UK Driving:

General Observations:

In the United States, we drive on the right side of the road. I looked up ‘right’ in the dictionary. The definition is:

1.    Conforming with or conformable to justice, law, or morality: do the right thing and confess.
2.    In accordance with fact, reason, or truth; correct: the right answer.
3.    Fitting, proper, or appropriate: It is not right to leave the party without saying goodbye.
4.    Most favorable, desirable, or convenient: the right time to act.
5.    In or into a satisfactory state or condition: put things right.
6.    In good mental or physical health or order.
7.    Intended to be worn or positioned facing outward or toward an observer: the right side of the dress; made sure that the right side of the fabric was visible.
8.    a. Of, belonging to, located on, or being the side of the body to the south when the subject is facing east. b. Of, relating to, directed toward, or located on the right side. c. Located on the right side of a person facing downstream: the right bank of a river.

So, as defined we drive on the correct and non-left side of the road. The British drive (said politely) on the ‘other side’ of the road.   The reason the British drive on the other side of the road is because of tradition. When the Romans occupied England, they would march on the left-hand side of the road, since it allowed them to use their swords effectively. The British still walk down the same side of the street and I have yet to see one draw a sword. As a matter of fact, I have not seen one even carry a sword (except for the Horse Guards of the Household Cavalry). That is what I mean by tradition.

There is no room for error in driving in Great Britain. There are no breakdown lanes and there are virtually no shoulders on any of the A or B class roads. Everyone is expected to do their duty and to fit into the traffic pattern as if they were part of the Queens Guards. No where do they have any provision for the odd American (or anyone else in the Earth) that blunders onto their road system.

Speed Limits and Road Types:

Unlike the US, speed limits here are relatively simple and are stated in MPH:

70 for a M class road (a motorway, like our Interstate system) Some differences:

There are Pedestrian walkways right on the Motorway - the cars have the right of way so handicapped people and very small children should not attempt to cross here although there are no laws to stop them. (There are little if any facilities for handicapped people)
There is no minimum speed limit, so you can find bicycles or farm machinery going down the road at a very reduced rate of speed.

70 for a dual carriageway motorway

Like the Interstate but periodically have roundabouts (aka rotaries) where everyone comes nearly to a screeching halt – looks to the right for oncoming traffic, and if none, goes to full throttle (see driving techniques later) entering the roundabout, now having the right of way.

A and B class motorways sometimes give an indication of the ‘quality’ of the road, but not necessarily.
60 for an A class road (a smaller dual lane road, normally allowing for two cars to pass each other, but not always)
60 for a B class road (normally an even smaller dual lane road)

However, some sections of a B class road are not wide enough to have cars pass, such as illustrated below; therefore 60 MPH is not recommended.

Unknown speed limit for unclassified roads (sorry, I have no picture of one of these. An unclassified road is so narrow that the foliage strikes BOTH side view mirrors simultaneously and there is not enough room to open your door).
There are stone walls behind ALL of these, about 3 inches under the surface of the foliage (see Side View Mirrors or Red Badge of Courage in later sections). Honest, I have seen workers trimming or mowing stone walls!
30 for any built up area, such as a town
other, speed limits may be posted such as 40 to get you through a town quickly
there are normally no advisories for sharp curves; however, there are random ‘SLOW’ markings on the pavement before some of the 90 degree bends
the marking may be somewhere in the middle of a number of very sharp curves, so don’t expect to find it beforehand
the markings (being white) are totally useless in a snow storm, since they blend in with the snow
there is no indication what speed limit
The ‘SLOW’ marking just means that whatever speed you find is comfortable is now too fast for where you are about to go. But I did pass one exception where it said, “SLOW MAX SPEED 30’. They meant it.

This is a dual lane road where a 7 ½ ton truck started up the other direction and had to back down for me to pass. On my last day, I was driving down one of these at speeds exceeding 55 MPH.

Driving Techniques

Accelerator and Brake – a very simple and straightforward approach once you get used to it. It follows the Captain Smith (RMS Titanic) approach of ‘putting the danger behind you as quickly as possible’. The controls have three positions

Full Throttle – accelerator depressed fully, whenever the road is straight for at least 100 yards in the country or 30 yards in a city
Idle – accelerator released when approaching a blind curve, normally slowing you below 60mph
Full Stop – jam on the brake pedal as hard as possible to avoid anything that obstructs your path.

