Driving in the UK for the first time - See what I did to make the transition easier. 

I feel like having a nervous breakdown just watching this. I don't even know how you're talking to the camera and not crashing. Lol

Good to hear you say more than once,"driving on the oppersite side of the road" rather than the wrong side of the road! as other U.S. commentors have said...

In from the UK but I live in California, driving in the UK is a lot harder, a lot more rules and smaller roads + driving manual. While driving in the US is so easy, the test as well was a breeze to pass

Many British driver's have had experience driving on the continent, perhaps once a year on a annual break, so it doesn't take too long to re-adjust. As always with these things--taking your time to observe,and think ahead, before you make a move, is best. Ignoring those behind you if possible--as it was when first learning to drive--not easy I know but ignore those idiots blowing their horns.

After driving like a "pro" for about 20 years in India and just yesterday i drove for the first time in America and i almost felt like I've never driven a car before.

i was curious, i found a video that delved into that curiosity. thanks, have a like!

Like you say the danger comes the next day when you leave your hotel. I have found this when driving my UK car in France. It's even more dangerous then because you are in a familiar car but on the opposite side of the road. A right hand drive car on the right side of the road also puts you at a disadvantage as you can't see as well when emerging from junctions.

It is weird. I was driving around southern Spain for a few weeks back in June and at first I was trying to change gear with the window handle and looking for the rear view mirror in the side window! Spanish roads are very tough anyway so stick shifting was hard because you're just not used to the reverse setup. The advice about trying to get an automatic is good but they are usually much more expensive in Europe for some reason. The worst part of that experience was the drive from the airport to my rental 80 miles away when I was still totally raw and it was getting dark. Now THAT was hairy. Without a sat nav the search parties would still be out checking ditches for me today!

Its good to see an American driving in the UK which is not fun I'm sure. I have done it the other way because as a Brit I have driven in the USA whilst visiting. I love driving in the USA. Its so different to driving in the UK (which is fun once you get out of the large cities and onto the rural roads).

You messed up that roundabout though at 0:57, but for first timer driving on the opposite side. It's excused. haha.

Very cool

I thought I'd struggle driving in the States but took to it well when I was there. TBH it felt weird driving in England when I got back home. I'm converted to automatics now

If you drive across to Europe for the first time, it takes about 20-30 minutes to get used to the right hand side. Europeans coming to tour Britain say it takes about the same time to get the hang of the left side. Don't let yourselves be made nervous by neurotic videos on RU-vid. Take a look at Steve and Jodi's Vlog and see how they just embrace the whole experience of Britain.

what a lovely day bright blue sky

Similar when i visited America from Australia the first time . Took a little while to get use it but after a few hours it was ok

in Suriname you drive left as well

did you have to pay extra to drive an automatic transmission? How much extra?

It's also the same when us from the UK travel in places like the US

I live in a lht country and i always find it wierd seeing other countries driving on the right with the wheel to the left...

I'm a Brit but have spent years in Canada and the U.S. driving on the right, so I understand the problems Mike is having. It does help having a right-hand-drive car in the U.K., driving on the different side does not seem quite so unnatural. I found that changing gear on a stick shift with the "wrong" hand was disconcerting and required concentration on an activity that should be natural, so I would also recommend having an automatic transmission, if your budget can stand it. British roads are also very crowded so an auto is also are good idea in the frequent occurrences of slow moving traffic. Unfortunately, car rental companies frequently charge a great deal more for an automatic car compared to its manual equivalent.

thanks great! very informative!! (leaving tomorrow!!!)

So like in the UK is the left one the slow lane or is it still the passing lane?

most young people from uk have grown up with video games driving on the right. we can do foreign driving easily now

It is odd driving on the wrong side of the road, but I really could not get used to those traffic circles.

Thanks for sharing, really crazy to think about. I'm considering driving there in a couple of months and not sure if I'm up to it!

