イギリスでの運転は、思ってたよりも悪くないけど、戸惑うことも多いです。
日本と同じ左側通行だけど、私の運転歴は右側通行の方が長いので微妙に違うのよね。間違って道の右側を逆走すること２回。幸い駐車場内（ほっ）。
ちなみにイギリスの車は右ハンドルだけど、ワイパーが右手側、ウィンカーが左手側なのよ。アメリカは左ハンドルで、ワイパーが右、ウィンカーが左。アメリカと同じだからウィンカー出したいときにワイパー動かしてしまうという失態はないものの、ウィンカー出しながらシフト動かすのすごく面倒です。左手大忙し。
そしてイギリス運転の最大の敵は、ラウンドアバウトと呼ばれる円形交差点。道が交差する代わりに全方向時計回りの円形交差点に入って、必要な出口ででる仕組み。
ラウンドアバウトの何がいやかって言ったら、その数。道を直進するだけでも交差点のたびにラウンドアバウト。またラウンドアバウト、またラウンドアバウト。キリ無し。
ラウンドアバウトのおかげで、信号が少ないので、「あの道どこだったかな」とか考える余裕なし。信号で止まって考える時間なし。
道が何本あっても交差点が円形なので右折、とか左折、な感覚がなく、地理を覚えるのが難しいし、交差点の向こう側はよく見えないので「スーパーの角を右」みたいにはならないんだもの。ナビゲーションシステムなしでは全く運転できません。いつもナビゲーションの声のおばさんに感謝しています。
We drove 2 and a half hours on Saturday to pick up a truck that MOTH bought. It's easy to say 2 and a half hours, but it was 2 and a half hours one way, pick up the truck, then immediately turn around and drove back another 2 and a half hours. Of course, I had to drive on the way back. There are too many speed cameras on a highway so I had to stick with 70 mph the entire time.
Driving in England wasn't as bad as I thought, but there are certainly many things that need some getting used to. We drive on the left side of the road in Japan too, but I have more driving experience in the U.S. than I did in Japan so my brain gets confused.
One thing I don't like about cars in England is that while the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, the blinker is on the left side of the steering wheel and the wiper is on the right, which is the same orientation as the cars in the U.S. I don't have to embarrass myself for turning the wiper on anytime I want to use the blinker, but it's a bitch to operate the blinker while shifting up or down, especially going through a roundabout.
Yes, the roundabout... There are millions of roundabouts just going through this tiny town, and it is mind-numbing. And I don't see any benefit of the roundabout (kind of like I don't see any benefit of Michigan turns). The thing is, you go through a roundabout after roundabout, and you rarely come to a complete stop other than waiting for the traffic to clear. If you get lost, there is no time to think about (and there is no "shoulder" to pull over either). You just have to keep going.
Also, because of the structure of the roundabout, you can't see a landmark on the other side of the roundabout, so it's not as easy as "take a left at the grocery store" if the grocery store is on the other side of the roundabout. Streets rarely have street signs, so sometimes you just have to take an exit and hope for the best. Streets don't necessarily intersect at a right angle so that adds more confusion.
I am so glad that MOTH had bought a nice GPS system before we even moved here. Without the nice lady on the GPS system, every outing would be an epic journey.
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