CarThoughts: Driving a (LHD) left-hand drive car in the UK. Is it difficult? GoPro POV drive
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- Опубліковано 11 жов 2024
- In this video, I am talking about my experiences on driving a LHD (left-hand drive) car in the UK (actually in Scotland), where LHT (left-hand traffic) is the norm. You can find out the 3 most difficult areas of driving with a LHD car and my general opinion and experience.
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Thanks for the essential and beneficial video and tips about driving a LHD car in the UK, cause I'll plan to import American extended length SUVs, in LHD of course to the UK to use as my travel companion to the mainland Europe.
No problem James, go for it. You could even sleep in those huge SUVs on a long trip. What models are you planning to bring over?
this looks sick man for whenever I get a left hand drive car. one thing i noticed is that you have an easier ability to take exits on roundabouts because you’re right next to the left. thanks for the video :)
Wow I never thought of that but true :) another thing I found is when switching lanes on motorways to the right you get better visibility and less of a blind spot in a LHD in the UK imo because looking right you got the passenger and rear windows but when you are driving a RHD car switching lanes you have to turn your head right around and the B pillar is blocking a lot of vision. Works the same in LHD cars on the continent or the US.
Awesome video, Adam! We'll be taking our car from Germany to New Castle this summer and we are a bit anxious about driving in the UK, but your video has eased our fears. Thanks a bunch. By the way, love your New York Yankees cap!
Hi Peter, that’s great I hope you guys will enjoy your trip to the UK. Are you taking the ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle?
Driving will be fine just pay extra attention at roundabouts (there are loads in the UK :) and of course overtaking! I have been back on the continent with right hand drive cars over the years and it’s been all right too :)
Peter, I'm also considering this, too. How was your experience driving with your LHD car in the UK?
The UK is in Europe. Cyprus, Ireland and Malta are the other remaining right-hand drive countries. You generalise re "Europe". In Spain we have roundabouts with many lanes as well. The main issue is the speed limits, which are still in old European units! It is still in the 19th century.
You mean those are the remaining RHD countries? When I said ‘Europe’ I meat mainland Europe.
I haven’t been to Spain so can’t comment on that but the other countries I have been to in Europe had less or more simple roundabouts thank the UK.
I was rather approaching the whole roundabout question from a ‘driving on the other side of the road point if view’.
Do you mean speed limits in the UK?
@@adizillich6648 Yes, the UK government still uses old European units on road signage yet now have km locator signs at 500-m intervals on all dual carriageways & motorways.
Hey!! I was thinking about it. Is perfectly timed thank you.
In South London (Brixton to be precise), there is a driving school that serves potential drivers to use vehicles with the steering wheel on the left-hand side and I'm tempted to use this as my entry into the world of motoring.
Once I pass the test, it's an extra skillset I have should I be in another country (like the United States of America or some European countries et cetera) hiring a car certainly won't be an issue - thank you for your interest by uploading the video.
Hi Anthony,
That’s an idea, would benefit you having that extra experience LHD but you will probably be using RHD cars more often living in the UK so maybe it’s better if you do your licence and practice on that. Only takes 15-30 minutes to get used to the other side when you are abroad with a rental car. Whatever way suits you best is best :)
In my opinion, when you start driving at the opposite side of the road, it's always easier to learn if you can do the change in a car with the layout you are used to, because you just have to learn the traffic rules, not having to worry about the car. When people switch both road layout and car layout at the same time, they are essentially learning to drive all over again, and that can be way more dangerous than just sitting at the "wrong" side of the car.
Indeed, I fully agree with you. Having to learn both a new side of the road and the position of the steering wheel at the same time is surely more challenging.
Thanks for making this video! It's perfectly timed as I'm going on a short holiday to London this summer and bringing my car too (by ferry). Was not sure about the difficulty of driving on the other side of the road but I'm a lot more confident after this video.
