Maruska Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 One of the recent threads got me thinking. I`ve been driving for 7 years now, had 1 minor accident which wasn`t my fault ( really, it wasn`t:wink:). I`ve only ever driven on the right side of the road in the US. I know that UK drivers drive on the left-same as Australia - but you might have used a rental car abroad in Europe and find yourselves in unfamiliar situation. I checked the requirements and it appears that as a holder of US license I am not required to do a driving course in Australia to get an australia driver`s license. I am concerned though, I want to be safe and I have 2 little passengers on the back seat most of the time. There are brochures available online to study the rules in Australia that I am currently looking into. It seems I have 2 options: a) read the brochure, start slowly with driving on side roads and build up skill and confidence as I go or b) pay for a driving lesson(s) even though I don`t necessarily have to to get an aus license What was your experience driving on opposite side of the road ( abroad for UK drivers) ? How long did it take you to get used to it? What would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinsmom65 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Hi, we moved from Canada to Oz, so took a little bit of getting used to. I wasn't too bad, as I had driven in the UK on my several trips home, my OH took a little longer, as he had only driven in Canada. Didn't take took long to get used to driving on the opposite side, but would recommend getting an automatic car, as you have enough to concentae on without having to shift gears with your left hand. Also not sure how many roundabouts are in th US, but lots in Australia. Cheers Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Hi, we moved from Canada to Oz, so took a little bit of getting used to. I wasn't too bad, as I had driven in the UK on my several trips home, my OH took a little longer, as he had only driven in Canada. Didn't take took long to get used to driving on the opposite side, but would recommend getting an automatic car, as you have enough to concentae on without having to shift gears with your left hand. Also not sure how many roundabouts are in th US, but lots in Australia. Cheers Karen Thanks, I`ve never driven a manual, automatic is a must anyway. Roundabouts are OK with me. Thinking about it, you would enter the roundabout from the opposite side too - moving clockwise in Australia - rather than counter-clockwise like in US, right? Oh dear, getting dizzy :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 It all depends on how confident a driver you are. Personally I drove in the us for three weeks. The only problems I had was remembering you could turn on the red light and getting out of the airport when I first arrived. Ohhhh, and leaving my husband to navigate. ;-) Reading up on the road rules would probably be enough, just make sure you are not tired when you do your first bits of driving. The more tired you are the more likely instinct will kick in and you will end up on the wrong side of the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I think a couple of sessions with an instructor is a good idea. It wouldn't cost much and they would supplement the road rules with tips on common practices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 The driving in the US seemed crazy when we were there. I was glad i couldnt drive.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 TBH the biggest problem I have in Oz is just the agression of the driving, the tail gaiting and undertaking. Oh and learning that the Oz way is 'pushing in' instead of 'waiting to blend' A couple of lessons won't hurt, but you just need to get some experience in. I'm amazed about how my hubby is completely unfazed about the driving here, he is used to the general recklessness, but I am still very nervous. I'm also amazed at how poorly QLD drivers cope in the rain - the tail gating gets them into all kinds of strife and they frequently drive in to each other. Used to commute back along Coronation drive, Brisbane and my heart used to sink when it started raining - took ages to get back due to the accidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 I think a couple of sessions with an instructor is a good idea. It wouldn't cost much and they would supplement the road rules with tips on common practices. I think I`ll look into a "pay per lesson" if I can find one. I drive every single day so I am pretty confident, couple of hand-on lessons should be fine I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 The driving in the US seemed crazy when we were there. I was glad i couldnt drive.. Texas is wild :confused:, people commonly don`t yield if you try to move to the exit lane on a highway ( missed my exit at times due to this). Too many cargo trucks and people`s personal trucks - something to do with "everything is bigger in Texas" I suppose. We went for vacation to California and were amazed by the courtesy of drivers there, also found that people still drive regular size cars lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Texas is wild :confused:, people commonly don`t yield if you try to move to the exit lane on a highway ( missed my exit at times due to this). Too many cargo trucks and people`s personal trucks - something to do with "everything is bigger in Texas" I suppose. We went for vacation to California and were amazed by the courtesy of drivers there, also found that people still drive regular size cars lol Please dont tell me that florida drivers are good or i'll never go to