@PocketBrain Don’t try to tell me that putting your cells in the freezer is the same thing! That would be like having a cadbury when what you really want is a chocolate bar…
My first trip to Japan I had to close my eyes while my father in law drove us around. It stressed me out sooooooo much. In addition to driving on the “wrong” side was the extremely narrow streets (normally too small to even be a one way street here in the US, but these were 2 way streets plus foot and bike traffic), and the drivers that would constantly cut in front of you and make you slam on your brakes (they weren’t necessarily bad drivers, you just had to cut in front of people or forever be stuck waiting).
@wmbarr Some countries keep them on the left side of the fridge, others on the right side. Like any God-fearing American, I keep them on the right side, next to the ammo.
I didn’t have a problem. My grandfather, however, made me double the number of prayers I’ve said in my life. Thank God he let me take over when it got dark.
Don’t listen to the naysayers. Don’t live your life according to other people’s rules. Go ahead, drive on the left. Drive on the right. Drive down the middle. Drive like nobody’s watching. I believe in you.
/giphy you can do it
@awk OR Drive like you live in Cambodia where the yellow line is just for decoration. On the other hand that is chaos in slow motion. There you share the roads with bikes, tucktucks (rickshaws), motorcycles, elephants, people walking… many of these things pulling vastly overloaded open trailers… For the most part no seatbelts and your most important car safety devise is your horn.
We rented a car in Melbourne to drive down the Shipwreck Coast to the Twelve Apostles. Several hours each way. I rode shotgun, my job was to make sure the driver stayed on the correct side of the road. Our friend in the back seat was the 2nd backup on this. It was an all day drive out there and back with sightseeing and dining stops, and we had no problems.
Spectacular scenery. (Not my photo)
Riding in the front seat of a tour bus in Jamaica as we made our way up the wrong side of a steep, narrow, winding, cliffside road in pouring rain was much more harrowing.
I moved to London in 1995 and immediately got a little Escort, manual with the shift on the left. I was terrified but to be honest, I found the driving part, even parallel parking, roundabouts and shifting with my other hand, surprisingly easy.
What was NOT easy (in the days way before GPS) was finding my way around London, which has more little tiny, 15-foot long streets than you can count. Black cab drivers have to study London for years and take a detailed test called The Knowledge of every puny street in that city.
So driving on the left, sitting on the right? No biggie.
Getting from Notting Hill Gate to Hornsey? Fuhgettaboudit.
@TheCO2 - I’ve frequently driven on the left side in the USA - on St Croix, where the cars are American but the driving is British. (The name is French and breakfast is Danish - it’s kind of international.)
@Fuzzalini - stupid tequila. Sometimes we didn’t even drive on the road. We were pretty deep off the metropolitan areas. Drivers were calm. I was amazed horns were rarely used. Drives just hit the brakes and were forgiving !!
My Grandma took me to Europe when I was 12. She insisted I sit in the front seat in a London taxi, because she wanted me to experience it as fully as possible. Had I been old enough to drive (and if we’d rented a car there), I have absolutely no doubt she would have encouraged me to get behind the wheel at least once.
As it is, the only foreign land I’ve driven in is Canada, where I didn’t learn until my last day there that I was supposed to keep my headlights on.
As a pedestrian it can be more tricky to cross the road because we are used to looking one way, cross half way, look the other way and cross the rest of the way. Gotta reverse which direction you look first or you could be road pizza. Also traffic circles and making Lt and Rt turns take paying attention at first.
After working in the UK for a year I was back home and one night had a dream I couldn’t figure out which side of the road to drive on. No cars around to give me a clue. Finally had the smarts to notice which side the steering wheel was on LOL.
@Kidsandliz When I have migraines I get a sort of dyslexiamwhere I lose track of sidedness in all things. If there are no cars to look at when I’m pulling out of a parking lot I look for signs to see which way they are pointed.
@Kidsandliz I made a stop in France after a week long trip to Ireland. My biggest problem driving out of Paris was not which side of the road to be on, but which lane was the passing lane…
I’ve driven in England and New Zealand. It helps that the steering wheel is on the other side too. Then you just think about what lane would I be in if I turned in the us by thinking about your position in the car.
