I’m not a faint-hearted driver. I drove a cab for five years. I’ve backed down two-way roads that weren’t much wider than my car and where the land fell away on both sides. But the first time I drove in Britain left me with white knuckles—and some bits of advice.
Drive on the Left
This isn’t the hard part. If you’re in traffic, the other cars will keep you where you belong. All you have to do is look for headlights (illuminated or off—it doesn’t matter) and remember that they mark the front of the car. This means that if you’re looking at headlights and they’re in your lane, you need to be on the other side. Quickly. But the odds of this happening are surprisingly small.
Figure out Where Your Car Ends
This is the hard part, because you’ll be driving around with half a car on the side where you don’t expect it. If you’re on a motorway, start in the slow lane and cozy up to the white line that marks the edge of the shoulder. (If you’re American, the shoulder will be narrower than you’re used to.) This line will be marked with cats’ eyes, and your tires will rumble on them. Do this a few times and you’ll get a feel for the left-hand edge of your car.
Never drive in London
This is not just because of the traffic, and not just because of the congestion charge, but because even streets that run in a straight line (and there aren’t many) change names whenever the whim takes them. Driving will take your full attention. Even if you have a navigator, you don’t want to be crying out for directions (“Do I turn here? Left? Right? Hard right or the other one? Hurry!”) while you’re trying not to hit anything. Besides, public transportation in London will take you anywhere you want to go. It’s crowded, yes, but it’s great all the same.
Consider Driving a Two-Person Job at First
One person turns the wheel, steps on the pedals, and does all the usual stuff. The other person reads the map and says, “I don’t know. Can you circle the roundabout again?” and “You’re too close on this side,” with escalating degrees of panic. Make an agreement beforehand: Nothing either of you says in the car can be held against the other person afterwards.
Consider the Possibility That the Passenger Is Right
When your passenger says, “you’re too close on this side,” they may or may not be right. To an American, the lanes will seem insanely narrow, and skimming along that close to a hedge/a wall/a house/the next lane of traffic is enough to scare the driver’s license right out of a passenger’s wallet, but that doesn’t mean the car really is too close.. On the other hand, your passenger may be right. You need to consider that possibility—along with its opposite.
Don’t Drive Any Faster Than Feels Safe
On a two-lane road, with a line of traffic building up behind you, it’s hard not to think you should press down on the gas, if for no better reason than to defend the reputation of foreign visitors. Resist the impulse and don’t drive any faster than you’re comfortable with. Every so often, you’ll see a lay-by—a place where you can pull off the road safely. Just pull in and let everyone behind you pass, then start out again and build up a new line of followers. And if you’re feeling bad about it, remind yourself that you’ll hold them up for longer if you have a wreck.
Don’t Panic In Roundabouts
All traffic circles to the left and unless the roundabout has traffic lights everyone yields to cars coming from the right—in other words, to cars that are already in the roundabout. If you find more than one lane in the approach, and unless the lanes are marked otherwise, the left lane is for the exits less than 180 degrees from the entry lane(s); the lane on the right is for exits beyond that. Going into a roundabout, if someone signals a left-hand turn, they’re taking the first exit. If someone signals a right-hand turn, they’re taking an exit that’s more than 180 degrees from then entry lane(s). Cars already in the roundabout will signal a left as they come up on their exit. Probably. In my experience, signalling in and before roundabouts is fairly random and you shouldn’t bet your fenders on it.
Don’t Expect Stop Signs
You won’t find them at intersections or roundabouts. The signal that you have to yield or stop is a white line painted across your lane. If you’re used to seeing stop signs, this is too subtle to be much help. On our early trips, my partner and I had an agreement that whoever was navigating would yell, “Yield!” when we approached one.
