An American Driving in England for the First Time | It was a DISASTER
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- Опубліковано 10 січ 2021
- For an American, driving in England for the first time can be very disorienting. And, it can lead to awkward situations like this.
Instagram:
Curtis: itsaboutthetravel
Nancy: itsaboutthetraveltoo
Music:
Make it So - Purple Planet Music - www.purple-planet.com/
A brief history of driving on one side of the road or the other: www.carkeys.co.uk/news/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-left-side-of-the-road
I've been to the USA a few times & I've never complained about driving on the WRONG side of the road or the controls being on the wrong side of the car. It's correct for your country, as it is for the UK.
Very true
also the controls other than the gear stick are the same..indicator, wipers etc
I came here to post this. It is not the wrong side. It is the opposite side. I have driven in the US many times. I have never once called it the wrong side.
Here’s a polite fact for any future non British drivers in the UK. You are driving on the ‘correct side’ of the road. Much love.
And about a third of the world's population would agree with you.
The original side to drive on was the left side believe it or not
@@arthurterrington8477 However it was Napoleon that introduced driving on the right, and less safe side of the road. So before this every country in the world drove on the left which is actually the safer side of the road, as proved by the simple fact that ALL aircraft carriers prove the fact that the safer side is the left hand side.
according to the knights in the middle ages? okay.
@@StandUnitedTV According to the Romans!
Just remember, if you hit and kill a biker when your driving on the wrong side of the road in Britain you can flee the country and claim diplomatic immunity!
It would have been a lot easier just to take a train from Gatwick to Brighton.
I was thinking the same! Isn't it a direct service?
@@julieg5610 About 30 minutes on a fast train I think.
Trains drive on the left in France Belgium Switzerland Italy.
Less expensive than hiring a car for a day, too.
I wonder if Anne Sacoolas was laughing like that when she drove on the wrong side of the road and killed a young man. She then fled the country, leaving his parents devastated. It's not funny, if you aren't competent enough to drive in another country then please don't.
Very true,if you drove like that on your test you'd fail so shouldn't be on the roads.
Gatwick airport to Brighton ....didn't anyone tell you about the train !!!
Why would anyone hire car from Gatwick to Brighton? Train would be cheaper, quicker (20ish mins) no parking.... Bonkers
Feel for you, Curtis but don't fret about that lapse. I am British and have been driving since I passed my test in the Army at 17½ in 1966. I was posted to Germany in 1969 and quite regularly drove home on leave with no problems. However, one day in 1973, having been to a local shopping centre, as I had done on countless occasions before, my mind also went into auto-pilot and I drove out of the car park via the single-lane entrance because that was on my right. With walls either side and a downward spiral slope I couldn't exactly switch lanes. Fortunately, there was no incoming traffic although there was a very sharp angle to negotiate when I joined the road to head in the correct direction!
I had a similar experience driving back to Germany in a right-hand drive car. I'd driven up from Dover to Liverpool and back again...no problem. Before the ferry left on my way back, I decided to have a small snack. I saw a parking space on the right-hand side of the road. After leaving the cafe, I got into my car and because it was parked in that direction, I just drove off and I wondered why I was getting flashed by an oncoming vehicle.
As a British driver abroad, my embarrassing moment was in France at a very busy junction near the Channel ports. Fortunately, I was driving a bright red British car and the French drivers were very patient.
I've gone around a round-about the wrong way in Spain. Luckily it was not on a public road - it was on a Golf/Residential estate, but right in front of a Pub with loads of British people waving, shouting a laughing at me. You only do it once. No other moving cars around, so it was fine really.
The French drivers were very patient? But they don't like us one bit ..... (I've been there too)
@@omegasue Given their 'reputation,' I was pleasantly surprised. Being close to Calais, they were probably used to it or they like me because I'm not English (joking on that last one, btw). 8-)
There's actually a political campaign in that part of France to force British drivers to pass a French driving test. The fatal accident rate is actually quite bad...
@@abarratt8869 That should cut down the amount of people that go.
Also drive in the left hand lane , Not the middle.
Yeah, I panicked.
@itsaboutthetravel On the freeway you should always be in the left lane if not overtaking. Regardless of your speed you should be LEFT
Right or left, it's not WRONG.
It's local.
Well said.
