Continental Driving

[Guest racer]

Hi All I would really like to go on a continental trip in my Locost . Somewhere like LeMans ,or even Brittainy as a taster trip . The fact is I've never driven ' on the wrong side of the road' ,before !! I'm worried ! Anyone got any experiences of their first time /good?/bad? /easy? etc . Anyone fancy going with me in another car to show me the ropes ,or should that be "so I can hide behind you? "lol All comments /help gratefully received ! ROD

[enforcer]

It's not so bad - you will find it comes naturally very quickly. The danger area is when you driving about on deserted roads and let your guard down. That's when you find that some idiot is driving straight for you.

 

The first time I drove abroad I was visiting my brother in Germany where he was posted as an Army Air Corps Pilot. It was a nightmare because he told me that as soon as I got on the autobahn I must follow the signs for 'Ausfarht'.

 

Not being a german speaker I wasn't to know this meant 'exit'!

[Guest chris brown]

Racer it's easy as there are far fewer cars except in the towns and the French roads are excellent and you will be surprised how soon you get used to driving on the other side

 

 

Enforcer

Are you sure your brother really wanted you to visit

[Guest rizla]

ive only driven a car in florida(on the wrong side of the road)

 

we hired a mustang convertable when we were in florida,it had a max speed of 80 on the speedo being a v8 i thought it would go quiker than that,and it did 135 down the in the interstate the highway patrol was not impressed but we only got a warning

 

the driving was fine after a short learning curve no roundabouts made it easy

[Guest Battery Bill]

Like Enforcer says its not too bad to begin with as you are all keyed up but the worst time is after a few days when you relax a bit and then come to a deserted junction then pull out onto the "Proper" side then you see some burk coming at you on the wrong side

I had that when I was stationed in Germany, after pulling out of a junction I was driving down a long straight road thinking there is a madman ahead on my side of the road

The people near the ferry terminals (And Military bases) are quite used to it i think.

[Guest racer]

Thanks for all those comments ,keep them coming ! When we went to Greece on hols I was very tempted to hire a car ,but its looney tunes on their roads ! We are going to Cyprus on hols this year ,a bit safer- they drive on 'our' side of the road .I am sorely tempted to go on a road trip to Brittany to try it there ,then if it all goes wrong ,I can creep back to the safety of the ferry ! ROD

[Guest Daren.F]

I was driving in florida a couple of years ago, I went into a shopping mall carpark at night, but when I came out I turned the wrong way on to a six lane highway, facing me were six sets of very white headlights.

I spun the wheel and stamped on the gas (V6 auto) and fishtailed away like the Dukes of Hazzard.

In my defence, I was only 21 and had only just landed in the US.

[Guest pmeads]

Hi, have a look at "franceforfamilies.com" gives some good advice and pictures of roadsigns etc. My first experience of driving abroad was to the LeMans in the 60`s, watching the mighty GT40`s - fantastic. It was not legal for me to drive but as I was the only one not to get legless, the concensus was that it would be safer if I was behind the wheel. Must have been mad. This was 3 of us in a 1963 TR4 with all our camping gear, I later went on to buy the TR for the sum of £325.0s.0d.

As for my advice; concentrate at all times (no radio), drive well within your limits its easier to stop, do NOT drink - no not even one, have an understanding passenger who will help read signs and remind you to keep to the right. Roads in France are lovely, much less traffic, much better condition. Just take your time and sod any impatient french or english. You will soon be up to speed and driving like a native.

Enjoy

 

Paul

[Guest steve o]

In General it is easy the only things that you have to think about is roundabouts and turning Left. As others have said the french autoroutes are very good and all most empty Not like the M25

[Guest chris]

I have driven many miles abroad,most of them in France.My experience is that after a ten to twenty minute learning curve and as long as you keeep focussed its a doddle.French roads are wonderful in the dry but in the wet a different story,I think they must use a different Tarmac to us as the road spray following another car or truck is much worse than at home.

On another point,radar detectors of any type are ILLEGAL in France and it has been said that they can impound your car at worst and a big fine at best

regards chris

[Guest Alasdair]

I found the biggest problem was complicated road junctions (like intersecting dual carriageways with traffic lights), my wife would point to the correct exit point (somewhat nervously) while I concentrated on not changing gear with the door handle.

 

I also used to get "MOVE OVER!!" when she looked out of her side on some mountain hairpin bends!

 

I was used to it after about 3 days.

[Guest micky bigthumbs]

I was driving back to germany and got the felixstow to vlissengan ferry.. just about 500yds out the terminal i went round an island the wrong way ..cars were going everwhere ..not a scratch but my ears hurt from the screams off my three passengers i slowed down and we were all concentrating untill we hit the first autoroute then i floored it only to find the 110 speed limit was Kilo's i got let off with a caution and a police bike escort for 5 to10 miles

 

Mick

[Guest coopsuk]

Racer,

 

Don't worry about it, get out there and give it a go.

I've driven in a few countries now, you have to think about what your doing at first but soon enough you get used to it and within a short space of time your driving like your at home (but on the wrong side).

 

I driven in France, Germany, Italy, America, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Belguim & Korea so far (think that is them all), must admit America was a 7.5metre motor home and that was fun, hired it to take to the indy GP a couple of years ago with some friends.

 

Coops

[Guest craig cowley]

the time to watch is when you come back to uk you will have got used to driving on wrong side very quickly and when you come back to uk you relax and then make mistakes usally lasts for about two days.

 

but dont worry first time i was in states got to a juction turned down wrong side of road past a very bemused american woman paniked circled women completly to get back on right side (thank god it was a quite junction) but you should have seen the look on her face!!

[Guest mickmellors]

I have some vacancies for the RHOCaR trip to LeMans if you really fancy it. There will be 50 cars going from the Club altogether and there are at least 4 or 5 cars going from the Essex Area, perhaps you could tag along with them for your first trip - they are all seasoned veterans of the trip and I am sure they would take you under their wing as a first timer. If you fancy the Club trip e-mail me at lemans2005@fsmail.net with your name, address, and as many daytime and evening and mobile phone contact numbers as you can, and I will send you a CD full of info about the trip. The CD contains a booking form for you to print off and send with your payment. Dont wait too long though - I have had 3 enquiries just in the last 2 days, once the 50 places are filled - thats it !