We've rented cars all over Europe, including in Romania where many told us we were nuts to drive. We always rent the smallest lowest cost manual transmission, and are comfortable with European driving. We will be in Scotland and my husband thinks we shouldn't rent a car because it will be too difficult to adjust to drivi9ng on the right. What's your experience been? Thanks.

Obviously, I mean the left. Guess I shouldn't do this before I'm fully awake.

What makes your husband think this way, julie, does he have experience of driving on the left?<BR><BR>Who can say how difficult it will be for you. If you are not good at learning how to do it then it'll be hard. It's a piece of piss for some other people. Confidence. Janis, tell 'em.

Hi Julie,<BR><BR>I'm speaking from the opposite perspective -- I'm British but I've driven on one visit to the USA and one visit to Germany. <BR><BR>I have to say that in my experience, there are very few problems. It's amazing how quickly the brain adapts to driving on the other side of the road. My advice is go for it, but take the first day easy. It will take a little while for your brain to know reach with your left hand, rather than your right hand, to engage the gears and parking brake but it really isn't that difficult. You'll be surprised how quickly it will come to you.<BR><BR>Just remember, probably thousands of Americans drive on British roads every year and most cope just fine. So go for it -- you'll be fine!<BR><BR>Mel.

As julie said, it depends on the individual. I would strongly recommend that you:<BR><BR>(1) rent an automatic transmission, even though it will cost extra, since shifting with one's oposite hand actually doubles the adjustment effort<BR><BR>(2) designate one person to drive and the other to navigate. The more you drive on the left, the better you'll adjust, so having one driver do it all just makes their adjustment easier. Plus, navigating (especially with roundaouts and weird signage) is an art, to be perfected, in itself. The navigator is also assigned to chant "Keep left, keep left," when not otherwise occupied.

The main problem I have is when you pull back out on the road and there is no on coming cars to remind you to get in the left lane. That is where my wife comes into play it was her job to remind me. Also there is a problem of not being able to judge how close the left side of the car is to any object. Again my wife would tell be when I get too close. The main thing I found was that you couldn't always relax, so 4 hours of driving felt like 6. All of the above are minor problems, I wouldn't trade for the great drives we had in Scotland. We have now done two driving trips to England and planning one to Ireland.

I agree, go for it. I found that my biggest problem was hugging the left side of the road for some reason...bumped the curb several times. I guess it was just trying to stay away from the center line. Overall not too bad though. The point about entering a street/road and remembering to stay in the left lane when you pull out is good...it is so easy to by habit move to the right lane...no no of course. Having someone to remind you and navigate will help a lot. After the first day it will feel pretty natural.

<BR>Just got back from England. I was somewhat apprehensive about driving as it has been about 12 years since I last drove there (and that was only for a day). But it turned out NOT to be a problem. Yes, I'd get an automatic (why compound the problem with a stick?). <BR>The most important thing, though, is to know where you're going. Because when you come to a round-about, or to the middle of town with lots of traffic - that's not a good time to be driving and trying to navigate. Yes, having a navigator is a good thing, but as a driver you should have a sense of where you're going.<BR>I also "hugged" the curb for the first few miles. I think that's natural.<BR>Have fun. And don't fret.

I've never driven on the "opposite" side because my partner does all the driving and I do the navigating (all right, I'll admit it, I have no idea how to drive a standard shift car!). On our first trip to England we upgraded to an automatic. After we turned that in and went to Scotland, we could only get a manual shift. He actually preferred the manual. Something about since you had to shift with the opposite hand, it just made it that much easier to reverse the rest of your normal driving routine. He never had any real problems adjusting to driving on the left, except once in a while coming out of a roundabout or turning a corner, there was that split second when one of us would have to say, "keep left". The biggest problem was after coming home from two months in Australia, when for a couple of weeks he kept going out of the driveway and starting up the left side of the street. I think you tend to be more alert and have greater concentration when driving abroad. But at home, he eased up on the concentration level.