If you don't drive on the right side, only the wrong side is left.

no problem :)

Driving on the left-hand side of the road originates from a quarrel between two brothers who were debating over which side would be more advantageous for the future of driving. Unable to come to an agreement, they simply flipped a coin... Heads for right side; Tails for left side. The result was tails. This is where the phrase "Tails never fails" was 'coined', which, coincidentally, is also the origin of using 'coin' as a verb. Please know I had cited all of my research sources, but my dog actually ate the flash drive it was saved to, so you'll have to take my word at face value. My word... Is my bond. ***PS: Any mention of horses and/or right-handedness is blatantly false.***

Never never never..., I prefer to stay in Germany (:

Thats bristol airport you’re leaving at the beginning isn’t it? About 45 mins from my house. :)

How are the gears placed in uk cars? For example if you want to put it in first gear is it on top right?

were u M5 southbound

How about american car owners like me. I'm sitting on the wrong side of the car, on the left side of the road, and yeah, in my 68 camaro i glance in the wrong direction for the rear view mirror haha. It's not my daily car mind you.

With so many driving games out there now on consoles and PCs I am surprised nobody has brought out a simulator to let you practice on driving on the opposite side of the road to the one you are used to.

Never thought I'd see an american behind the wheel of a Peugeot! XD

Just started driving in the UK for the first time. The easiest trick i use in figuring which lane is the right one, is that the passenger's seat should be closest to the curb. This has eased my confusion a 100x

I don't even drive but this is giving me anxiety

My biggest concern would be things that I do reflexively such as moving to the right to avoid a head-on collision

Just imagine the nightmare, if "left" and "right" meant the opposite also. lol

Driving on the right hand side of the road is so rude - how can you shake hands with the chap coming in the opposite direction or defend yourself with your sword if he is a scoundrel.

This is exactly how I felt while driving in America

being from the uk must feel so weird to drive in american car in america, i so get where hes comin from

I spent about 10 years in the UK. Driving on the left was a bit strange at first, but it became second nature after about a week. But it took me three tries to pass my driving test, despite having driven for 20 years in Canada. The driving test is an exercise in choreography, which you really can't master without taking lessons, no matter how experienced you are. The narrow roads require a different driving style: you don't necessarily stay in your lane; for example, you may have to drive down the middle of the road to pass parked cars. And my driving instructor taught me to make use of information like reflections in shop windows to see around corners. The thing I found the most awkward, for some reason, was looking over my left shoulder when backing up. Driving on the left has one advantage that I could see: it makes more sense to have your right hand on the steering wheel and your left hand free to work the gearshift, unless you are left-handed.

I don't believe I'd be able to handle turning at the 4-way intersections. I can picture myself sitting there trying to figure out the physics and trajectory and the angle and a line of cars behind me, waiting for me to figure it out and beeping at me. And then in a last-minute rush, I drive over the curb.

Im from England and I think driving in the us is so much easier to change to!

I was stationed in England back in the 90s. It messed me up going back to the States. I remember the first day home on leave. I was at the local mall and driving near the doors, my friend said that I was on the wrong side. BTW I drove a LHD car in the UK.

I’m an American living in London and I am so nervous to rent a car here to go to the countryside. I’m just so afraid that I’m going to crash

Oops! lane discipline at the first roundabout was all over the place! Lucky no one was coming..{like me on my first driving lessons :) }

I hate driving in the UK, a lot of people there are nasty, selfish, and think they own the roads.

Just wanted to point out something. The speed limit and that of the USA aren’t the same, two different metric systems US uses MPH, while UK uses KM/H 70 KM/H in UK = 43 MPH ( ultimately slow speeds to be operating on US highways at 65 MPH in USA highway speeds = 105 KM/H

While over on vacation from the UK, my wife and I drove from Brandon, Manitoba to Vancouver, then, over to Vancouver island and back over the Rockies via Banff to Brandon. We felt quite pleased by our achievement - driving on the right-hand side of the road. Our major problem was keeping to the low speed limits, identifying the 'one-way' street signs, and, most of all remembering not to press the foot brake with the left foot. Wow! first and only time - thank heavens for the seat belt! There was of course, the unexpected weight of American/Canadian built cars. Not only are they larger cars to UK/European cars - they are extremely heavy, stopping one in comparison to a British/European car is an eye-opener - it's like stopping a super-tanker - you need lots of space. Maybe that is why the speed limits are lower on US/Canadian highways. I came home with great respect for those automatic geared gas-guzzlers. After driving one of those, driving my own car was like driving a noddy car. Having said that, I have great respect for American and Canadian visitors 'mixing' it with the locals on UK roads. It's the roundabouts that confuses our cousins', they just don't have them in their daily lives, and I guess I get confused with them too, from time to time. Happy motoring, wherever you are!

