It's really very easy driving on the right hand side. You'll be amazed how easy it is. A few gotchas:
1. It is very easy to forget when leaving petrol stations and car parks. Get into the habit of saying the side of the road when setting off.
2. Look both ways before pulling away or crossing junctions.
3. You can get unstuck at left turns if you forget to give way to oncoming traffic.
4. People go on about priorite a droite in France. It is a complete load of b*llocks. They haven't actually enforced it in about 30 years, except in historic windy town centres, where they will always check before pulling out anyway. The road layouts and rules these days are almost identical to the UK, including a fondness for roundabouts.
5. Don't flash your lights to let people out, or pull out when flashed. Flashing your lights at junctions means "I got here first, so f*ck off!"
6. On the other hand, flashing lights on the open road means "there's a speed trap round the next bend", so slow down!
7. If you hire a car, watch out for automatics (although manuals are usually avaible, unlike the US-Canada). It is very easy to attempt to change gear with the window winder, despite being an automatic, whilst pressing the oversized brake pedal hard, thinking it is the clutch.
Tips for driving across Europe 1236Christian McArdle That is very good advice. It is mainly a problem when there is no other traffic about or when people look the wrong way at a clear section...
8. Watch out for Belgium. It is an enclave of absolutely appalling driving, surrounded by countries with relatively good driving standards (France and Netherlands). It also has terrible road maintenance. If I was an inexperienced European driver, I'd avoid Belgium and go via St Quentin-Reims-Metz-Saar. Autobahns in NW Germany and Belgium are really fast, congested, narrow laned, potholed, tailgating nightmares in comparison with the smooth uncongested French autoroutes, even though you do have to pay tolls.
Christian.
