Just started driving in the UK for the first time. The easiest trick i use in figuring which lane is the right one, is that the passenger's seat should be closest to the curb. This has eased my confusion a 100x

With so many driving games out there now on consoles and PCs I am surprised nobody has brought out a simulator to let you practice on driving on the opposite side of the road to the one you are used to.

I feel like having a nervous breakdown just watching this. I don't even know how you're talking to the camera and not crashing. Lol

I spent about 10 years in the UK. Driving on the left was a bit strange at first, but it became second nature after about a week. But it took me three tries to pass my driving test, despite having driven for 20 years in Canada. The driving test is an exercise in choreography, which you really can't master without taking lessons, no matter how experienced you are. The narrow roads require a different driving style: you don't necessarily stay in your lane; for example, you may have to drive down the middle of the road to pass parked cars. And my driving instructor taught me to make use of information like reflections in shop windows to see around corners. The thing I found the most awkward, for some reason, was looking over my left shoulder when backing up. Driving on the left has one advantage that I could see: it makes more sense to have your right hand on the steering wheel and your left hand free to work the gearshift, unless you are left-handed.

This is exactly how I felt while driving in America

Driving on the right hand side of the road is so rude - how can you shake hands with the chap coming in the opposite direction or defend yourself with your sword if he is a scoundrel.

My biggest concern would be things that I do reflexively such as moving to the right to avoid a head-on collision

Never thought I'd see an american behind the wheel of a Peugeot! XD

Good to hear you say more than once,"driving on the oppersite side of the road" rather than the wrong side of the road! as other U.S. commentors have said...

I don't even drive but this is giving me anxiety

Just imagine the nightmare, if "left" and "right" meant the opposite also. lol

I don't believe I'd be able to handle turning at the 4-way intersections. I can picture myself sitting there trying to figure out the physics and trajectory and the angle and a line of cars behind me, waiting for me to figure it out and beeping at me. And then in a last-minute rush, I drive over the curb.

While over on vacation from the UK, my wife and I drove from Brandon, Manitoba to Vancouver, then, over to Vancouver island and back over the Rockies via Banff to Brandon. We felt quite pleased by our achievement - driving on the right-hand side of the road. Our major problem was keeping to the low speed limits, identifying the 'one-way' street signs, and, most of all remembering not to press the foot brake with the left foot. Wow! first and only time - thank heavens for the seat belt! There was of course, the unexpected weight of American/Canadian built cars. Not only are they larger cars to UK/European cars - they are extremely heavy, stopping one in comparison to a British/European car is an eye-opener - it's like stopping a super-tanker - you need lots of space. Maybe that is why the speed limits are lower on US/Canadian highways. I came home with great respect for those automatic geared gas-guzzlers. After driving one of those, driving my own car was like driving a noddy car. Having said that, I have great respect for American and Canadian visitors 'mixing' it with the locals on UK roads. It's the roundabouts that confuses our cousins', they just don't have them in their daily lives, and I guess I get confused with them too, from time to time. Happy motoring, wherever you are!

In from the UK but I live in California, driving in the UK is a lot harder, a lot more rules and smaller roads + driving manual. While driving in the US is so easy, the test as well was a breeze to pass

being from the uk must feel so weird to drive in american car in america, i so get where hes comin from

I was stationed in England back in the 90s. It messed me up going back to the States. I remember the first day home on leave. I was at the local mall and driving near the doors, my friend said that I was on the wrong side. BTW I drove a LHD car in the UK.

Remember on roundabouts to follow lanes correctly. That generally means 'peeling out' as you reach your exit. In a two-lane roundabout, use the right-hand lane to go right and the left-hand lane to go left or straight on. It's important so you don't block people trying to get off at their exits unnecessarily.

Many British driver's have had experience driving on the continent, perhaps once a year on a annual break, so it doesn't take too long to re-adjust. As always with these things--taking your time to observe,and think ahead, before you make a move, is best. Ignoring those behind you if possible--as it was when first learning to drive--not easy I know but ignore those idiots blowing their horns.

Your video was very helpful. I will remember that when traveling to UK.

Enjoyed this video! Hope you enjoyed your Time in the UK with us! I’m travelling to Florida next week, and very nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road! I watched your video about driving for the first time in the US. Very informative, Thankyou 😁

It is weird. I was driving around southern Spain for a few weeks back in June and at first I was trying to change gear with the window handle and looking for the rear view mirror in the side window! Spanish roads are very tough anyway so stick shifting was hard because you're just not used to the reverse setup. The advice about trying to get an automatic is good but they are usually much more expensive in Europe for some reason. The worst part of that experience was the drive from the airport to my rental 80 miles away when I was still totally raw and it was getting dark. Now THAT was hairy. Without a sat nav the search parties would still be out checking ditches for me today!

