[LargeFormat] RE: Left side of the road country.

[Brock Nanson]

What I find is that I naturally want to sit my butt in the same wheel rut, 
regardless of which side of the car the steering wheel is on!  What that 
means is that when I go to a RHD country, I tend to hug the shoulder.  
After a few hours that tendency starts to go away, but I have to be aware 
of it until it does!

I don't think I'd want to find out what my instinctive response to a 
crisis would be.  Not sure which way I'd swerve, or if I'd wind up on the 
wrong side of the road.

The wheel rut /butt cheeks problem isn't peculiar only to me... My first 
trip to Australia lasted 8 hours.  Landed at midnight and by 8 AM my 
travel buddy had fallen victim to this problem.  Asphalt was up several 
inches from what little shoulder existed and when the left wheel dropped 
over, he overcorrected, lost control, and found the only gum tree in the 
field next to the road.  100 km/hr to zero faster than possible even with 
ABS brakes.  Lined my side of the car up with the tree pretty well ;-) - 
He walked away and I waited for the jaws of life.  There was a silver 
lining - I met my future wife while in hospital!

I've driven many 1000 km's since that time without a problem, but 
having been bitten once, I'm more than twice shy...

Brock

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003, john frost wrote:

> When I was over there for the f32 workshop, Ada did all the driving. She 
> wanted me to drive, so I clumb in, looked up the street, then across the 
> car to the outside mirror, and discovered that the bicycle path I was 
> looking at was too narrow for that other car, and us to! I don't believe 
> that I had even started the engine before she pulled me out and she 
> drove the 2 weeks we were there. She never had a problem, but I sure 
> did. She kept clipping grass on the berms, and the mailboxes and power 
> poles were hiding in there, too.
> 
> john (:>))) it warn't too bad after I quit watching the road !!!
> 
> Jim Hemenway wrote:
> > For me it's those rotaries, (roundabouts).  I'm used to the counter 
> > clockwise circling here in New England but encountering the first one in 
> > the UK was scary and very confusing.
> > 
> > Jim - http://www.hemenway.com
> > 
> > 
> > Alan Davenport wrote:
> > 
> >>
> >>> Anyone have thoughts on this --- is this do-able -- cost??  My desire 
> >>> for
> >>> this is not to avoid having to drive on the wrong side of the road (I 
> >>> often
> >>> do that here :( - but, it was to have the advantage of a local guide 
> >>> and (if
> >>> I'm fortunate) perhaps an extra back to help pack some camera equipment
> >>> in --- A necessity if I take both the 4x5 and 8x10 for sure.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> It isn't as big a problem as you imagine.  Remember that the steering 
> >> wheel
> >> is also on the other side of the car, so it takes very little time to get
> >> accustomed to the arrangement.  Foot pedals are the same as you're 
> >> used to.
> >> Of greater concern may be what to do if you meet a lorry (truck!) on 
> >> one of
> >> those little lanes with a stone wall on either side. You may be taking 
> >> "your
> >> half" out of your side of the road, but when the lorry's half amounts 
> >> to more
> >> like 2/3 of the road... scary stuff no matter which side you're on.