How do I drive on the right for the first time?

Driving on the right is straightforward on the open road and difficult in exactly three situations: pulling out of a junction or car park, roundabouts, and any moment when you are tired, distracted or reacting quickly. In all three the problem is that you stop thinking and revert to thirty years of habit. Everything useful is about arranging things so that reverting is less likely and less costly.

Safety

What you'll need

• A left-hand drive car if possible
• A passenger (optional)
• A note for the dashboard

Step by step

1. Give yourself one rule: the driver sits nearest the middle of the road.Whichever car you are in and whichever country you are in, that single check corrects almost every positioning error. If you are the one closest to the kerb, you are on the wrong side.
2. Put a physical reminder where you will see it.A sticky note on the dashboard or the top of the steering wheel saying 'DRIVE RIGHT'. It is not silly — the moments it catches you are the ones where you were not thinking.
3. Hire a left-hand drive car if you can.It is easier, not harder. The car sits correctly in the lane, overtaking visibility works, and the whole layout constantly reminds you which side you are on. Taking a right-hand drive car abroad makes overtaking genuinely difficult.
4. Arrange the first drive to be an easy one.Daylight, not immediately after a night flight, and out of a quiet area rather than a city centre. Sit in the car for two minutes first and find the indicators, wipers, lights and mirrors — the stalks are frequently swapped.
5. Say it out loud at every junction for the first day.'Right, right, right' pulling out. Junctions and car park exits are where the majority of wrong-side incidents happen, because there is no traffic in front to copy.
6. Learn the roundabout direction before the first one.Anticlockwise, giving way to the left. Approach slowly, and follow the car in front if there is one. A roundabout taken tentatively is safe; one taken confidently in the wrong direction is not.
7. Use a passenger deliberately.Agree that they will say something the moment you drift, rather than being polite about it, and that they read junctions ahead. Also agree they navigate, so you are never looking at a screen.
8. Do not overtake until you are genuinely comfortable.Especially in a right-hand drive car, where you cannot see past the vehicle ahead. If you must, have the passenger call it, or wait for a dual carriageway.
9. Reset after every stop.Fuel, lunch, a viewpoint. Pulling out of a car park after a break is statistically one of the worst moments. Say the rule out loud again each time.
10. Slow down generally for the first day.Everything takes longer to process — signs, road markings, priority rules. Driving ten per cent slower buys back the processing time you have lost.

Tips

• Priority rules differ. Some countries still have junctions where traffic joining from the right has priority, which is deeply counter-intuitive to a British driver. Read the local rules before you set off.
• Overtaking on a two-lane road in a right-hand drive car is the single hardest thing you will do. Plan the route to avoid needing to.
• The first day of a driving holiday should be short. Long first legs after a flight are where fatigue and unfamiliarity combine.

Common mistakes

• Pulling out of a quiet junction onto the left — With no traffic to copy, habit takes over. Saying the direction out loud at every junction for the first day genuinely prevents it.
• Driving on the first day straight off an overnight flight — Fatigue is what makes you revert to instinct, and unfamiliar rules need spare attention you do not have.
• Taking a right-hand drive car and then overtaking — You cannot see past the vehicle in front from the near side. It is the most common way British drivers have serious accidents abroad.

Questions people ask