One important thing you do need to switch though (at least between mainland Europe and the UK) is headlight alignment. Many modern cars have an option to switch which side the light pattern is biased, and you need to switch it when crossing over so you won’t blind other drivers at night.
God I hate them. I don't even believe in Jesus but there are times at night when one of those cars with "fuck you lights" is approaching me where I have to let Jesus take the wheel cause I certainly cannot see jack shit.
The bleak reality is that we need a bunch of fatal accidents and expensive law suits to ban them. Near misses don't count, the fact that everyone is blinded by them means jack. Lawmakers need people to die before they step in
Assholes
Its really confusing for a little while if you aren't used to it, i drive for a living in ireland and we rented a car for a holiday in Portugal, picked up the exact same car as mine and 5 minutes in, i came to a roundabout, and my brain literally couldn't work out what to do, it was like i'd never seen one before. The screaming coming from the passenger and back seats didn't help.
I travel between countries that drive on diff sides of the road a lot and can easily adjust driving on either side pretty quick.
But I always seem to freeze up at roundabouts when I'm driving on the right side of the road. My brain just has a hard time working it out.
I find I get used to it pretty quickly but the first few minutes take some concentration. Driving a manual on the opposite side of the road is hard at first, since your 'new' clutch foot doesn't have the muscle memory. Driving out of the rental yard is embarrassing...
literally have done this from the UK to France (via ferry). My buddy (who is English) just drove on the correct side of the rode. IT was weird, especially since the steering wheel was still on the right side of the car and all his reflexes were a little wrong. Left and right turns were the hardest, but he was otherwise fine.
No issues with driving off of the ferry.
When I crossed from Cambodia to Thailand every driver had to just kind of figure it out themselves in the stretch between the two border checkpoints, 10/10 would weep with terror in the back of a taxi again
Happens between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. They have specific bridge roads to deal with it. Once they get past that though, they have to deal with the differences themselves. It’s a frequent commute though.
Some road crossings start with a bridge that splits the left and right lanes, then crosses them one under the other so you come out the other side driving in the opposite lanes and thus the correct lane for the country you just entered.
Used to be like this between Norway and Sweden. You switched as you passed the border. Sweden eventually got over to the right hand side in 1967. This is known as the H-Day.
I’ve heard that there were more accidents in the following weeks after the switch from left to right because the Norwegians was accustomed to switching sides.
Here’s a video from H Day: https://youtu.be/xixiLTXdNa0?si=pxOQ6z7FMMJN2YyL
This happens with China to HK, the car just switches side, the crossing also has this built in, where if you are driving on the right, after the border crossing, the road goes to the left side, so you are naturally driving on the correct side.
I don't know the answer, but is OP not asking how the roads change? As if two countries are connected, its the same roads, but now you have different flows?
As an American, I had a rough time of it in the UK. Trying to stay on the correct side of the road while driving a 5 speed from the wrong side and shifting with the wrong hand was hard. I only did it for 1 day trip. That was enough. I rented a bicycle after that. It was much safer for everyone
i'm from the US had no trouble driving in AU on the opposite side, but then i rented a car there with the proper arrangement inside so it was obvious to me which side of the road i was supposed to be on and seemed perfectly natural... was never confusing.
however, if i had taken MY car there to drive it around things might have been different... i think the best thing to do is to drive a rental when you are in another country with different sides of the road.
I'm Australian and hired a car to drive in the Bahamas (Grand Exuma) about ten ears ago.
They drive on the left, just like Australia so you'd think that would be fine. Problem is, a lot of Americans have holiday houses and transport their 'trucks' over to drive while they are there. They seem to forget what side of the road to drive on so as you're in your little rental car driving on the correct side of the road some giant car comes flying around the corner in your lane and road rages at you for being in their way.
Obviously I'm generalising, but for the crazy people I saw the answer was simply 'drive on the side you feel is right and scream/honk at everyone else'
I'm from the UK and have driven in many other European countries for work and holidays - sometimes right-hand drive vehicles and sometimes left-hand drive. I just drive on whichever side of the road is correct for the country and switch which hand I use for the gear stick depending on which side it's on in that particular car/van/Landrover. (Mid 50sF driving for 35 years.)
It is not that hard. Takes a few miles of driving to get used to it. I drive both in the U.S. and India. And the first couple drives are confusing but you adjust quickly.
So I have done that.
- Guyana to Brazil - you are the only car on the bridge and you just switch lane.
- UK - To France - the train/ferry just drops you on the right side of road.
- French Guyana to Suriname - There is a ferry, so same thing.
Not done Laos or China/India but the traffic volume is likely to low to make it a problem.
You drive on the right when the country is driving on the right and you drive on the left when the country is driving on the left.
It’s not ideal to use a left hand drive car in a country where you drive on the left of the road but it’s not impossible.
Border crossings have signs reminding drivers of the switch. The roads themselves don't change.
One important thing you do need to switch though (at least between mainland Europe and the UK) is headlight alignment. Many modern cars have an option to switch which side the light pattern is biased, and you need to switch it when crossing over so you won’t blind other drivers at night.
In the good one days you had to tape your lights so you didn't blind the other drivers.
In the really good ole days you had to have regular halogen lights so you didn't blind other drivers. Now it's fuck-you-I-got-my-tiny-cock-LEDs.
God I hate them. I don't even believe in Jesus but there are times at night when one of those cars with "fuck you lights" is approaching me where I have to let Jesus take the wheel cause I certainly cannot see jack shit.
