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Anyone here bought a left hand drive vehicle for use on UK roads? How did you get on with it? Was it tricky to adjust to being on the "wrong side"? Is driving a LHD now second nature or does it still catch you out??
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Not quite your situation but...
I drive my r-h car on the continent a reasonable amount - not heaps (less than monthly) but I can adjust now very quickly.
And when renting a l-h car in the US my main problem is remembering to get in the driver side not the passenger side! Having said that, I think a manual gear shift on the "wrong" side would take some getting used to.
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Again, from a RHD drive car on the continent perspective the biggest fiddle is getting / inserting parking tickets into car park entry / exit machines and tolls on roads / bridges.
Overtaking is helped if you have a passenger who can tell you when it is clear to overtake........
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I have been driving to work in a left hand drive(LHD)car for the last four years. I initally bought a used LHD car to drive on holidays to europe. I then started using it on UK roads. It takes a week or two to get used to it - but after that it is second nature. However once you get used to LHD cars it is difficult to get used to right hand drive cars again!
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You'll get used to it. Car Park ticket barriers and the like are the main problem.
There are situations where you don't get such a good overtaking view in a LHD car but you have to change your technique a bit. Conversely, there are times where you get a view from a LHD you'd never get from a RHD. It's also nice to get out onto the pavement!
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My first car in 1971 was a left-hooker Beetle. Taught me a bit about looking up the nearside of buses, trucks etc. and staying back for a good view ahead. Didn't do much overtaking in it. The tricky bit was borrowing Mum's Morris Minor and trying to change gear with the window winder.
Did even less overtaking in the next left-hand-drive car, a Dutch Citroen Dyane 4.
I got on well with both cars and this may have helped with fearless (according to Mrs H) way I would later take to driving abroad.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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One thing I cannot seem to get used to in a LHD car is the rear view mirror. It?s so hard-wired into me to look up-left for the mirror I?m constantly staring out of the driver?s window, trying to find it.
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We have a LHD Barchetta and a RHD Astra estate here in Germany. The main prob with the RHD driving on the right are pulling out from a road at an acute angle, particularly if there is anything parked on the road you´re joining. Apart from that it´s straightforward. I don´t have any grief switching between the two. SYMBO prefers the barchetta - unsurprisingly - but she´s going to have to drive from Frankfurt to Lake Garda to pick me up at the end of the month, so she´ll have to get used to it!
As far as driving on the right goes, one important thing to remeber is to look Left when joining roundabouts - obvious I know, but the thing that catches me out sometimes.
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I've usually found that driving a left-hand drive car with a manual gearbox leads to quite a bit of banging the left hand on the door for the first 10 minutes or so...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have 2 LHD Alfas and a RHD punto, I swop between them without a thought.
Driving a LHD in this country requires a little extra planning for things like overtakes and such but otherwise is not fundamentally different.
JaB
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Had a LHD barchetta, LHD Golf GTI mkII, LHD GTV 3l V6 24v.
Problems as mentioned here: Parking can more tricky, but getting in is easier as you get in on the kerb side.
I did my IAM exam in teh GTV 3L and the observer/tester almost failed me for visibility and positionon a sweeping left hand bend until he realised I could see the road he could not.
Driving windy country lanes is a REAL pain. Being next to the hedge/wall is a BIG restrictor to visibility. If you need to use these roads regularly, avoid a LHD.
Barriers/ toll booths were a pain.
Banging hand on door to change gear is ineffective.
On the plus side, the left arm can now get a tan.
Oh yes, and it'll be really difficult to sell I found.
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I run a LHD (Spanish import) Defender. This is strange at times as its a British vehicle in its home enviroment. I occasionally aim for the wrong door. The most humorous thing is the large Springer that insists on sitting in the passanger seat...you get seriously strange looks.....
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Many thanks for the input all! Interesting point about being a pain on country lanes - is this because you're hugging the inside of the road all the time making a left hand bend truly blind??????
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>>and the observer/tester almost failed me for visibility and positionon a sweeping left hand bend until he realised I could see the road he could not.>>
Are you sure you don't mean a right hand bend....?
On a left hand bend the observer would have a better view.
>>Banging hand on door to change gear is ineffective.>>
Agreed. It's a habit of gear changing established over nearly 42 years...:-)
But I've driven many thousands of miles all over Europe and the States and the switch over to left hand drive is quickly accomplished.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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ive had a LHD for around 5 yrs, i got used to it very quickly and actualy quite like driving on that side
the only times i get caught are when in narrow streets when i have to stop behind parked cars to give way to traffic..if you stop too close you cant see around them to watch when its clear, its okay if theres a passenger or i just lean over.
dont worry, theyre alright
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Leaving aside the fun aspects of driving LHD in the UK for a bit, I would have thought that today's frantic driving environment means that buying the appropriate sort of car made more sense - unless you drive abroad a lot, of course. There is a lot of crazy overtaking on A roads already without adding to it (and your LHD viewpoint makes you vulnerable from both directions, remember).
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Not forgetting getting pulled by plod when your passenger is using a mobile!. Yes, it has happened.
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