I went out of my way to drive through the Swindon Magic Roundabout last time I was in the UK. Honestly, it was a bit underwhelming in person. Maybe if I’d done it on the first day and was still barely controlling my panic at driving on the left while shifting with my left hand?
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I dunno. My sister didn’t start driving until she was in her late teens, and didn’t move to England until she was in her late 20s - early 30s. She has an early 1970s American model MGB (manual transmission, driver sits on the left) refitted with British signal lenses, and she drives it back and forth through England and France all the time. She drives in London and Paris confidently and without difficulty (which is more than I can do! I need a car with a right-hand driver’s seat if I’m going to drive British).
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Lots of things. The way I look at it, if you can communicate effectively with more people, that’s a good thing. Especially if you like to travel. I can understand Spanish pretty good, but living in Southern CA, it would be helpful at times if I was fluent.
I’ve traveled fairly extensively in Europe and while English seems to be the go-to when groups get together, knowing the local language would be nice. I find all of that fascinating. This one thing sticks in my mind - my wife and I went to Prague in 2006 and I remember sitting next to a table of people that appeared to be having a business dinner. I counted 4 or 5 languages in side conversations, but otherwise, everyone was speaking English to each other.
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It’s quite simple. We drive on the wrong side of the road, so we adapt easily to driving on the right side. It’s when we get home the trouble starts.
Now the real fun is driving in Malta, where they drive in the shade.
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This is not new. It’s been in operation for decades. And it is very safe.
P.s. It’s my home town.
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Only tourists slow down. Us natives just keep going.
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Timely post. I’m in Scotland with the family and yesterday drove “wrong” for the first time in 25 years. Most fun was being deathly ill also. Did fine then walked in front of car after looking the wrong way. Couldn’t hear him but I’m sure it was something like “fucking yank”.
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The first time takes a bit of thinking, but after that it’s something you get used to- I’ve driven a fair bit in various Mainland European countries in a mix of RHD & LHD vehicles. The larger roads are generally well designed to guide you in the correct direction. It’s a bit more difficult if you’re driving a panel van as you can’t see out easily at some angled junctions. Also, toll booths are a pain if you are on the wrong side!
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I’ve built one of those in Cities:Skylines, and it wasn’t even as a joke. It works fairly well when you’ve got moderate amounts of traffic and inconveniently many roads meeting in one place. (And as a bonus it’s kind of hypnotic to watch).
Obligatory XTC reference:
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That’s horrifying.
The one in the article looks manageable by comparison.
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I don’t know what that is but I love it
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I think it’s example of Brownian motion.
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Some kind of random process, yes.
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I’d like to see one with heavy rush-hour traffic.
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Really? Everything I’ve heard is that it’s fantastic.
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Mostly what I heard is, “Hmph. It’s not SimCity.”
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Possibly related:
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I came here to say this! XTC is from Swindon.
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I was initially afraid of this when I moved to England in the 80s, but the fact that the steering wheel is on the right and you shift with your left hand really helps keep you oriented properly. I really wouldn’t want to drive a LHD car in the US or a RHD car in England. It only took me a few hours to get fully comfortable that first time.
There is a big multiple roundabout near Gatwick, that one is problematic because so many tourists have just picked up a hire car and are driving in the UK for the first time.
There was a fairly simple roundabout that I used to drive through twice daily that they recently added a few (OK, 42) traffic lights to; I haven’t been back since they did this, but it looks like a nightmare:
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