As a recent VICTIM of a near fatal car crash...where I ended up in hospital with a TIA from the shock of being confronted suddenly on a blind bend by a speeding drive-on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD..Believe me this is NO laughing matter.PLEASE when you are visiting a country where the inhabitants drive on a different side of the road..take some time before setting off to mark your car, even your hands so you are reminded at every stop for gas ..for food etc,. WHICH SIDE to exit on. I almost died...Two friends writing to me told me they BOTH had a friend or a relative who sustained TIA's from the shock of just such accidents.. So this it not rare..
You are on the correct side of the road and the correct side of the car.
When you see an amber light you should slow down and get ready to stop.
that is why i think any American coming to uk should not drive unless they have been befor and done it right
Haha we've all been on the opposite side of the road at some point when driving in a foreign country. When in Florida, I managed to be pretty well behaved apart from one point in a car park when going round a left turn I hugged the kerb on left hand side and ended up facing traffic. Also, first time in an automatic, nearly put our faces through the windscreen when using the brake as a non-existent clutch.
Same here.
Gatwick to Brighton? Take the train.
Very good advice.
The parking charges alone are enough to put you off taking the car.
batman51 They're Americans, to them there is only 2 forms of transport :- cars and aircraft.
But it's no different for the hundreds of thousands of Brits who travel to the USA or Europe every year..it takes about 20 minutes to get used to driving on the other side of the road. Top tip! don't hog the middle lane on a Motorway as it is an overtaking lane and not a cruising one! and it really narks other drivers off
When I went to the USA and had to drive, I had a similar experience except the other way round. But after a couple of days I adjusted to it. I found the American drivers (in Florida) very considerate.
I think the hardest part of being on the other side of the road is when it comes to junctions, the hope that you won’t end up facing the traffic!
Mt first time driving in the US, I kept drifting out of lane to the right. My brain was trying to put me in the part of the lane I was used to.
A few days later, after stopping for food, I went to get in the wrong side of the car. My wife was getting in the passenger seat, but thinking she was grabbing something I waited for her to move so I could get in. She just looked at me and said "Aren't you driving?" Then it dawned on me as I sheepishly went round to the other side of the car.
LOL You don't realize how much of driving is instinct until you get in these situations.
I remember, as a UK driver, taking the ferry to Boulogne and on exiting the port, on the "wrong" side of the road you were straight into a roundabout.
Baptism of fire!
🤣🤣🤣
What are 'meers'
As somebody who lives not too far from Brighton, and considering you were driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car for you, you did well all things considered. Brighton is a nightmare to drive through even when you're familiar with British roads so well done :D
I'm a Briton of 21 years but I have lived in Canada for 8 years. As such I was raised in the Napoleonic system you use in the US.
I dread exactly your experience.
Driving on the WRONG side of the road , and on the WRONG side of the car ? Where do you think you are exactly ?
Clearly, not in a place with a sense of humor about their traffic flow in relation to the rest of the world.
@@itsaboutthetravel 76 countries drive on the correct side of the road (that puts the majority dominant eye facing traffic) while 150 or so use the Napoleonic method that thinks something useful might happen on the sidewalk.
@@itsaboutthetravel Lol. Some of us have a sense of humour about it, just not the ones that commented 😄
@@nicolab2075 😁
Mam . While in the UK, you are not driving on the wrong side of the road. The UK never changed, unlike Europe, which had to because of Napoleon & Hitler. They never conquered the UK.
I've owned both left and right hand drive cars, and I drive regularly (or used to - covid!) in England and on the continent. I think I may be fully ambidextrous by now.
Good for you! Living in North America we don't get many opportunities for right drive experience.
No, we in BRITAIN drive on the correct side of the road, as do a number of other countries, around the world, it's you American's that drive on the wrong side ( like the Europeans, bloody NAPOLEON and his backward way of thinking )
I have driven for many years both at home and abroad, and yes it does take a bit of adjustment to drive on the opposite side of the road, but after about half an hour or so, it becomes second nature and becomes much easier.
I have driven many times in the STATES and turning right at a junction when the traffic lights are on RED always gets me ( providing the road is clear,obviously) it just doesn't seem right, and does this apply to every junction, who know's?
They don't tell you this when you rent the car.
Why is it the wrong side ?
Oh in usa we drive on the right
Well youre not in usa now
LOL Good point! I guess wrong side is a personal perspective.
You are driving on the correct side of the road but are sitting in the middle lane ! Don´t drive again in the U.K. until you have learnt the rules .
When I have driven on the opposite side I found the worst thing was roundabouts and changing gear with the opposite hand
How many times have you gone to change gear and hit the door? And yes, I remember sitting at the entrance to a roundabout trying to work out which way to go around it. Fortunately, or maybe because, there was no other traffic around.
