a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
edricarica  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How long does it take to get used to driving on the "wrong side" of the road?

I come from the UK (RHD). We're pretty used to changing sides - pretty much all our neighbors are LHD, as is most of the rest of the world, so whenever we drive abroad we have to adjust.

The only time I find the switch confusing is when I don't change vehicle. The eurotunnel has these signs

for a couple of miles after the exit, which is sort of helpful, but it's still a weird transition to have my steering wheel suddenly next to the curb.

If I change cars, though, it's completely intuitive. The design of the vehicle tells my brain what it should be doing, and my brain seems to comply.

That said, driving bilingualism (we must be able to invent a good word for this!?) might be a peculiarly British thing.

My (American) ex was a magnificent driver. He had the instincts of a cat, had been driving since his teens and could parallel park a pick-up truck on a dime.

When we visited London together, I did most of the driving at first, while he told me how weird we were for driving on the wrong side (Counter-argument, by the way: It's to meet your opponent with your sword hand).

After a week or so, he decided to give it a go.

We switched sides.

He started the engine...

...and drove the left side of the car into one of these:

So, yeah. Maybe it's not intuitive to everyone.