I told my friends in Australia to watch out for the car going the wrong way through the roundabout with the windshield wipers flapping on a sunny day. Wave, that’s me. Also, bring me a sandwich, I’m probably not done yet.
The Mrs. & I went to the Bahamas a few years ago, and am so glad I didn’t rent a car…just took taxis when we needed to go anywhere. The taxi drivers followed the “two hands on the wheel at all times” technique of driving, though they modified it to, “One hand on the wheel, one hand on the horn” and I’m not sure which hand was used more…
I’ve taken several trips to New Zealand and rented a car while there. A couple of things caused me minor confusion:
While the pedals are in the same arrangement as in the US, the stalks for turn signals and wipers are reversed. So I was constantly turning on the wipers when meaning to signal a turn. And looking out the driver’s window for the rearview mirror.
When the kiwis want to make a right turn from a two-lane highway (equivalent to a left turn in US), they pull over to the left shoulder to wait for a break in traffic in both directions. IME in the US, the common practice is to hug the centerline and let traffic behind you pass on the right. I got lots of angry beeps for that move in NZ.
One evening in Wellington, as I was returning to my hotel after a late dinner, I stopped at a red light in the right lane of a one-way street. I wanted to turn right and there was no traffic on the two-way cross street, so I absently proceeded to turn right into the right lane. OOPS! And it was a divided two-way street, so I had to drive a block in the wrong lane before I could get into the (correct) left lane. Fortunately, there were no police around to point out my mistake to me.
@macromeh My cousin did that on a one way street the wrong way on purpose and did get caught. Her story was that she didn’t realize it was one way until it was too late and so she turned off that street as soon as she could (totally not true as she wanted to go down the street she turned on to) and got out of the ticket.
Yes, on a few Caribbean islands. Worst ones were USVI because the driver’s seat was on the left side of the car. But other times, driver’s seat on the right hand side of the car, pretty easy to get used to. Biggest issue was accidentally turning on the wipers every time I went for the turn signal
@hachover GOD! I hated that!!! I feel your pain! (plus after a week on the left side, coming home and turning on the wipers once you had gotten used to it on the wrong side!!)
I spent a few days in Ballygawley Ireland (not to be confused with Ballygally Ireland… sort out your shit, Ireland) and I was okay with it until I saw headlights coming toward us in the right lane. That was unnerving.
In the Virgin Islands the drivers seats are on the left (American made or made for America), but they drive on the left side of the road. I stopped driving, had someone pick up the car and took cabs the rest of the time. Too weird.
I live in the US, but happened to learn to drive on an older USPS Jeep. Love driving in other countries, and left-side has never seemed weird to me, probably because of that.
Jeep was also a standard, so, ironically, the most confusing situation I’ve ever faced was re-learning how to shift from the left seat.
Still say Germany is the best place in the world to drive. Forget the speed factor: their highways are excellent and the local drivers are even better still.
I was young. It was England. The car was a Twingo, tiny enough to wear.
England! They drive on the wrong side of the road. They have no idea what chips are! They don’t even put their batteries in the fridge there!!
@shahnm They do put batteries in the fridge, but they have a different word for batteries. Also for fridge.
@PocketBrain Don’t try to tell me that putting your cells in the freezer is the same thing! That would be like having a cadbury when what you really want is a chocolate bar…
Not a country but if you live or work in New York City, driving on the left side of the road is not all that uncommon.
It’s a state of mind.
My first trip to Japan I had to close my eyes while my father in law drove us around. It stressed me out sooooooo much. In addition to driving on the “wrong” side was the extremely narrow streets (normally too small to even be a one way street here in the US, but these were 2 way streets plus foot and bike traffic), and the drivers that would constantly cut in front of you and make you slam on your brakes (they weren’t necessarily bad drivers, you just had to cut in front of people or forever be stuck waiting).
No, but I have been to places where they don’t keep their batteries in the refrigerator. So strange.
@wmbarr
/giphy horrified
@wmbarr Some countries keep them on the left side of the fridge, others on the right side. Like any God-fearing American, I keep them on the right side, next to the ammo.