Excellent intro to UK driving Mike, I think sometimes us limeys forget how strange driving on the other side is for Americans as we live close to other countries so swapping from left to right hand driving is almost second nature for most of us.

I never seen an American behind the wheel of a Peugeot 😂😂. But one thing we have NEVER seen is an American behind the wheel of a Vauxhall 🤩🤩

that's cheating -> try a manual :D

Remember on roundabouts to follow lanes correctly. That generally means 'peeling out' as you reach your exit. In a two-lane roundabout, use the right-hand lane to go right and the left-hand lane to go left or straight on. It's important so you don't block people trying to get off at their exits unnecessarily.

Using a camera whilst driving??? TUT TUT!!!

so... 90% of the world are RIGHT handed, and yet two thirds of those people think it's better to have their LEFT hand on the wheel AT ALL TIMES, while the right hand is not doing as much just changing gears lol. I totally get that people wanted to break free from the british, and do things "different", but that is just totally stupid having your best hand not doing as much.. conclusion british are smart and used a tradition from the empire that came before them everyone else follows failed empires like napoleon and hitler lol....

I don't think you're in the UK, it looks sunny.

When i first drove a left hand drive car in spain i kept hitting the drivers door going for my gears. In 2018 i visited vancouver and seattle and driving left hand drive was easy as i have driven many times in europe

I don't know how to drive a stick shift, so it's automatically an automatic for me. Also, the idea of driving on the left makes me so nervous.

That made me so anxious...theres no way I could do that without crashing.

Exactly the same way I felt,when driving in the United States,(I'm from Australia)

In the UK speed camera avoidance is very easy, it's 10% of the limit +2mph. So 70 MPH, the camera wouldn't flash until you hit 79 MPH but because cars are a bit slow, even though you got flashed doesn't mean you'll get a fine especially when you're just borderline recommend prosecution (10% +2mph), not sure about the motorway but any other roads have lines on them to determine speed.. Again, it depends.

It's strange to drive in England. You drive on the wrong side of the car.

I tried it in belgium, got caught by the police and got a fine, how do they do it in the uk?

I find when on the other side of the road, it's all fine as long as you have other traffic and your not flustered. If your flustered and no cars, you'll likely go around the odd small roundabout the wrong way. Lol.

ive always wondered what shifting with your left hand would be like

Driving in this country, these days, is a nightmare. That bloke is correct - there are speed cameras everywhere. They are there, according to The Authorities, to enhance road safety. The truth is I spend as much time looking at my speeedometer as I do the road, in order to avoid a fine for speeding. They are a money - making racket.

Hi Mike, nice video. It's a strange feeling, last year when I was in London I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. When the driver approached a roundabout he took the left side of the roundabout. I was like what the h***? I can't imagine me driving there. But I sure would like to try someday. I'll buy a good Insurance for that event! Another point is: isn't that a strange feeling to switch gears with your left hand when you're right handed?

Having driven in England and America, the one thing I love about the US is the right on red rule.

#Driving in the #UK for the first time - See what I did to make the transition easier. #travel

I have been driving on the right side of the car in my video games recently, and I actually got into the right side of my car in real life the other day.

Watching this because I’m an American about to buy a car in New Zealand for the first time and I’m terrified. I’ve only driven here once before and it was so disorienting and yeah, unsettling is a good word for the feeling 😬 I definitely noticed how strange it felt that pretty much everything inside the car was reversed and what’s even weirder is that here the windshield wipers and indicator are also reversed, which apparently isn’t true of cars in the UK (compared to cars in the US).