I’m an American living in London and I am so nervous to rent a car here to go to the countryside. I’m just so afraid that I’m going to crash

One suggestion that can help - it works for me - I suggest that if you drive on the opposite side of the road to which you are accustomed (Yanks in UK, or Brits in USA/Europe), that you drive with your window open and your arm resting on opening. This helps you drive with the opposite hand to which you will normally drive with, and mean that you have to "swap" arms to shift gears, and subconsciously will persuade your eyes to glance towards the mirror in the middle of the car. One thing that has always surprised me - that the accelerator/brake/(clutch) pedal arrangement is always the same, in both left hand and right hand drive cars, and not swapped round. I think that would really be confusing!

Im from England and I think driving in the us is so much easier to change to!

Oops! lane discipline at the first roundabout was all over the place! Lucky no one was coming..{like me on my first driving lessons :) }

Driving in this country, these days, is a nightmare. That bloke is correct - there are speed cameras everywhere. They are there, according to The Authorities, to enhance road safety. The truth is I spend as much time looking at my speeedometer as I do the road, in order to avoid a fine for speeding. They are a money - making racket.

Great video, we are from the UK going to Florida this week - should be good! You did well, the traffic is pretty manic over here!

When i first drove a left hand drive car in spain i kept hitting the drivers door going for my gears. In 2018 i visited vancouver and seattle and driving left hand drive was easy as i have driven many times in europe

Excellent intro to UK driving Mike, I think sometimes us limeys forget how strange driving on the other side is for Americans as we live close to other countries so swapping from left to right hand driving is almost second nature for most of us.

After driving like a "pro" for about 20 years in India and just yesterday i drove for the first time in America and i almost felt like I've never driven a car before.

I tried driving in Thailand. Whenever I would need to reverse, I would look over my right shoulder, but if the steering wheel is on the right you should look over your left shoulder. That and having the turn signal and windshield wipers reversed got me very confused, while learning how to drive in crazy bangkok traffic

Exceptional video! I would feel strange after years of learning and driving in the US.

I don't think you're in the UK, it looks sunny.

Having done the same but in Florida I found it was more the combo of driving on the right hand side and the left of the car which I found most disconcerting to begin with. That and concentrating on where to go and turning off junctions made it hard to get used to even after 2 weeks of driving.

Well, thank you for this. I will be in a place soon that drives on the left and I wanted to get a preview. LOL Didn't think about everything in the car being opposite, though. This IS going to be a challenge!

I find when on the other side of the road, it's all fine as long as you have other traffic and your not flustered. If your flustered and no cars, you'll likely go around the odd small roundabout the wrong way. Lol.

Your advices rock ! thanks !

Like you say the danger comes the next day when you leave your hotel. I have found this when driving my UK car in France. It's even more dangerous then because you are in a familiar car but on the opposite side of the road. A right hand drive car on the right side of the road also puts you at a disadvantage as you can't see as well when emerging from junctions.

#Driving in the #UK for the first time - See what I did to make the transition easier. #travel

I have been driving on the right side of the car in my video games recently, and I actually got into the right side of my car in real life the other day.

Thank you! Very informational! 😊

I still remember my first time arriving in the U.S from England (1980) and driving from LAX through Los Angeles took a bit of getting used to. Also the little thing about going through a red light when turning right, totally alien to us in the UK. I have always wondered why when you hire a car especially from the larger hire firms they do not have a basic rules of the road booklet or something like that to help if you are from overseas. Interesting to see your film.

Hi enjoyed watching. You seem a very good driver. I am English and one year my husband and I drove from LA to Las Vegas in the dark. Until we got on the Interstate we had a few scary moments navigating off the slip roads (not sure what you call them in the US). I think for the first few times driving on the opposite side of the road than you are used to one needs to drive in daylight. PS. We didn’t choose to drive in the dark but it took us two hours at the Hertz rental at LA even though we had pre-booked the car but the place was packed. Anyway by the time we got the car it was almost dusk. I’ll never forget that experience because the other thing that happened was the sat nav kept freezing so we only had it intermittently. In fact at one point we ended up in Compton!

When I learnt to drive (using any available car) I used both left and right hand manual (and floor and steering column gear levers) without a problem. Obviously having an automatic is best (who wants to waste time and effort changing gears?) and a satnav is a good idea, but still have a map to make sure you are actually going to the right place! The real concern when driving on a different side of the road is what you do in an emergency! Instinct (training) may kick in and you get it seriously wrong.

I am from the Uk.We travel a lot in Europe.I find it easy to adapt to driving on the right,after a couple of days it seems normal to drive on the right.Admittedly I am driving my own car so that must help also as we have been to Europe so many times I do not worry that I will have a problem.I think your first time driving on the left may be a concern but after a couple of days it will not be a problem.Also drivers here in the UK show more courtesy to other drivers than in many countries.