@awk Uh… we’re supposed to keep ammo in the fridge too?
We’re gonna need a bigger fridge.
@Pony If you really are a God-fearing American, you already have a bigger fridge.
@shahnm
Or have two fridges, and two freezers. Then have one fridge connected to the batteries in the other, in case of power outages.
@DVDBZN
/giphy good thinking
@shahnm I confess. We have two fridges and a separate freezer.
I didn’t have a problem. My grandfather, however, made me double the number of prayers I’ve said in my life. Thank God he let me take over when it got dark.
@simplersimon I want to die like my grandpa, quietly in my sleep. Not like his passengers, screaming as they went off the cliff.
@moondrake I’ve always loved that reference…!
Don’t listen to the naysayers. Don’t live your life according to other people’s rules. Go ahead, drive on the left. Drive on the right. Drive down the middle. Drive like nobody’s watching. I believe in you.
/giphy you can do it
@awk Your comment seems like it might have been under the influence (so to speak) of yesterday’s poll.
@awk OR Drive like you live in Cambodia where the yellow line is just for decoration. On the other hand that is chaos in slow motion. There you share the roads with bikes, tucktucks (rickshaws), motorcycles, elephants, people walking… many of these things pulling vastly overloaded open trailers… For the most part no seatbelts and your most important car safety devise is your horn.
We rented a car in Melbourne to drive down the Shipwreck Coast to the Twelve Apostles. Several hours each way. I rode shotgun, my job was to make sure the driver stayed on the correct side of the road. Our friend in the back seat was the 2nd backup on this. It was an all day drive out there and back with sightseeing and dining stops, and we had no problems.
Spectacular scenery. (Not my photo)
Riding in the front seat of a tour bus in Jamaica as we made our way up the wrong side of a steep, narrow, winding, cliffside road in pouring rain was much more harrowing.
I moved to London in 1995 and immediately got a little Escort, manual with the shift on the left. I was terrified but to be honest, I found the driving part, even parallel parking, roundabouts and shifting with my other hand, surprisingly easy.
What was NOT easy (in the days way before GPS) was finding my way around London, which has more little tiny, 15-foot long streets than you can count. Black cab drivers have to study London for years and take a detailed test called The Knowledge of every puny street in that city.
So driving on the left, sitting on the right? No biggie.
Getting from Notting Hill Gate to Hornsey? Fuhgettaboudit.
I dare you to dive on the left side, in the US, when there is a lot of traffic.
@TheCO2 - I’ve frequently driven on the left side in the USA - on St Croix, where the cars are American but the driving is British. (The name is French and breakfast is Danish - it’s kind of international.)
@aetris I forgot about the Virgin Islands. OK, so that doesn’t count. I want people to drive on the wrong side.
Visited Mexico with a friend. On day 3 I was driving a tiny little Chevrolet.
@meh427 I’ve driven in Mexico many times. They drive on the right side of the road. Unless you mean that they drive crazy, then yes, you’re right.
I can’t help but think there’s more to this story?
@Fuzzalini - stupid tequila. Sometimes we didn’t even drive on the road. We were pretty deep off the metropolitan areas. Drivers were calm. I was amazed horns were rarely used. Drives just hit the brakes and were forgiving !!
@meh427 Yes. Drivers in Mexico are very forgiving and never honk their horns.
My Grandma took me to Europe when I was 12. She insisted I sit in the front seat in a London taxi, because she wanted me to experience it as fully as possible. Had I been old enough to drive (and if we’d rented a car there), I have absolutely no doubt she would have encouraged me to get behind the wheel at least once.
As it is, the only foreign land I’ve driven in is Canada, where I didn’t learn until my last day there that I was supposed to keep my headlights on.
As a pedestrian it can be more tricky to cross the road because we are used to looking one way, cross half way, look the other way and cross the rest of the way. Gotta reverse which direction you look first or you could be road pizza. Also traffic circles and making Lt and Rt turns take paying attention at first.