Watch for Pedestrian Crossings
These fall into several categories: zebra, puffin, toucan, and pelican. That’s a completely useless bit of local knowledge, but it’s so weird I had to include it. Some of those crossings are marked by traffic lights, and they’re obvious. If the light’s red, you stop. Whatever you do, don’t hit the pedestrians. The less obvious crossings are the ones marked by painted white stripes across the street and flashing amber lights on the curbs. (These are the zebra crossings, in case you’re interested.) The pedestrian has the right of way here, so if someone’s approaching the curb you need to hit the brakes.
Parking Is Almost Never Free
Signs limiting when and where you can park aren’t easy to spot at first. I grew up in a world of parking meters, and when I didn’t see any I thought I could park anywhere. Expensive mistake. Look for signs on poles. Look for signs on the buildings. Put your pride in your pocket and ask someone. Once you get used to them, the signs are obvious enough, but until then they’re invisible. And if you see a sign pointing to a car park (that’s a parking lot if you’re American), follow it. Find a space and then look for another sign explaining when and how to pay, because some want you to buy your ticket first and leave it in the car and some want you to insert your ticket and your money in a machine on the way out, then insert the ticket again to lift the barrier. Once in a great while, you’ll find a free car park, but don’t count on it.
And one bonus tip: The hand that’s waving in mid-air, trying to grab the seatbelt? It’s the wrong one. The seatbelt’s on the other side.
But it’s all do-able. Worry just enough, but not too much.
Ellen Hawley invites you to check out her blog at www.notesfromtheuk.com. Her novel The Divorce Diet will be released in the U.S. in January.
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas in 2007 in a closet in Chicago. Anglotopia is for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia is now our full-time jobs and we spend our time working on the site and planning our yearly trips to Britain. In 2014, we founded 
I’ve hired a car a few times while traveling in the UK and I truly love driving in England more than at home. I always avoided driving in London as well. But on our last trip I had to pick up our rental car in Central London and driving in London wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t do it without a SatNav though. It told me exactly where to go. It was also after rush hour so the roads were not crowded. I’d do it again – in fact I can’t wait to!
Imagine how confused I’m going to be next year. I’ve never driven in the UK, despite living there til I was 49. Moved to the US. Live in NYC, so no need to drive, happy to ride in cabs & on the bus. BUT some instinct kicked in when I went on vacation to VA with my fiancée this summer. For the first three hours when we hit a junction my sphincter tightened because to my eyes we were going the WRONG WAY. AAAAGH!
Now I have my license (the US one) and when we visit Blighty next year I’m the one doing the driving, because he says “You know how to drive on that side of the road honey”.
Will update in 2115, if we survive….
Just grin winningly, wave, & mouth ‘Sorry!’ whenever you get it wrong.
Most of us are a fairly forgiving lot…the rest?…s*d ’em!
Get some bright colored wide plastic insulation tape (yellow or red). And a plastic bag. Now using scissors, fashion an arrow out of a strip of tape about 4inches long. Make a triangular shaped large pointy end on it. Stick it on to the outside of the plastic bag. Make two or three more for contingencies. Put this plastic bag with sticky arrows in your suitcase. Once you take delivery of your rental car, before going anywhere, carefully remove the sticky arrow from the plastic bag and stick it on your front windshield, just above the steering wheel with the arrow pointing to the edge of the road. Hint: in England, that’s pointing to the left, in Europe to the right. Sit there and think very carefully about the correct way to place your arrow. After that NEVER turn onto a street, approach or leave a roundabout or go onto a motorway without first checking the direction of your arrow. You have spare arrows incase you change rental cars or go to a different country. Take this advise from someone who has driven all over the world swapping from side to side with never an accident. And be aware that the biggest danger is pulling out onto a road in the dark! Watch your arrow like a hawk. And when you get back home, stick another arrow on your own car for awhile, to avoid relapses.
I am actually visiting the UK at the moment. One thing I would also stress to Americans renting cars here is to rent a small one. Rental agencies will often try to persuade you to upgrade to a larger car. Don’t. Adjusting to driving in the left lane is hard enough, but most roads here are also narrow and winding. In villages many people park half on the road and half on the sidewalk, forcing traffic to squeeze down what little street space there is. I’ve also found turning around in car parks is very difficult.