Obstructions include:

Sheep and goats – Yes, I have found them on the Motorways in Scotland
Cattle – In England on the other roadways, usually around a blind curve
Pedestrians – walk down the roadways, usually where it is the narrowest
Bicycles - the same is true for them, except I have found them on Dual Carriage Motorways
Farm Tractors – Yup, on the Motorways (no minimum speed limit)
School Children Crossings – On the Motorways! (however, you do have to slow to 40MPH whilst passing a school letting children out)
Cars parked in your lane – normally making two-lane roads just one lane in cities but just as often to happen in the country. To simplify matters, think of any road in a city as a one-lane road with two-way traffic.
Roadworks – British Telecomm is doing a splendid job of digging up most any road I want to travel on. They put up portable traffic lights that allow for alternate traffic. However, they love to place them just after a ‘blind’ curve which causes some excitement when the person behind me ignores the traffic warning sign and goes into the curve as if in the Grand Prix.
City Obstructions – the sign below shows that the dual roadway ‘just ends’ temporarily.

Two cars (my side) are making it through while another two (their side) wait for their turn to make it down the road (see Playing Chicken and Jousting later). It really made no difference that their team had the right of way. Our team got there first, so there! It never has occurred to the officials that they actually take down or move a building to widen or straighten out a road.

Passing and Dual Carriageways:

The British firmly follow protocol. Signals are always used when passing and when turning, even when pulling over to park (as I was loudly informed when I did not do the latter). And slow traffic keeps to the left, no exceptions. Traffic only goes on the right hand lane to pass. (I guess that is how the elephants passed the foot troops in the early years.)

In rural areas, there are passing zones that are temporary dual carriageways. The protocol is for everyone to accelerate to whatever the top speed is of their vehicle and to pass as many other cars as possible in the shortest time and distance and is great fun for all. It appears there is no upper speed limit for this maneouver.

Playing Chicken and Jousting:

Passing techniques and meeting oncoming traffic (aka DOD Rules of Engagement) again are relatively straightforward and follow a definite set of rules. However, before listing the rules, think of driving as something between the American game of ‘Chicken’ where one person has to give way to another and that of the English Medieval sport of Jousting (except using an automobile rather than a horse).

1. Determine that the road is obstructed on your side.
2. Turn your turn signal on to warn the other players (known as oncoming traffic) that you are not just merely parked on the side of the road but that at any moment you might dart out into their lane. (it really is a good idea)
3. Spot a location on your side that you can reach going full throttle before the other player can block you or find one you can force him to have to go into when you dart into oncoming traffic.
4. Make your move being prepared that the other player may think they have still enough room to get past you. (Then you both jam on your brakes and inch by each other, grinning foolishly).
5. Signal your victory when you have vanquished your opponent by flashing your headlights at them as you pass.
6. If vanquished, return the headlight salute with a thumbs-up signal. Alternately, each player may wave at each other and grin.
7. This is a team sport and more than one car can attempt to pass as a group at one time. I have on occasion found myself occupying a spot that I thought could only handle one car and found two others had somehow squeezed in behind me.

Playing Chicken In Town

Here I am with my teammate ahead of me (and I think two behind me), signals flashing, ready to dash into oncoming traffic for the next dash down the road when the least opening is available.

Side View Mirrors or Red Badge of Courage:

It appears that the loss of a side view mirror is a mark of courage in England, surviving those numerous encounters on the roadways. Almost every car over six months old has a least one missing while the truly daring have both ripped away at the base. It does not take long to see where they are. Just drive down any B road in the country side and you will see stone buildings, right up to the roadways. Look a little closer and you will see shiny little pieces of metal and plastic on the ground, just below the corners of the chipped stone walls. This is what happens when a motorist finds themselves literally between a rock and a hard place.

Other Bits and Pieces:

They appear not to stop motorists for speeding; the authorities just take a picture and send you a souvenir copy, suitable for hanging. It requires a significant portrait picture fee.
It is unthinkable to actually straighten out a road. Even the motorways seem to follow the paths used by the Romans, except in Scotland where they may have either used the road used by Bonnie Prince Charlie or one of the Viking Rape and Pillage routes. The direct air route from London to Cornwall is about 1/3 the actual road route.
Gasoline prices are rather expensive, around $6.00 a gallon. This (and the width of the normal roads) explains the popularity of the MG Midget in the 1960s.
The British are very polite or may not have figured out how the horn works. They do not even honk at you when you are driving on their side of the road, which you need to do most of the time. (Another explanation may be tradition; the ancient Romans did not use horns on their automobiles so neither do the modern day Britons.)
On your first few days here, have a passenger who has a very loud voice who can shout ‘Right, Right, Right’ when you are about to go off the left side of the road, hit a stone wall, a pedestrian, a parked car or even a sheep. It is very difficult to get used to driving on the wrong (oops, I mean the other) side of the road.

And LASTLY:

Do NOT use any of the driving methods described here in your home state. To do so will in the least cause the loss of your driving privileges; at worst, you might find yourself in the local jail for testing of substance abuse.

And, I had a ball. Basia told me that you had to be either drunk or not of sound mind to drive here. Then she added that I was really in my element.