Grüne Welle". It means that if you stick to the speed limit, you'll hit all the lights on green.
Finally, if you go to the former GDR, be aware that they have a green arrow on some (but not all) traffic lights in their cities and towns. This indicates that you can turn right on a filter lane, as long as it's safe to do so, even if the lights you're standing at are on red. But this is ONLY in the former GDR. Don't try it in the former West Germany.
Have fun.

MsG

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I've never driven in Britain, and I find the idea of it a little daunting. I envision constant head on collisions, especially when turning corners.

I know a canadian guy who moved to Australia years ago. He said it's pretty much second nature now, but sometimes, driving at night on the highway, a little drowsy, he'll suddenly do a double-take, thinking that he's on the wrong side of the road.

 

[zenie]

Well I might not even get to Germany as I just got done by a fuckin speed trap.

Have Old Bill got nothing better to do then stand at the side of an A road in the suburbs with no houses round it to catch people speeding. Fuckin Cunts

I was probably only going 5 mph over the limit.

 

[geminisnake]

Wouldn't that just be a fine then?
Or do you already have points?

Sorry, was trying for sympathetic but can't think of anything