I am currently renting a VW Golf — not a large car by American standards, but a cumbersome behemoth if you are used to American roads. I would suggest renting something in the size range of a Fiat 500, Toyota Aygo, VW Up, etc. I have always rented small cars in the past, and after this trip have vowed to go back to them!
We rented a Peugeot. AND we upgraded to Automatic transmission as opposed to Standard transmission, even though my husband and I could both drive standard. We figured we would have enough to worry about without the added stress of shifting gears with our left hand as opposed to our right!
It took us forever to stop using the wing mirror as the rearview mirror, too. It was hard to get used to looking up to the left to see behind us.
I loved driving in Britain…eventually! I drove there for the first time two years ago. We flew into London, and after a whirlwind visit, took the train to Nottingham to stay with my aunt. We booked our car through Avis, chiefly because they said they could deliver the car to us in my aunt’s village just outside Nottingham! BIG plus! We got to do our adjustments on roads with fewer cars on at first. Being from North America (or “America” in Britain), I had to remind myself to cross traffic when I turned right. I never did get used to the roundabouts though, even with our SatNav (“wait…they consider that tiny alley AN EXIT??!” LOL). I don’t think I travelled through any without muttering “Sorry! Sorry!” under my breath as I did. And Scotland. Wow, driving in Scotland. Twist, turn on winding roads barely wide enough for one car let alone two in different directions, with a mountain on one side and a sheer drop on the other (usually the side I was driving on!). I’d do it again in a heartbeat though.
On your visit to our fair county….did you leave Nottinghamshire for the Peak District by any chance……there’s as much ‘twisty-turny’ stuff there as ever you enjoyed in Scotland!
‘The other person reads the map and says, “I don’t know. Can you circle the roundabout again?” and “You’re too close on this side,” with escalating degrees of panic.’
That made me laugh…….I have visions of hordes of American visitors all doing their nut & shrieking at each other madly, at every road junction!!!
I can only imagine what it will be like when my (English) husband and I move (back, in his case) to the UK.
He let me drive about six blocks (from the grocery to home) when I visited him before he moved here. I was teasing him a bit by driving reeeaaalllly slowly and taking turns reeeeaaaalllly wide, but he was still gripping the handles for dear life and keeping his foot at the imaginary-break-pedal ready 😉
One thing that I noticed was that, even though I felt comfortable driving on the opposite side from which I’m used to, I still couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder when making right turns, because I instinctively expected traffic to be coming behind me in the right lane.
It’s also good to remember that the steering wheel should always be towards the center of the road whilst driving in England and the US. This applies if you are driving an English or American car in their respective countries.
Good to remember in an emergency!
You think British motorway lanes are narrow – try driving in Italy …
Two thoughts –
Rent an automatic transmission, not a stick shift
When you activate your turn signals the first few times, you will be surprised when the windshield wipers turn on.
DON
>Don’t Expect Stop Signs: You won’t find them at intersections or roundabouts. The signal that you have to yield or stop is a white line painted across your lane.
If there is a white stop line painted across the junction (intersection) then there should be a STOP sign too. It’s just that there are very few junctions like that. But in non-urban areas and at major junctions in towns, there will be a “Give Way” (Yield) sign at the junction – and then it’s often best to stop anyway, especially if your view out of the junction is blocked or limited, as it often is.
Don’t expect to be able to drive 5 miles or any miles over the speed limit in the motorway average speed cam areas. You will be ticketed for speeding. How will you know before the ticket arrives for you in the mail? At the end of the average speed cam area you’ll be a star for a few moments when you see the flash of the camera.
Just pay the fine, unlike the US there is no appeal. Oh, if you don’t pay you’ll accrue interest and next time you’re in the U.K…..