Thanks for this!

Very cool

Same like me, dude, i'm from Indonesia, we drove on the left side of the road

Malaysia drives on the left too, being a former British colony. Watched a vlog by Canadian traveller pair being first time behind the wheels in Malaysia... everything opposite from back home!!

It took me two months to get used to openning the right door of the driver's seat every morning. It was crazy

It would me longer than I had time to figure out which side of the car to get in let alone what side of the road I should be in lol

I tried it in belgium, got caught by the police and got a fine, how do they do it in the uk?

A little thing I did to make it easier was if turning into a side street on my side of the road take the nearest lane and if turning into one on the opposite side then it’s the far side lane you turn onto

First time driving in the US, all they had was an automatic. Driving on the other side of the road was fine after a couple of minutes. I just felt so out of control in the automatic. That took a couple of days to adjust.

In the UK many of us are comfortable driving on either side as we go abroad a lot on holiday.

I think one of the reasons we have do many speed cameras is the fact that we have very little police on the roads. Also automatics are generally more expensive than manuals here.

Great advice

You messed up that roundabout though at 0:57, but for first timer driving on the opposite side. It's excused. haha.

great video

Can you take a ‘left on left’ as we do with a ‘right on red’ at traffic signals?

That made me so anxious...theres no way I could do that without crashing.

You were very brave! I had my cousin to drive me around the UK. Also, didn't you have two mirrors one on the left and one on the right.

We British were driving on the left hand side of the road long before Europeans first set foot on the North American Continent. Knights mounted their horses from the left and as the majority of people are right handed they held their swords and lances in their right hand. It was only after America got it's independence from Britain that they started driving on the right and drinking coffee instead of tea.

In the UK speed camera avoidance is very easy, it's 10% of the limit +2mph. So 70 MPH, the camera wouldn't flash until you hit 79 MPH but because cars are a bit slow, even though you got flashed doesn't mean you'll get a fine especially when you're just borderline recommend prosecution (10% +2mph), not sure about the motorway but any other roads have lines on them to determine speed.. Again, it depends.

thanks great! very informative!! (leaving tomorrow!!!)

hahaha, I live near this airport and recognised the junction in the thumbnail instantly, hope you enjoyed the uk mate

I was visiting the UK earlier in 2018. The rental agency was out of cars with automatics so I rented one with a stick shift since I have driven stick shift cars in the USA. It was much easier than I expected as it was the smoothest shifting car that I have ever driven and had different gear ratios. It was not advisable to have the car in 5th gear until doing 50 mph. When doing city driving i could do it in 2nd gear or 3rd gear if over 30 mph. This meant that I did not have to be shifting as frequently as I would need to on stick shift cars in the USA. I did however find that driving on the left was a very easy transition. All I had to do was follow what the rest of the traffic was doing. The motorways are nicer than the freeways in the USA. They are very orderly. I did however find that driving on very narrow roads with heavy traffic and large trucks (or lorries, British English) a little terrifying.

ive always wondered what shifting with your left hand would be like

Having driven in England and America, the one thing I love about the US is the right on red rule.

We did that too. We shipped 4 Austin Minis from Chile to the UK to participate in the 60 aniversary of the Mini august 2019 Bristol. Strange feeling not only driving on wrong side of the motor way but our Minis are left hand drive. Frightening when a lorry is right behind pushing to pass you. What a driving expereience.

You were driving a Peugeot. How did you like the car…considering it’s not available in North America?

Did you find you got used to driving on the left and had to re-adjust when you got home? I'm in UK but drove for months in Europe once (on the right) and found it more difficult to revert to the left on returning than I had done getting used to driving on the right (right seemed more natural after a while)

In the UK, if you take your test in an automatic, you can only drive an automatic car, hence most people take the test in a manual, which means they can drive with both sorts of gearbox.One reason for manual, is that if an automatic gearbox fails, it fails completely. With a manual, there's usually 1 or 2 forward gears that still work.

I can switch back and forth, it doesn't bother me,but in an emergency I have a tendency to want to swerve to the left.

Just wanted to point out something. The speed limit and that of the USA aren’t the same, two different metric systems US uses MPH, while UK uses KM/H 70 KM/H in UK = 43 MPH ( ultimately slow speeds to be operating on US highways at 65 MPH in USA highway speeds = 105 KM/H

I’m getting ready to drive in the UK. I’ve been multiple times for work, but I’ve always taken the train north from London and had a colleague close to my hotel who could pick me up and drop me off, and the town where I was staying was quite walkable.