After working in the UK for a year I was back home and one night had a dream I couldn’t figure out which side of the road to drive on. No cars around to give me a clue. Finally had the smarts to notice which side the steering wheel was on LOL.
@Kidsandliz Road pizza…mmm.
@Kidsandliz When I have migraines I get a sort of dyslexiamwhere I lose track of sidedness in all things. If there are no cars to look at when I’m pulling out of a parking lot I look for signs to see which way they are pointed.
@Kidsandliz I made a stop in France after a week long trip to Ireland. My biggest problem driving out of Paris was not which side of the road to be on, but which lane was the passing lane…
@Kidsandliz This was always a point we stressed to students when we took them on tours to the UK.
@chienfou Yeah - and which lane to turn into if turning left or right…
I’ve driven in England and New Zealand. It helps that the steering wheel is on the other side too. Then you just think about what lane would I be in if I turned in the us by thinking about your position in the car.
I’ve never driven in such a place, but my car is made to drive from the right side of the vehicle.
@MntlWard right side or correct side?
my mail carrier drives on the left. I often drive on the same roads. Does that count?
I told my friends in Australia to watch out for the car going the wrong way through the roundabout with the windshield wipers flapping on a sunny day. Wave, that’s me. Also, bring me a sandwich, I’m probably not done yet.
A Vegemite sandwich?
The Mrs. & I went to the Bahamas a few years ago, and am so glad I didn’t rent a car…just took taxis when we needed to go anywhere. The taxi drivers followed the “two hands on the wheel at all times” technique of driving, though they modified it to, “One hand on the wheel, one hand on the horn” and I’m not sure which hand was used more…
I’ve taken several trips to New Zealand and rented a car while there. A couple of things caused me minor confusion:
While the pedals are in the same arrangement as in the US, the stalks for turn signals and wipers are reversed. So I was constantly turning on the wipers when meaning to signal a turn. And looking out the driver’s window for the rearview mirror.
When the kiwis want to make a right turn from a two-lane highway (equivalent to a left turn in US), they pull over to the left shoulder to wait for a break in traffic in both directions. IME in the US, the common practice is to hug the centerline and let traffic behind you pass on the right. I got lots of angry beeps for that move in NZ.
One evening in Wellington, as I was returning to my hotel after a late dinner, I stopped at a red light in the right lane of a one-way street. I wanted to turn right and there was no traffic on the two-way cross street, so I absently proceeded to turn right into the right lane. OOPS! And it was a divided two-way street, so I had to drive a block in the wrong lane before I could get into the (correct) left lane. Fortunately, there were no police around to point out my mistake to me.
@macromeh My cousin did that on a one way street the wrong way on purpose and did get caught. Her story was that she didn’t realize it was one way until it was too late and so she turned off that street as soon as she could (totally not true as she wanted to go down the street she turned on to) and got out of the ticket.
Yes, on a few Caribbean islands. Worst ones were USVI because the driver’s seat was on the left side of the car. But other times, driver’s seat on the right hand side of the car, pretty easy to get used to. Biggest issue was accidentally turning on the wipers every time I went for the turn signal
@hachover GOD! I hated that!!! I feel your pain! (plus after a week on the left side, coming home and turning on the wipers once you had gotten used to it on the wrong side!!)
I spent a few days in Ballygawley Ireland (not to be confused with Ballygally Ireland… sort out your shit, Ireland) and I was okay with it until I saw headlights coming toward us in the right lane. That was unnerving.
In the Virgin Islands the drivers seats are on the left (American made or made for America), but they drive on the left side of the road. I stopped driving, had someone pick up the car and took cabs the rest of the time. Too weird.
let’s see…
Scotland
Ireland
St. Lucia
Grand Cayman
Cayman Brac
Trinidad
Grenada
so… Yes.
I live in the US, but happened to learn to drive on an older USPS Jeep. Love driving in other countries, and left-side has never seemed weird to me, probably because of that.
Jeep was also a standard, so, ironically, the most confusing situation I’ve ever faced was re-learning how to shift from the left seat.
Still say Germany is the best place in the world to drive. Forget the speed factor: their highways are excellent and the local drivers are even better still.
How it’s done