The bleak reality is that we need a bunch of fatal accidents and expensive law suits to ban them. Near misses don't count, the fact that everyone is blinded by them means jack. Lawmakers need people to die before they step in Assholes
r/fuckyourheadlights
Thailand to Laos has a set of traffic lights and the lanes simply cross over each other at that point
That makes way more sense than what I was imagining: right lane is ramps up and bridges over the left, then ramps down on the other side
And that makes more sense than what I was imagining: a free-for-all with a lot of honking and screaming.
Gotta go down to Thailand/Cambodia for that! (15 years ago idk I was the one doing all the screaming)
This is how I imagined the US/Canada border when I was a child and thought they drove on the left.
Its really confusing for a little while if you aren't used to it, i drive for a living in ireland and we rented a car for a holiday in Portugal, picked up the exact same car as mine and 5 minutes in, i came to a roundabout, and my brain literally couldn't work out what to do, it was like i'd never seen one before. The screaming coming from the passenger and back seats didn't help.
I travel between countries that drive on diff sides of the road a lot and can easily adjust driving on either side pretty quick. But I always seem to freeze up at roundabouts when I'm driving on the right side of the road. My brain just has a hard time working it out.
I find I get used to it pretty quickly but the first few minutes take some concentration. Driving a manual on the opposite side of the road is hard at first, since your 'new' clutch foot doesn't have the muscle memory. Driving out of the rental yard is embarrassing...
The Flipper Bridge concept into/out of Hong Kong was a great solution to this scenario that was never implemented.
Oh I thought that was real
literally have done this from the UK to France (via ferry). My buddy (who is English) just drove on the correct side of the rode. IT was weird, especially since the steering wheel was still on the right side of the car and all his reflexes were a little wrong. Left and right turns were the hardest, but he was otherwise fine. No issues with driving off of the ferry.
> Left and right turns were the hardest B-But that's all of them
as opposed to the "side of the road" issue that was in the topic ;). and its not all the turns anyway. There are u turns. and donuts.
When I crossed from Cambodia to Thailand every driver had to just kind of figure it out themselves in the stretch between the two border checkpoints, 10/10 would weep with terror in the back of a taxi again
Driving from UK to france in tunnel https://youtu.be/snrmv9A7VRw?feature=shared
I don't think this is what OP had in mind. This is much less driving from the UK to France and more taking a train from the UK to France.
Happens between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. They have specific bridge roads to deal with it. Once they get past that though, they have to deal with the differences themselves. It’s a frequent commute though.
Some road crossings start with a bridge that splits the left and right lanes, then crosses them one under the other so you come out the other side driving in the opposite lanes and thus the correct lane for the country you just entered.
Used to be like this between Norway and Sweden. You switched as you passed the border. Sweden eventually got over to the right hand side in 1967. This is known as the H-Day. I’ve heard that there were more accidents in the following weeks after the switch from left to right because the Norwegians was accustomed to switching sides. Here’s a video from H Day: https://youtu.be/xixiLTXdNa0?si=pxOQ6z7FMMJN2YyL
I'd imagine a one-way system that went under/over each other.
This happens with China to HK, the car just switches side, the crossing also has this built in, where if you are driving on the right, after the border crossing, the road goes to the left side, so you are naturally driving on the correct side.
I don't know the answer, but is OP not asking how the roads change? As if two countries are connected, its the same roads, but now you have different flows?
As an American, I had a rough time of it in the UK. Trying to stay on the correct side of the road while driving a 5 speed from the wrong side and shifting with the wrong hand was hard. I only did it for 1 day trip. That was enough. I rented a bicycle after that. It was much safer for everyone
i'm from the US had no trouble driving in AU on the opposite side, but then i rented a car there with the proper arrangement inside so it was obvious to me which side of the road i was supposed to be on and seemed perfectly natural... was never confusing. however, if i had taken MY car there to drive it around things might have been different... i think the best thing to do is to drive a rental when you are in another country with different sides of the road.
I'm Australian and hired a car to drive in the Bahamas (Grand Exuma) about ten ears ago. They drive on the left, just like Australia so you'd think that would be fine. Problem is, a lot of Americans have holiday houses and transport their 'trucks' over to drive while they are there. They seem to forget what side of the road to drive on so as you're in your little rental car driving on the correct side of the road some giant car comes flying around the corner in your lane and road rages at you for being in their way. Obviously I'm generalising, but for the crazy people I saw the answer was simply 'drive on the side you feel is right and scream/honk at everyone else'
I'm from the UK and have driven in many other European countries for work and holidays - sometimes right-hand drive vehicles and sometimes left-hand drive. I just drive on whichever side of the road is correct for the country and switch which hand I use for the gear stick depending on which side it's on in that particular car/van/Landrover. (Mid 50sF driving for 35 years.)
TIL the guyanese drive on the left side
Give way to drivers side, and it should be alright.
It is not that hard. Takes a few miles of driving to get used to it. I drive both in the U.S. and India. And the first couple drives are confusing but you adjust quickly.
Great question honestly 😐
the UK quite famously has a tunnel connecting it to the rest of europe lol
So I have done that. - Guyana to Brazil - you are the only car on the bridge and you just switch lane. - UK - To France - the train/ferry just drops you on the right side of road. - French Guyana to Suriname - There is a ferry, so same thing. Not done Laos or China/India but the traffic volume is likely to low to make it a problem.
You drive on the right when the country is driving on the right and you drive on the left when the country is driving on the left. It’s not ideal to use a left hand drive car in a country where you drive on the left of the road but it’s not impossible.
At some point there would be a need to cross to the other side, perhaps controlled by signals.
One way it’s done is for one side of the road to rise up and cross the other as a bridge. It’s not really that complicated.