I did that a few times after we hired a car in Corfu. Soon adjusted though.
That was brilliant. You're allowed to make mistakes, we'll let you off. If you ever visit England again, get a Sat Nav, put it on your windscreen, type in the postcode of where you want to go and listen to the instructions.
Thank you for this great advice! I will definitely take it when I return.
Here in the UK we have tractors with the gears on the right and between your legs so you get used to driving anyway lol
Driving on the other side is like being a brand-new driver again, when you first do it. All of the perceptions you have long since made a part of your unconscious understanding of driving are now inoperable. You don't know where all the corners of the vehicle are; you go back to looking obsessively at the edges of the pavement and making too many small over-compensations to keep the car in the middle; you have to learn to look in the opposite directions. You find yourself trying to get into the wrong side of the car. And even though I've been driving for 50 years now, I never got too competent with a standard shift, so when I drive on the left I will only do it with an automatic. No way am I going to add shifting with the other hand to all this other stuff.
Yes, it made me realize how much of my driving is simply habit at this point.
I don’t understand why people feel the need to say “wrong side of the road”...There is no “wrong” side, there is simply “the other side”....When it’s said as a joke, that’s ok lol, but most seem to actually believe it when they say it 😂... Very strange.
Yeah, that was meant in fun. However, I was clearly on the wrong side of the road based on the English traffic flow.
@@itsaboutthetravel 😂👍
I live in uk and hate hiring a car each year on holiday, getting in the passenger seat by mistake and sitting there confused, lane positioning and reversing is horrible, its actually crazy that some learner drivers who failed their test will drive better but yet we're allowed to drive
I may be in the UK later this year on business and it is very unlikely I'll drive. It's just better for everyone.
My first experience of driving on the right was going from Logan airport to down-town Boston in the evening rush hour - I've never been so shit-scared in my life!
Yikes!
Yes, doing that is like being thrown in the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim. I'm a Bostonian who has driven a rental car a few times in England, and I avoided driving in big cities if at all possible. I said a mantra out loud every time I started up the car: "I am in England -- I drive on the left."
If you were driving on the wrong side of the road you would have had a head-on crash.
🤣 Good point!
Normally in Britain if you drive on the other side normally, hire companies let you put a sticker on your car, which alerts locals to be aware that you are not used to it.
That's a good idea!
Do not drive through red lights, you must stop.
After going through the intersection, those red lights were for right turns. Going straight was green.
@@itsaboutthetravel You were braver than me !
I have driven nearly 700,000 miles in and around London with the average journey being around 5 miles and after over 40 years driving on the Left I could not attempt driving on the Right like you guys so well done :)
@@itsaboutthetravel You cannot go straight ahead on a right turn lane. There are arrows on the road. If police had seen you you would have been charged with not stopping at a red light. Also lane hogging, driving in the middle lane and not moving over to the left lane is also an offence.
Rewatching the video I think it's the camera angle making it look like you are in the right turn lane.
@@Isleofskye you rely on your driving experience and hope not to mess up too bad when you pick up a car in the usa but after a few days it becomes natural and easy , easier than in england i found
Thanks Ian
As a Brit, I find driving on the 'wrong side' when abroad is very natural and it feels strange when I return home. And that's with 35 years worth of driving experience.
Come to Scotland and try the single-lane roads.
I'm not sure if that would make it easier, or harder. 😁
@@itsaboutthetravel It's whizzing along 60mph not knowing what's around the corner, that's the fun bit lol.
@@crimsonwizard2560 🤣
@@crimsonwizard2560 but we get those in England too. I use them daily. They are country roads here.
Yes they are national speed limit, but anyone actually doing 60 on them is a lunatic and asking for trouble.
It's not wrong side of the road your in the UK
Well done you are a brave man, hope you enjoyed brighton !
Brighton was lovely. I can't wait to return to England.
That was awesome you did a good job for facing your fear
You say your on the wrong side of the road. Its not in UK
0:13 and in the wrong lane! Hope you had a good trip.
Thank you! Things went much better after this. 😄
Not only were you on the wrong side of the road, but you were driving directly away from the A23… curious what route your sat-nav was trying to take you on back to Gatwick…
No idea...😂
Just an FYI. When travelling on a motorway or dual carriageway, you stay in the furthest left hand lane and pass right when overtaking. It is not best practice to 'hog' the middle lane, if you are not overtaking slow traffic or that lane becomes a slip road or turning lane. You are supposed to slow and stop at traffic lights that have turned amber from green too. Not speed through them on red. 7/10 for effort. Glad you enjoyed your trip to the seaside and your fish and chips. Did you get mushy peas, curry sauce or gravy to go with them?