I drove on the left side of the road when I visited England back in 2007. Strange experience, but I adjusted quickly. My only complaint is that the auto and lorry drivers on the motorways in the UK are crazy, not to mention the traffic congestion, most of it I encountered on the M25 surrounding London as well as on the M6 and M42 around Birmingham. They do have speeding cameras, but I kept under the speed limit and experienced no trouble and was never pulled over and ticketed with a speeding fine. I was not familiar with most of the country roads of the A series, so I stayed mostly on the motorways. The best driving was on the M40, M3, M1 and the M4 away from London where traffic was less. I had to use the M6 Toll to get around the traffic congestion of Birmingham (cost was 4 pounds). But the gasoline (petrol) was very expensive; around 1.05 to 1.18 pounds per liter; spent over L.35 (pounds sterling) (around $57 USD) to fill up at a Shell station on the M6 plus nearly the name amount at an Esso station off the M55 in Blackpool. Renting a car is the best way to see England, or any foreign country you visit, but it is also the most expensive; my five-day car rental cost me over $700 (that included auto insurance, fuel costs, and Value Added Tax which was 17.5%). But I still think it was worth the expense.

The Road in the UK is basically similar to Hong Kong. Driver side in the Right hand side.

It took me two months to get used to openning the right door of the driver's seat every morning. It was crazy

I still remember my first time arriving in the U.S from England (1980) and driving from LAX through Los Angeles took a bit of getting used to. Also the little thing about going through a red light when turning right, totally alien to us in the UK. I have always wondered why when you hire a car especially from the larger hire firms they do not have a basic rules of the road booklet or something like that to help if you are from overseas. Interesting to see your film.

Okay, let’s get things straight. The roundabouts and manual car driving uphill is the only hard thing driving in the UK. + all the rules. Generally I love driving on the left hand side :) since I look to the right anyways

Having done the same but in Florida I found it was more the combo of driving on the right hand side and the left of the car which I found most disconcerting to begin with. That and concentrating on where to go and turning off junctions made it hard to get used to even after 2 weeks of driving.

We British were driving on the left hand side of the road long before Europeans first set foot on the North American Continent. Knights mounted their horses from the left and as the majority of people are right handed they held their swords and lances in their right hand. It was only after America got it's independence from Britain that they started driving on the right and drinking coffee instead of tea.

Rápido demais o vídeo; não dá pra ver nada !

How did you get a Licence ? Can I use my USA Licence to drive ?

I’m planning a trip to the UK and am thinking of renting a car, so I can visit all the cities - London, Manchester, Leeds, Southampton, etc. I think for me being on the right side of the car is going to throw me off.

Same like me, dude, i'm from Indonesia, we drove on the left side of the road

It is possible that the custom of driving on the left dates back to pre-history and may later have been used as an early road safety measure. At a time when the main danger on the roads was mugging, careful travellers would pass on-coming strangers on the left with their sword arm towards the passer-by. The keep left rule did not become law in Britain until the increase in horse traffic made some sort of enforcement essential. Before this, the drivers of coaches leaving London for the country simply chose the firmest part of the road. The main dates for the introduction of the legal requirement to keep left are: 1756 - London Bridge 1772 - Towns in Scotland 1835 - All roads in Great Britain and Ireland. In Europe, Pope Boniface VIII instructed pilgrims to keep to the left in the year 1300. Later, class distinction in France meant that aristocrats drove their carriages on the left side of the road forcing everybody else over to the centre or to the right-hand side. Keeping left had really only ever applied to riding or driving. With the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent declaration of the rights of man in 1791 many aristocrats decided to keep to the ‘poor side’ of the road so as not to draw attention to themselves. Keeping to the right of the road was also seen as a way of defying the earlier Papal decree. The subsequent Revolutionary wars and Napoleon’s European conquests led to the spread of driving on the right to Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Napoleon ordered his armies to use the right-hand side of the road in order to avoid congestion during military manoeuvres. The nations that resisted invasion - Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Portugal - generally kept to the left. The Netherlands changed to driving on the right in 1795, but Dutch colonies in the Far East ( Indonesia ) continued the old practices. Denmark had not been invaded by the French but changed in 1793. Russia did not switch until 1916. Czechoslovakia and Hungary were the last countries in mainland Europe to keep left, only changing to the right following invasion by Germany in the late 1930s. Portugal made the change from left to right in the 1920s; countries with border crossings found there was great confusion if drivers were required to change sides of the road when passing from country to country. Sweden remained on the left until 1967 and changed to the right following a lengthy road safety campaign. In Austria from 1805 to 1939 half the country drove on the left whilst the other half, the area that had been invaded by Napoleon, drove on the right! Most of the British Empire adopted the British custom of driving on the left although Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon, kept using the right after it became a British dependency. Pakistan considered changing from left to right in the 1960s,The main argument against was that camel trains often drove through the night while their drivers dozed,The difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was a decisive factor in Pakistan rejecting the change. Canada stayed on the left until the 1920s. During the American War of Independence, French liberal reformer General Lafayette gave advice to the revolutionary forces and spread the idea of driving on the right. The keep right rule was applied to the Pennsylvania turnpike in 1792, New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813. Bucking the normal trend, the Pacific island of Samoa made the switch from driving on the right to driving on the left side of the road on 7 September 2009. The official reason given was so as to fall in line with near neighbours Australia and New Zealand which, like Britain, still drive on the left.