I drove on the left side of the road when I visited England back in 2007. Strange experience, but I adjusted quickly. My only complaint is that the auto and lorry drivers on the motorways in the UK are crazy, not to mention the traffic congestion, most of it I encountered on the M25 surrounding London as well as on the M6 and M42 around Birmingham. They do have speeding cameras, but I kept under the speed limit and experienced no trouble and was never pulled over and ticketed with a speeding fine. I was not familiar with most of the country roads of the A series, so I stayed mostly on the motorways. The best driving was on the M40, M3, M1 and the M4 away from London where traffic was less. I had to use the M6 Toll to get around the traffic congestion of Birmingham (cost was 4 pounds). But the gasoline (petrol) was very expensive; around 1.05 to 1.18 pounds per liter; spent over L.35 (pounds sterling) (around $57 USD) to fill up at a Shell station on the M6 plus nearly the name amount at an Esso station off the M55 in Blackpool. Renting a car is the best way to see England, or any foreign country you visit, but it is also the most expensive; my five-day car rental cost me over $700 (that included auto insurance, fuel costs, and Value Added Tax which was 17.5%). But I still think it was worth the expense.

Exactly the same way I felt,when driving in the United States,(I'm from Australia)

Excellent advice. Very good.

The original side of the road to use was the left side going back to horse and cart , for some reason the us and other countries changed to the other side

Hi! I like your video. Like the British, Kiwis, and Aussies, we Fijians also drive on the left side of the road and steering wheels are placed on the right-hand side of vehicles. A total opposite to American, our fast lanes (2 or more lanes) are the right-most lane while you guys have it on the left-most of the road. One thing that's common, there are more roundabouts compared to the US, RUSSIA, CHINA and all those countries. Last year, two American tourists were injured after they were involved in a deadly crash that killed a driver of another car on country side driving. Witness said, the couple had been driving on the wrong side of the road and had blindly turned on bends. Unfortunately, they met head on with a car on a blind bend killing him instantly. The couple were lucky to be alive. So from then it has been stressed to tourists from opposite driving countries to maintain their side of the road regularly while there are signs all over the place to inform tourists to always keep left and also not hog the far right lane(fast lane) where there are more lanes.

Hi Mike, nice video. It's a strange feeling, last year when I was in London I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. When the driver approached a roundabout he took the left side of the roundabout. I was like what the h***? I can't imagine me driving there. But I sure would like to try someday. I'll buy a good Insurance for that event! Another point is: isn't that a strange feeling to switch gears with your left hand when you're right handed?

Thanks for sharing, really crazy to think about. I'm considering driving there in a couple of months and not sure if I'm up to it!

We have the same problem driving on the wrong side of the road! 'get used to it though with caution!

There is a percentige rate put on the speed cameras,so if you are on a 30mph road the speed cameras are not precise so add 3 mph on the speed and add 5% on top so if you go over 38mph you will have your collar felt by a car with a little blue light flashing on top. I found out the hard way.

what a lovely day bright blue sky

Okay, let’s get things straight. The roundabouts and manual car driving uphill is the only hard thing driving in the UK. + all the rules. Generally I love driving on the left hand side :) since I look to the right anyways

I tried once, rented an automatic. Never again. That is better for Britain and for me. I do drive automatics since then, so it was kind of useful. But I will never again drive over there. I cannot do it. It is a miracle that I survived and did not hurt anyone in the process.

Similar when i visited America from Australia the first time . Took a little while to get use it but after a few hours it was ok

Sweet video.

About those speed cameras on the Motorway - they are there but they're only very rarely turned on. The only ones you really need to look out for are the big yellow boxes, usually on A-Roads

I drive from UK to europe a lot. Driving on the other side is no problem either in a LHD or RHD car. However what I did find difficult was driving LHD in the uk. Strange

I'm from the UK and just watching this gives me the giggles. I'd be in the same position if i drove in the US, I hope too one day! :)

Did you present an IDP(International Driving Permit) Or your USDL is enough? I mean besides a Passport, flight tickets, credit card to be able to collect/drive the rental car?

Legends say they are still working on "Why the roads in UK are left-hand side".

Lol lived in the city in england for 30 years never had the need to drive i moved to america 3 years and had to learn here im wondering how the transition will be when i go back to the Uk aha .

In India follows same system also same ride on the left side of the road driving seat is on right side

The only time that I drove in the States back in 1979, I almost crashed the car when pulling out of the driving lot!! We needed to turn right, out of habit I watched for traffic coming from the right and thought nothing coming I'll pull out, luckily a car drove across me just before I started to pull out and I realised that I didn't need to cross over a line of traffic. Phew...

Was the Nav system extra or did it come with the car, did you have to purchase extra insurance, how long does it take to get to Westminster area of london. tks Earl

It reminds me of a scene from a movie where the british driver is driving in LA and is driving on the wrong side, the panicking passenger keeps yelling get over! get over!! and driver says "I dont think they can hear you"