No problem Leslie, I am happy you found it helpful. I am still in Scotland and haven't had any issues whatsoever. Good luck to your holiday. :)
Only problem I can see is the UK License Plate wont fit on vehicle there. US radio may not tune into stations like 95.8 FM or AM 881 etc. ODD frequencies & no HD Radio service there & our SiriusXM Satellite radio wont get a signal there. But nice to see American car there. :)
The UK have custom made licence plates for US vehicles, little square ones. Indeed, the frequency might be an issue but I am sure there is a way to sort that out :D. Actually, my car is European but driving an American vehicle would be the same. From which part of the states are you from?
@@adizillich6648 most Car radios in the US, Canada or some in Mexico, 0.2 Mhz steps for FM (87.7 - 107.9 MHz) and 10 kHz step for AM (530 - 1710 kHz), Latin American car radios and some in Mexico, 0.05 or 0.1 MHz step for FM (87.5 - 108.0 MHz), and 10 kHz step for AM (530 - 1620 kHz; incomplete AM expended band but up to 1620 kHz).
Also install DAB radio on US car radios.
Mate, there’s only SiriusXM Satellite Radio in Bermuda (UK overseas territory, east of USA), St. Pierre et Miquelon (French overseas territory, near Canada), North America and parts of the Caribbean only.
Hallo. I drive a fiat panda. The odometer is in kilometers. I can tell you were driving a volvo in this video. How can you drive the speed in miles?
Nice.
I am living in the UK since 2016 and now planning to bring my car from Hungary as well.
So I am driving rhd car since I have arrived with no issues but still has concerns to bring my car here.. but I am sure it is not that big challenge..
It will be fine Istvan, don't worry about it. Especially, that you have been driving here for 3 years, you will k now your way around. :)
@@adizillich6648 kösz :D
Where are you from? I am from the UK, so it was interesting to hear what it's like to drive a LHD car here.
I am from Hungary, but living in Scotland now. I came here for my 6 months uni exchange but I ended up meeting a Scottish girl and we fell in love, the rest is history. We are engaged now. Are you planning to visit and drive in Europe?
@@adizillich6648 First of all, congratulations! All the best to you and her in the future! Did you have to change your LHD car to UK number plates or did you buy a car that is RHD and registered in the UK? I would like to drive in mainland Europe, but that's unlikely. I don't even know if I'm going to be able to visit there, even though I really want to visit Germany and probably Italy. I've heard Bulgaria is a beautiful place (and cheap), so it would be great to go there, too. My aunt is currently on holiday in Bulgaria.
@@GreenTornado Thanks mate. I bought a RHD car registered in the UK. I have been to Germany and Italy, I didn't like Milan that much tho but the rest of the country is beautiful. Germany is great too and you can test the limits of your car. What part of the UK are you from?
I have never been to Bulgaria but know a couple of people from there, said to be a nice place to visit.
@@adizillich6648 You're welcome. I've heard you shouldn't drive in Rome because traffic is terrible there. The same goes for Paris; I've heard drivers are impatient in Paris.
I'm from England. Do you plan on driving down to England someday?
Yeah, I hope to be able to visit mainland Europe at least once in my life. Europe is full of history.
@@GreenTornado sorry for the late reply. Yea actually i do spend quite a lot of time in England driving HGVs for a living. Like it there but traffic is mental busy.
Have you managed to get to mainland Europe?
Do you get lots of odd stares in the uk when you sit on the "wrong" site of the car? Having a rhd in germany is definitly strange for most people...its fun...but also strange. I can imagine that left hand drive cars can be seen on british roads far more often than rhds on mainland roads unless you live close to calais for example😅
Thanks for the vid!
no probs
How did you pass MOT with your eauropean headlights?
The car wasn't registered in the UK, I only used it here during my studies, so didn't have to pass MOT. It was taken back to mainland Europe after.
How about Euro car with km/h speedometre?
16 km is 10 miles.