Rhd, How Long Did It Take?

[SKORPiO]

Hello all,

This is for all the expats who live in Thailand and come from Left Hand Drive countries. How long did it take you to get used to drive on wrong side of the street I have visited Thailand not too long ago and asked my friend to allow me to park her car. I must admit, i had no idea it will be this strange and must say difficult. I did a rather horrible parking job and if it was my car, i would be able to park two cars in that same spot . I was thinking about this before i went to Thailand. I was almost sure that its not that bad, but boy, was I wrong

so... what is the usual accommodation period? I know that human nature will get used to almost everything, but how long does it really take? Maybe you have some funny stories or "near-hit" situations you would like to share?

regards, Bartek.

[Crossy]

I went the other way when moving to Italy, learnt to drive a left-hooker in Rome of all places. The first time sitting in the 'passenger' seat with a steering wheel in front of me was REALLY weird, we were lucky to get back to the apartment in one piece (The road markings in Roma are 'advisory' and Italian bus drivers give no quarter).

It took some weeks of driving every day to get used to where the passenger side of the car was located and parking was always a challenge. Even after 6 months of driving only LHD I occasionally had a lapse of judgement and ended up on the wrong side of the road (usually after coming out of a side road), attempting to change gear with the window winder also occured several times.

On returning to the UK after 4 years of continental driving I promptly went the wrong way round a mini-roundabout, luckily on a quiet sunday morning with no police around to catch me.

Take great care on normal roads (highways are less of a problem as everyone is going the same way (mostly)). You will get used to it, I regularly hop between LHD and RHD, it usually takes only a few minutes to re-acclimatise.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Crossy

[Crash999]

Took me about a week to become completely adjusted to driving on the other side. In the city it's difficult to make a mistake as there's so much traffic around. Pulling out of a side street or going the wrong way (in the UK) around a roundabout are where people can get into trouble.

Hardest thing to get used to was shifting gears with the wrong hand. My body kept thinking that first gear was towards me and forward.

[snowflake]

I might be quick but I felt quite fine from day one, said that, I have had a few mishaps and gone to the other lane (there might have been something in my blood those times)...

Just be careful and get out there, it will feel normal in a few days...

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

5 Minutes for me. Went to look at a used car i was planning to buy, boyfriend with me for the test drive - he got scared "too big! Can't drive it!" (a Volvo 460) so i did the test drive. No issues, after 5 minutes i got it.

I'm from Germany btw. (LHD).

Best regards.....

THanh

[t.s]

Hi.

5 Minutes for me. Went to look at a used car i was planning to buy, boyfriend with me for the test drive - he got scared "too big! Can't drive it!" (a Volvo 460) so i did the test drive. No issues, after 5 minutes i got it.

I'm from Germany btw. (LHD).

Best regards.....

THanh

took about a full day to get used to shifting with the other hand the rest needed little adjustment.

[Thanh-BKK]

took about a full day to get used to shifting with the other hand the rest needed little adjustment.

Yeah...

THAT would have taken a while for me too, i guess... however that car was an automatic Also the first in my life, but easy enough.

Kind regards....

Thanh

[bino]

Someone said it is easy to get used to it in Bangkok traffic- very true. Just go with the flow / follow the lines of traffic.

The screw-up I made for a long time was turning on the wipers when wanting the turn-signal / indicator!

[t.s]

Someone said it is easy to get used to it in Bangkok traffic- very true. Just go with the flow / follow the lines of traffic.

The screw-up I made for a long time was turning on the wipers when wanting the turn-signal / indicator!

funny, i still do that sometimes. or hit the wash when i want to dip the lights.

[noahvail]

so... what is the usual accommodation period? I know that human nature will get used to almost everything, but how long does it really take? Maybe you have some funny stories or "near-hit" situations you would like to share?

Here's a bit of advice for when you're flip-flopping around countries that are left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive: when you're driving, you should be the person inyour car sitting closest to the center (centre) line in the road. btw, this doesn't apply in one certain case in Europe: when you take an English right hand drive over on the ferry to drive in France, where there's right-hand-drive. Now *that's* a lot of fun, trying to see around someone to overtake them - from the shoulder of the road!

Realistically, it took me half a day and one wrong-way around a roundabout in Ireland. After that, doesn't matter what or where I'm driving, I adapt pretty quickly.

Best of luck!

[Crossy]

one wrong-way around a roundabout in Ireland.

Glad it's not just me

One very important point is your reaction in an emergency, one naturally swerves to the verge side, when driving on the 'wrong' side you may swerve into oncoming traffic, not a good result

[SKORPiO]

Yes, this is what I was initially thinking, that the problem might be in emergency situations when something out of the ordinary happens. I know that there are people who will adjust much quicker. I have driven over 300k miles in LHD car and think that it might take me longer to switch

Thank you all for replays, regards, Bartek.