I would also suggest getting an automatic.The good news is that once your are out of Edinburgh the rest of Scotland is pretty quiet and great to practise driving-watch out for the sheep and mist.My biggest problem was when I came to an intersection and had to make a turn- at the beginning,quite a few times I wandered into the wrong lane but thank goodness for the lack of traffic.After a while it became a joke,especially after I found a sticky note on the steering wheel with the word LEFT in red1

Dear Julie: I have not found it difficult to adjust to driving on the left so I definitely would not let that stop you. However, I have driven many places also and thought that driving in Glasgow and Edinboro was a nightmare although driving in the more rural areas of Scotland was not. Locals told us we were crazy for renting a car. No one could even give directions to the airport as they said they never drive!

Karen, quick couple of questions..<BR><BR>Have you ever visited a) Scotland or <BR>b) Planet Earth?

It is difficult for Americans to adjust to anything.

last time I went to Scotland they drove on the left. Who told you they drive on the right? Anyway its and English dominance thing which they spread to countries which they imposed their ways upon. Fuck the English.

It's easy. My husband did the driving and I the navagating. Most Americans tend to drive too far to the left. I kept yelling "to the right - to the right" instead of "to the left". The car rental people says that Americans always return the cars with scratches on the left side of the car. Also, do get an automatic.

I agree that driving on left was not particularly difficult to adjust. What others are not mentioning that you also have to deal with narrow roads at same time. The combination made the driving very tiring. There are less cars in country, yes, but you also have to deal with B or less class of road depending on your destinations. The lowest class of road we drove were called single-carriage, as name implies, there was just enough pavement for one car and you are supposed to time travel so that if there is car coming from the other side, you have to find a "bubble", a slightly wide section of the road designed for passing oncoming cars. Even at these bubbles, we had to put almost a half of the thread off the pavement to let the other car go by. These are the places where we expect A class road in the USA, like a byway leading to a minor tourist attraction. <BR><BR>Now the natives say you don't have to slow down to pass oncoming vehicles on B roads, but I felt they were still so narrow, and combined with the fact that B roads don't have shoulders, that I had to slow down.

I say do it and don't bother with the expense of getting automatic transmission if you are already OK with manual. A navigator is very helpful. Search on "highway code" to find the rules of the road and learn them before you arrive. My experience was that motorways are easy to deal with as are quiet rural roads. I found some busy rural roads in Kent to be stressful because of parked car blocking half the road. Take it easy for the first couple of days till you get used to it. Roundabouts are great as long as you don't go shooting out the wrong road (done that a couple of times).

Tony suggests I "tell 'em" - but everybody else has beat me to it. Except in the major cities there is very little traffic in most parts of Scotland. If you are at all nervous, just don't drive in Edinburgh or Glasgow (which isn't recommended anyway)<BR><BR>BTW - I agree w/ Patrick. Most people recommend renting an automatic because it just seems easier to them. BUT I truly believe that shifting with your left hand helps your brain make the switch and makes it very easy to remember where you should be. I have found that with an automatic folks tend to go into "auto-pilot" mode and that is when you stop concentrating and can get into trouble.<BR><BR>And a stick saves a LOT of money - But if you simply can't bear to think of driving a stick, spend the extra for an automatic.

Julie,<BR>You've driven in Europe already so you can handle smaller roads, unusual road signs and different traffic flows and junctions. Well done, that's the hard part.<BR>Driving on the other side of the road isn't really that much of a problem and you will adapt quite quickly. Being driven around in cabs or other people's cars is a great aid to getting accustomed to being on the other side of the road, but if you're picking a car up from the airport you don't really have that option.<BR>You're used to having a whole lot of car on your right and being close to the middle of the road on your left so you may misjudge your distance from the kerb which is now on your left. Still, the odd scraped hub cap isn't a big deal.<BR>It's the same as any other manual skill. It's only when you try to think about what you're doing that you run into problems. Relax, take it easy and concentrate on the road - pointing the car and making it move the right way will follow naturally.

It isnt that hard, but watch for roundabouts in the midlands, what we call traffic circles. Hard to get used to, very efficient. You look to right, if a car is there, you wait, if not, you go and go around the circle tioll you find the road you wish..The two lane roundabouts are a kick.