I was first up with Lorraine, the driving instructor, for two hours of UK driving training this morning. With an American drivers license, anyone is legal to drive in the UK for one year. However, since we are receiving lease cars, the county wanted to provide us tutorials and deem us competent and confident to drive before we are given our cars.
Lorraine said she would drive me to an estate area and let me take the wheel because there are two fairly large roundabouts outside the hotel parking lot she did not want me to start with. Of course, as we walked to the car, I walked to the typical American passenger side to enter the car……WRONG…..that is the driver side here in the UK.
I took the wheel in a residential area with “baby roundabouts” as I like to call them. It is similar to a four way stop in a US neighborhood, but here you only have to yield.
Sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road feels okay once you get in because you are still positioned near the inside lane within the car.
There are MANY things that throw you for a loop though….
Speed limit signs do not say “speed limit” like they do at home.
• They are just numbers on a white circular sign with a red ring around the edge. Some are large signs, some are small posted on poles with other signs.
• You also have to know that if you are in an area with no signs and the light poles are equally spaced apart the limit is 30 mph.
• If you see a circular sign with a black diagonal line through it means that is national speed limit.
• You have to know that national speed limit is 60 mph for a single carriageway (road without a middle divider) and 70 mph for a dual carriageway (road with a middle divider like grass or a barricade).
• These speed limits are different for different types of vehicles, but I am only remembering the limits for cars at this point.
The center stripes are NOT yellow!
• They are white.
• White lines/stripes to separate one lane from the other going the same direction.
• White lines/stripes to separate one lane from the other going the opposite direction.
• Does this sound a bit confusing? Well it is! At one point, I was on a single carriageway (with no middle divider). My direction had two lanes,; the opposite direction had one lane.
• The only way to tell which lanes belonged to which side was to see what ways the other cars were facing.
I have been warned about driving at night:
• The more tired you get, the more you revert back to what you’re used to.
• There are fewer cars on the road to follow the lead of.
They have speed cameras galore here:
• In many areas these cameras take your picture if you’re speeding.
• You are mailed a ticket.
• The fine is 60 pounds
• You get 3 endorsement points on your license.
• I can only have 6 points and then I can’t drive or something like that.
• YIKES!
“Watch out for the WHITE VAN MAN!”
• A quote from Lorraine.
• She said that all white vans are bad drivers because that is typically a work van (like plumber, electrician, etc) and they drive terrible and do not care about their vehicle.
“Watch out for the Lithuanians!”
• Lorraine says they are bad drivers too!
“Watch out for all European drivers not from the UK!”
• The rest of Europe drives on the same side of the road and car as America---they are in the same boat as me.
• They also will drive their car across the Chunnel into England. So they will be driving a car with the steering wheel on the left side of the car and driving on the left side of the road. (That sounds confusing!)
“Watch out for the Indians and Pakistanis!”
• They drive on whatever side of the road they chose!
(At this point I wondered if Lorraine tells non-Americans to watch out for the Americans too?!?!?!?!)
After two hours of driving, areas that need improvement:
• Judging the distance of the left side of the car. I am used to judging the distance of the right side of the car. I drove on the left curb (or kerb as the English spell it) a few times….oops!
• Right hand turns. I tried to turn into the right lane more than once (that is for on coming traffic!).
Other things that are different:
• Roads are ridiculously SMALL here! Especially if they are a “B road” --- (typically rural road).
• One lane can be for both ways of traffic if the road is too small.
• There is no room on the outside lane of the car (left side). No break down lane, no side space, nothing! Usually either a close curb or a tall bush.
• Trucks are called lorries. “Follow that lorry.” “--WHAT? That truck?”
• I taught Lorraine the word “chicken break” for the trainer’s break on the passenger side. “What do they call it that for?” “Because if the instructor pushes it he or she is chicken. – you know, nervous.” She laughed….A LOT! They call it “dual control”---boring!
I felt most comfortable driving on the motorway (interstate/freeway).
Driving around was BEAUTIFUL!
• The hills were covered in snow.
• The towns are quaint.
• (I wasn’t able to site see too much because I was nervously driving).
• The sun was OUT! (I commented on the sun and Lorraine told me not to spoil my luck. HA!) It was only 2 degrees Celsius though.
I will definitely need a GPS system (“sat-nav” in British terms).
We found out that we may not get our cars for 4 to 8 weeks because the manufacture is slow. (Except Carlos---his is in). The county doesn’t know what to do about that yet. We may be walking, busing, training, or hitching a ride with a coworker to work for a bit when we start at the offices. Some people want to live far (like an hour) away from their office, so that may be problematic. Who knows! I may choose to take the free remedial driver training if I do not get a car for 8 weeks. I may need a little brush up by then!
CHEERS to my first UK driving experience! I lived----and so did everyone else around me! ☺
Last note of the day: I think jet lag kicked in last night. I woke up at 3:30 am. I couldn’t sleep so I watched the BBC for awhile and then went down to the lobby and read for awhile. YUCK!
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