Lanes go both ways there. They can change the law in a day to have everyone switch to driving on the proper side of the road, its literally the right side, cars eould be cheaper roo as they dont need all the additional tooling

Welcome to the correct side of the road on the right side of the car! Wrong transmission though.

Man I'm lysdexic so better not drive in ol Blighty

When I learnt to drive (using any available car) I used both left and right hand manual (and floor and steering column gear levers) without a problem. Obviously having an automatic is best (who wants to waste time and effort changing gears?) and a satnav is a good idea, but still have a map to make sure you are actually going to the right place! The real concern when driving on a different side of the road is what you do in an emergency! Instinct (training) may kick in and you get it seriously wrong.

before Napoleon complicated things, the rule of the road in every country was to keep left - at least as far back as the Romans. Archaeologists have proved this...!

Malaysia drives on the left too, being a former British colony. Watched a vlog by Canadian traveller pair being first time behind the wheels in Malaysia... everything opposite from back home!!

It's not rocket science. I had no trouble driving in the US from Boston to Long Island and then to Long Island to Westport Ct. and then back to Harvard but due to the lack of "roundabouts," I had terrible trouble figuring out how to get off the Interstate if I missed an exit or needed to switch roads. I wasn't comfortable until I found the first "Rotary" at Rhode Island that was a novelty for American drivers the weekend it opened. I did all this without GPS although I had a really bad experience on the road where there must have been an interchange of about 10 major roads!! New York one way, Long Island another and god knows where in another. I didn't forget how to drive after waking up in the mornings!!

Here in the UK, we drive on the right side of the road...

Exceptional video! I would feel strange after years of learning and driving in the US.

Enjoyed this video! Hope you enjoyed your Time in the UK with us! I’m travelling to Florida next week, and very nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road! I watched your video about driving for the first time in the US. Very informative, Thankyou 😁

Why can’t this whole driving thing be universally the same??? Who benefits who?? Previously you’re driving the orthodox way (right side of the road) then you cross the border of a country with unorthodox driving (left side of the highway), how do you transition that change??

Hi! I like your video. Like the British, Kiwis, and Aussies, we Fijians also drive on the left side of the road and steering wheels are placed on the right-hand side of vehicles. A total opposite to American, our fast lanes (2 or more lanes) are the right-most lane while you guys have it on the left-most of the road. One thing that's common, there are more roundabouts compared to the US, RUSSIA, CHINA and all those countries. Last year, two American tourists were injured after they were involved in a deadly crash that killed a driver of another car on country side driving. Witness said, the couple had been driving on the wrong side of the road and had blindly turned on bends. Unfortunately, they met head on with a car on a blind bend killing him instantly. The couple were lucky to be alive. So from then it has been stressed to tourists from opposite driving countries to maintain their side of the road regularly while there are signs all over the place to inform tourists to always keep left and also not hog the far right lane(fast lane) where there are more lanes.

My father, who saw me watching this video, asked, "Where is this place? Why does no one obey the traffic rules?" 🤣

I really can't understand why all these Septics that do these videos make it sound so hard or "Strange", of course it's different but it really isn't a problem. Get off the Ferry or Eurostar at Calais and drive on the right. Turning left do a wide sweep to stay on the right, turning left do a tight sweep to stay on the right, keep the white line of you lane on your right and the complete opposite for all you people who normally drive on the wrong side of the road, therein may lead to the answer, you are so use to doing things the wrong way and it is a hard habit to break!

I tried once, rented an automatic. Never again. That is better for Britain and for me. I do drive automatics since then, so it was kind of useful. But I will never again drive over there. I cannot do it. It is a miracle that I survived and did not hurt anyone in the process.