in article 20040306024829.09014.00000998@mb-m14...., John0714 at
john0714@...nojunk wrote on 3/6/04 3:48 AM:
> This past November and December I drove extensively in the area bounded by
> Adeaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne, or whatever:) I am an American who has
> driven
> in the USA and Canada for 40 years. I found driving on the left often quite
> disconcerting. Several times I got on the wrong side and got pulled over by
> the
> police. No tickets or accidents unfortunately. But I feel I am living on
> borrowed time and thus may never be back to anywhere you drive on the left
> since vacations without automobiles I have found very unsatisfying.
>
> I would be interested in others' experiences on driving on the unacustomed
> side
> of the road anywhere in the world. Would you care to share?
>
>
My Australian friends who experienced my first attempt at left-drive will be
happy to share their experiences....once they're out of therapy 8-)
That said, a good piece of advice I received was, "think of the centre line
as being beside you," which is true no matter what side of the road you're
driving. Intersections, roundabouts (rotaries to us), etc. were
disconcerting primarily because of the instinct to look the "wrong" way
first and, in some cases, to turn onto the wrong side of the road.
My own first experience was Sydney to the Blue Mountains and return - not
recommended! Much better was to get some rural, but good quality, roads to
get the feel. In a more general sense, I would suggest not trying to learn
in a zoo city (heavy traffic and inattentive drivers), or one with byzantine
traffic (London, Johannesburg, etc.)
Manual shift only complicates things. I left that enterprise for the
Falklands where it didn't especially matter if you stalled out (since
chances are, nobody else was around except in Stanley). I'm not sure having
no prior experience with a stick made it easier or harder - on the one hand,
I had no prior biases (higher gears towards you or away from you), but OTOH,
it was two things to learn/get used to at once. On balance, I think it was
better to get used to left-drive first, then work on the tranny.
Then, of course, there are the small and amusing things like going to shift
gears and finding your hand out the window, reaching for your seatbelt and
getting the centre console, going to signal and turning on the wipers....
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