another part of america lol. Dave had drove in portugal and i think that was quite scary for him but florida was hard. He'd prob kill me for acting like hes a wimp lol. Its just different! On our drive to the the villa from airport it got dark really quickly and we saw 3 or 4 accidents on our first day and a few more on the whole holiday. Driving on a empty country road would be more of my thing lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Please dont tell me that florida drivers are good or i'll never go to another part of america lol. Dave had drove in portugal and i think that was quite scary for him but florida was hard. He'd prob kill me for acting like hes a wimp lol. Its just different! On our drive to the the villa from airport it got dark really quickly and we saw 3 or 4 accidents on our first day and a few more on the whole holiday. Driving on a empty country road would be more of my thing lol I went to Florida twice and intentionally ommited it from the "good driving" examples :wink:. I haven`t been to the Northeast ( except very short stay in New York)but would expect little less traffic congestion due to the public transport network - maybe I am wrong though. In New York we moved around by subway, taxi and train, just like everyone else I guess. The only other place we visited is Washington state ( Seattle and San Juan islands), we didn`t drive but by just observing, the traffic looked like a killer :sad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I found Florida absolutely fine. The odd idiot driver, but you get that everywhere. Australia is FAR worse. How there are not more accidents here I have no idea. Mind you, the road death toll seems pretty high... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Frankly I suspect you're over thinking the right to left change--it's not nearly as difficult as you're anticipating. I learned to drive and passed my test in Canada at 16 then moved to the UK at age 24. My first drive there was a rental picked up in central London and I still coped okay with the change--finding my way around was bigger issue. It's hard to explain but moving the controls to the opposite side of the car makes the change to driving on the left make sense. I used to find taking my UK car for a holiday in France more confusing because I was in familiar drive-on-the-left surroundings trying to drive on the right. In any case, since my move to the UK I've been back and forth to both Canada and Europe in hire cars and find the switchover just comes naturally. The two areas where you might have to think about things would be roundabouts (traffic circles) especially if you're not used to them and, strangely, narrow roads where you have to pull over to squeeze by an oncoming car. I'd just give it a try before laying out money for lessons--it's not as difficult as you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cashmere Glow Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi, I think you should go for driving course at least one time to make sure that you don't fail for the test, to get familiar with the Australian Driving Rules and get some hints from the instruction on what they gonna ask you to do during driving test. If you fail, you have to wait for few weeks before you can get an appointment for the driving test and it costs you another $73.90 ( in Perth) Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi, I think you should go for driving course at least one time to make sure that you don't fail for the test, to get familiar with the Australian Driving Rules and get some hints from the instruction on what they gonna ask you to do during driving test. If you fail, you have to wait for few weeks before you can get an appointment for the driving test and it costs you another $73.90 ( in Perth) Hope this helps At least in Queensland (and most other states are the same) US licence holders aren't required to take either the written or driving test--they can just swap their existing licence over. If there was a test, I'd full agree about taking lessons--I did that when I had to do a UK test to move from Canada (that was before agreements for simple transfers). I didn't need lessons in how to drive, just how to pass the UK test. However, since there's no test for the OP I'd suggest she just buys the 'Rules of the Road" book and start driving on quieter roads to build confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maruska Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 At least in Queensland (and most other states are the same) US licence holders aren't required to take either the written or driving test--they can just swap their existing licence over. If there was a test, I'd full agree about taking lessons--I did that when I had to do a UK test to move from Canada (that was before agreements for simple transfers). I didn't need lessons in how to drive, just how to pass the UK test. However, since there's no test for the OP I'd suggest she just buys the 'Rules of the Road" book and start driving on quieter roads to build confidence. Correct, I don`t need a test - written or practice - to get my license. I will see how it goes when we get rental from the airport ( my husband will be driving and I`ll be observing ). No idea what "heavy traffic" really means in Australia, here we get a 7-8 lane highways ( one direction) and commuters commonly drive for 45 min. - 1 hour to get to work. I found some photos on the internet and it didn`t seem too bad. Driving on quiet roads is how I learned to drive in the first place :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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