Thanks for the advice. Someday I hope to give it another try, when the trauma has worn off. 😉 Honestly, this was a few years ago and I don't remember what we had with the fish& chips. But, we did enjoy them.
@It's About the Travel I have been fortunate enough to have lived/travelled in several different countries and have experienced the trauma of driving towards the unknown myself. Even though the UK has roundabouts (as do a lot of European countries), navigating them in Paris is a hair-raising experience. I went round one four times until I spotted where I needed to go. Obviously, some drivers were rather rude about it 😊. We have the Magic Roundabout in Swindon, which is 5 mini roundabouts within each other. Most UK drivers would have problems with that one if they are not from or familiar with the area. Getting out of the towns and cities gets more relaxing. You know you are a good driver (when not running lights 😂), so trying to relax helps. You won't get lost in the UK. 4 hours east/west or 12 north/south if you start in the middle, will find you at other seasides for fish and chips. Hope to see you back visiting soon. Let me know, though, so I can start driving on the pavement to avoid you 😊. Take care both ❤️🏴🇬🇧
dont worry. in Spain I had a similar disastrously moment
From the UK. Travel in Europe towing our caravan ( trailer ) I adapt to driving on the right right away, only occasionally have I forgotten to stay on the right but never caused a problem to anybody and I am in my 70's.
I bet you're one of the many older drivers who thinks they're great but then goes 40mph on a 70mph road, even when joining from a slip road, when there is no variable speed limit.
@@kpopfan674 What a totally stupid comment. I guarantee I am smarter than you will ever be.
Ive done the exact same several times in the US. Just had to get up on the sidewalk. Wait for a gap and do a u turn lol
🤣
I have done the same in Florida... 🙂 Keep at it and you soon learn..... you just have to concentrate all of the time
😆 All it took was one minute of not focusing...
Hopefully you get to come back for a longer visit lol
That's the plan!
Come see The Lake District its beautiful
Why are you hogging the middle lane?
Dont think the mirrors jump about if you drive left or right handed cars..
hahaha No, but when you're used to looking right for a rearview mirror, and it's on your left, it seems that way.
The other side of the road, the other side of the czr
Welcome to Britain, my guy
😂 Thank you!
You have my sympathy. I've done that and worse iin Europe. I really wish this country will just get with the programme and join the rest of the world on the right.
Was planned to do so in 1967, Government changed their mind, never happened.
In America I would be equally fu***d! Don't feel bad.
😂😂
I'm not going to criticise the fact that you're struggling with driving on the opposite side of the road to that which you are accustomed; I understand that. But saying you don't know where the mirrors are seems a bit odd... they are in exactly the same place!
You are right, of course, but my orientation is different. Driving on the left side of the car, my rearview mirror is in the upper right. When driving on the right side of the car, looking in my upper right I see the sky.
Its not the wrong side
And in the wrong lane....
It traumatized me. I'm not sure I'll ever try it again...
@@itsaboutthetravel if you do come back please remember that it is unlawful to remain in any lane except the left one. The rest are overtaking lanes. You must use the left lane, except to overtake, and return to it once you have completed your overtake.
It must be illegal in 'Murca
@@CymruEmergencyResponder and you should slow down and stop for the upcoming red light. Straight through the amber at 02:23 with someone pushing someone in a wheelchair waiting to cross when it turns red. Lucky it wasn’t a few seconds later as he’d obviously lost concentration after his earlier issue.
To be honest when you said horribly wrong I was expecting a bump causing damage to the car and having to deal with a vulturous car hire company!
🤣
Not bad, actually. Had that been me in, say, the USA the video's audio would have to have been censored for a whole 5 minutes. Whereas you kept it clean!
🤣🤣
It is not on the wrong side of the road, it is on the side the whole world started on.
First mistake: driving in the wrong lane. Keep left unless overtaking. Lega requirement. Read the Highway Code next time, bud. And if you're going to complain this much, stay home.
Wouldn’t be foreign driving if you didn’t nearly do the wrong thing!
😅
Middle lane hog
He's on the right side of the road.
😊👍
Why did you bother hiring a car, you could have just taken the train?
In retrospect, it would have been a much better idea.
90% of humans are right-eye dominant, so we have less road fatalities by driving on the left because you're using your dominant eye more, increasing reaction times.
