Driving and Driving

So after being in the UK and driving all around the UK for the last 8 months I think I have a pretty good handle on the skill. I may have eluded to a my feelings about driving in some previous posts but I thought it may be fun to put together a top 10 list of things that bother me about driving in the UK.

Before I get to the list I will also say that I had quite an adjustment to driving overhear and the first 3 weeks or so I referred to as white knuckle driving. This is because I was so intensely paying attention to my driving that I gripped the wheel so tight that my knuckles lost blood flow regularly. To be honest this was also caused because I was a bit scared. In fact I would tell people that when they drove in the UK they should bring along a couple changes of shorts because you get that scared you may need to change them.

However I did get over these issues and now when I go home and drive I must admit it seems a little boring. The roads are super wide, there are no true corners in most places, and you have easy to follow signage (no matter what you think of our road signs they are better than any other country I have visited yet). One of the biggest things I did to get into driving was change the type of car I was driving. Originally I drove a large car, either a Peugeot 407 or a VW Passat. In the states these would be considered mid-sized cars. In the UK they take up way to much room and leave you less room to maneuver. Also a lot of it came to practice. Driving with your right hand and shifting with the left takes some work when you are used to doing the opposite. Also once you start to learn where to look for road signs you can start to make your way around with out the GPS.

So here is my top ten things that bother me, and probably any driver from the states, in the UK:

10.) Driving on the Opposite side of the road – I don’t care that more people in the world drive on the left, it is just weird. You have to shift with the wrong hand, the GPS tells you to go the wrong way through a round-a-bout, and your passengers get freaked out because you end up driving so close to the edge of the road. However you do get used to this and switching back and forth does become a non-issue.

9.) Signage – UK signs are not where they belong. They may dangle from over head like on the US freeways, be posted in the center of the round-a-bout, on the outside of a round-a-bout, on the pavement, on signs leading into an intersection, or who knows where. There are duplicate signs that list destinations in a different order each time you see them, and when you come into an interchange you never know where to look to determine which lane is the correct one to be in.

8.) Size of roads – They are simply, with the exception of the motorways, to small. The lanes are too small, there are not enough lanes, and they will not move fences, hedges, light poles, or stone walls to accommodate a decent road way. Even on a well traveled road you have to pull over to let on coming traffic to pass. How 19th century is that. We aren’t in horse and buggies anymore.

7.) Parking on roads – This actually is a continuation of point 8. In the middle of a decent sized city people will park, and it is legal, along a major road. This in effect cuts the road in half and backs traffic up. It also means that in many cases I only have millimeters between my car’s review mirrors and those of the cars parked along the road. This is when I normally need those new shorts.

6.) Country bi-directional roads – This point is also a continuation of a theme. When you get into the country, and it doesn’t take much 10 mile out of a town center, the roads get even smaller! There are times where the road is so narrow that the mirrors on the side of the car are trimming hedges on both sides as you drive. Now take in mind and realize that this is a two way road. So now you have to pull into a swamp every 10 minutes to let traffic pass. No take all that into mind and realize you are in Wales and driving up the side of a mountain in the fog. Come on build some decent size roads.

5.) Corners and Speed – The British can not make a straight road. I don’t know why they just can’t. In the states we may be a little crazy on making routes as straight as possible in the UK it isn’t even considered. Neither is driving at a decent speed. The national speed limit is 70 mph, on a two way road with 90 degree s-turns, and people will average 95 mph. They are simply nutz. Though, when I get on the motorway the speed seems to make more sense.

4.) Never stopping, at least in theory – The whole point of a round-a-bout is so people don’t have to stop. So why do the British then put stop lights on them? Or put them in on highways so at 70 miles an hour (or as I said 95) people have to worry about cross traffic. Then at an uncontrolled round-a-bout you still have to stop because there are a million cars coming on one exit to the left of you. Again traffic backs up. Just put in a four-way light and be done with it. Oh yeah and if a round-a-bout needs more than 4 lanes it is too big and you should use something else. I always end up going somewhere I don’t want to be cause I should have been in lane 2 not lane 9.

3.) Watch out if there is bad weather – This is simple. When there is a little fog or drizzle 3 people on the road want to go 50 mph rather than 70 or 95. Then they decide they should pass someone doing 40. Plus everyone decides to go home early so there are 3 times as many people on the road and it take 3 times as long to get anywhere. Even though the roads have fine traction and visibility is still 80% what it normally is.

2.) The fast lane is not fast – Building on number 3 the British have a bad habit of riding in the wrong lane. If there is a tractor on the road in 2 miles they get into the fast lane now. Then do 3 miles and hour faster than the tractor. Add bad weather to this, or heavy traffic and the fast lane actually can move slower than the slow lane. For no reason. The slow drivers just don’t want to move over. It is enough to make you scream (of course this happens in the US as you approach a merger or construction drives me just as nutz there).

1.) 1.) Traffic incidents – Finally the way they handle traffic accidents is crazy. They completely shut the road down until the forensics work is done. And if it is a weekend that could be ½ a day, forget a bout it. Seriously on our drive back from Scotland there was an accident on the M40 that occurred around 2 in the afternoon and we were stuck in the back up when we arrived at interchange around 6 in the evening. It was closer to 7 when they finally opened the road and it started to flow again! The best part, no detour signs, if you are smart enough to get off in time you have no clue where to go.

All that said, I do have to say that the British are much more courteous drivers. They signal, let you in when you signal, and in general leave gaps for people. If there is no one in front of them they will get over for you to pass, assuming traffic is light. And you aren’t allowed to honk unless there is an emergency so it is nice not to hear all the honking (if you have been to New York or Chicago you know what I am talking about). Though side by side. I will be glad to be back in the states, it is just a lot easier to get around from place to place.