More importantly, most people are right handed so steer accurately with their right hand whilst shifting gear with the left. Steering with the left hand (like in the US) is not as accurate so more likely to cause problems i.e. an accident.
If your scared of driving DONT DRIVE,ITS NOT FUNNY,use public transport or taxis. When people move over here they should book driving lessons.
Hey, nobody died and you got to visit my hometown. Come back another time and, maybe, use taxis......
.....................the ancient Englishman.
hahaha Definitely will be taking more taxis my next time in England.
@@itsaboutthetravel Use taxis, trains, buses, trams etc. There's nothing shameful in using public transport in the UK,
everybody does it when convenient.....................the ancient Englishman.
The reason the British drive on the left, is because back in the medieval period the Kings of the time were fed up with losing their fighting men, who would challenge each other to combat. So the Kings got their knights to ride on the left hand side. SO IT'S NOT THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Dont know why she is laughing. Not funny. We've all driven in other countries, but can stick to the rules.
First, it was nervous laughter after a scare. Second, based on my experience, and that of several commenters, not all of us are as good at it as you.
@@itsaboutthetravel my wife would be laughing too and we are english , i would also if she was driving , we always take the mic out of each other , we dont take everything serious , respect to your wife ha ha
@@itsaboutthetravel I thought you were both very good natured about it.
We drove in France towing a caravan. We have some stories, I can tell you!!!
Actually you are nopw driving on the RIGHT side of the road here in the UK. Napoleon introduced driving on the right, and less safe side of the road, to be different to England. If you go to any museum in the USA you will find that in the past every wagon was left hand drive, not right!!
If you aren't competent to drive then don't.
Congratulations on surviving both Gatwick and Brighton ... Very courageous of you to use the stop over to drive on the wrong side of the road ... Although you did seem to be doing one of my pet hates ie trundling down the middle lane of the motorway .., not moving back over to the left ... If you ever get back to the UK maybe have a look at the Highway Code and if you really want to challenge yourself look at " the magic roundabout " near Hemel Hempstead ... Enjoy ...
This is less funny considering what happened to Harry Dunn by an equally heartless American
Why is it that Americans have difficulty driving on the correct side of the road such as in Japan, Australia, India, South Africa and many African countries while we Brits have no problem driving on the opposite side of the road in Europe and the Americas?
Who says all Brits have no problem and Americans do?
You aren't all English and I'm not all Americans.
It's not the 'wrong' side, it's just a different side, which surprisingly 1/3 of the planet also does including Japan, Australia, Bhutan, 13 African states, most of the Caribbean including US Virgin Islands etc
Should you ever have time to kill at Gatwick perhaps you could take the train to Brighton, It's about 30 mins, with several trains an hour. Driving is awful when you feel stressed. I could feel the tension in your voice, at least you had a good time in Brighton
As an Englishman driving on the continent takes about 10 minutes to get used to it.
Typical American attitude that they drive on the "correct" side of the road and we do it wrong. They seemed like nice people, but like most Americans I have come across, they assume that what they do in the USA is the norm and if you do it different, then it's you that's mistaken or misguided, even in your own country.
"could do better" as the teacher said in my school report. Now we can appreciate why Anne Sacoolas ("spineless Anne") pulled out of an American Military base in the UK onto the wrong side of the road & killed a young motorcyclist. But she'd been over here a while.
I don't understand why Americans have this problem. I have driven on the 'wrong' side of the road in other countries frequently and have never had any difficulty. I have also never heard visitors from continental Europe complain when driving here.
On motorways/freeways americans appear to have zero lane discipline just drifting along in any lane meaning faster motorists have to weave in and out of them obviously causing regular carnage.
Centre lane driver,much loved.........not.Also join the CIA and you can mow down cyclists with impunity
You lost me a few seconds in. You are not driving on the wrong side of the road, you are driving on the other side of the road. When I drove in the US, I didn't complain about being on the wrong side of the road, I just adapted and got on with it!
_"So here we are. Driving on the wrong side of the road."_
No - you're driving in THE WRONG LANE! It's the overtaking lane, move over.
We are not the only country in the world that drives on the "wrong" side of the road. So do Ireland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa....
Wow Americans outside of America. How will they cope. Everything is strange. 😊😅
Sounds like Kermit and Mrs Kermit. And why do Americans say "Oh my Gaad" all the time?
If you can't cope with driving correctly maybe don't drive
How would I know unless I try?
You are a hazard. You were correct then.
dont worry. in Spain I had a similar disastrously moment