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You would be mad to buy a LHD vehicle in the UK. In fact I am surprised it's even allowed.

by retube 3y ago

standardUser 3y ago
In the Bahamas most rental cars are LHD to make it easier for US tourists, despite the entire country driving on the left. Though I suppose the difference between mellow Bahaman roads and the whole of the UK road system is a pretty big difference when it comes to safety.
- dehrmann 3y ago
  > make it easier for US tourists That sorta makes it worse. There's something about everything being backwards and looking wrong that reminds you to drive wrong.
  - kortilla 3y ago
    The opposite of “right” in this case is “left”, not “wrong”. :P
  - everly 3y ago
    When I rented a scooter in the Bahamas, I was told to repeat the mantra "right side, suicide"
- ZiiS 3y ago
  That is even more mad. A US targeted rental is automatic anyway; so the only important thing is to remember to drive on the wrong side; this would be so much harder if that ment driving curbside.
  - standardUser 3y ago
    I had no problem and it was my first time driving in left-driving country. But again, the roads there are fairly simple.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
tom_ 3y ago
It's outnumbered by the wrong-hand-drive countries that surround it, so LHD cars kind of have to be legal even if only to accommodate lorries and tourists.
- tinus_hn 3y ago
  You could allow driving but outlaw selling.
dieselgate 3y ago
Why mad? I see plenty of people in the states with RHD vehicles that mostly seem to be Japanese imports, rarely it’ll be a fancy UK vehicle. (In WA state) It seems to carry a bit of fashion but not sure if it would translate the same to other places like the UK for example. I personally wouldn’t want a RHD vehicle but more for practicality/parts availability Edit: not attempting to vouch for Tesla in this case at all, this reacher is ridiculous and a bad move imo
- dharmab 3y ago
  There's two major safety issues: You can't see around cars to be able to pass. Okay, so you often don't pass. But much more importantly, car headlights aren't symmetrical. The one pointing towards the oncoming lane has a "cut" beam to avoid blinding other drivers while the other has a taller beam to improve visibility of anything entering the road. When you drive LHD in a RHD country, or vice versa, you are blinding other drivers while having low visibility of pedestrians and animals. Technology Connections did a great video about this. His solution was to stop driving his RHD car in low light. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2J91UG6Fn8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2J91UG6Fn8
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    Headlight regulations seem to be mostly ignored by manufactures of modern cars. Modern LED headlights are insanely bright, and seem to be unfocused or not set up with any kind of "cut" beam. Driving at night is now sort of a game where you get blinded by oncoming headlight glare every minute or two and then hope your night vision recovers in time for you to avoid hitting something you can't see. It might be good for drivers of these cars, but it's terrible for oncoming traffic.
    - kjkjadksj 3y ago
      In driving school we were taught to look at the right shoulder when headlights are coming at you like that. Keeps you from being dazzled and keeps the car in the lane.
housemusicfan 3y ago
They would have thought of this before they built the Channel Tunnel, with LHD and RHD cars moving freely between the UK and France, no?
- bpye 3y ago
  It’s not a car tunnel, it’s a train tunnel. There are trains that carry cars but there were ferries before that. Yes you can drive a U.K. car in France and vice versa, but I doubt anyone wants that experience at home.
- dingaling 3y ago
  One of the original proposals for the Tunnel link included a road tunnel. The problem of coordination was one of the factors that pushed selection towards a rail-only solution. Unlike cars, there is no distinct LHD/RHD split by nation for trains. French trains tend to run on the left on the up service[0] like British ones do, but Paris Métro runs on the right. [0] except in Alsace, where they mimic German trains on the right

You would be mad to buy a LHD vehicle in the UK. In fact I am surprised it's even allowed.

by retube 3y ago

You would be mad to buy a LHD vehicle in the UK. In fact I am surprised it's even allowed.

In the Bahamas most rental cars are LHD to make it easier for US tourists, despite the entire country driving on the left. Though I suppose the difference between mellow Bahaman roads and the whole of the UK road system is a pretty big difference when it comes to safety.

dehrmann 3y ago
> make it easier for US tourists That sorta makes it worse. There's something about everything being backwards and looking wrong that reminds you to drive wrong.
- kortilla 3y ago
  The opposite of “right” in this case is “left”, not “wrong”. :P
- everly 3y ago
  When I rented a scooter in the Bahamas, I was told to repeat the mantra "right side, suicide"
ZiiS 3y ago
That is even more mad. A US targeted rental is automatic anyway; so the only important thing is to remember to drive on the wrong side; this would be so much harder if that ment driving curbside.
- standardUser 3y ago
  I had no problem and it was my first time driving in left-driving country. But again, the roads there are fairly simple.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

tom_ 3y ago

It's outnumbered by the wrong-hand-drive countries that surround it, so LHD cars kind of have to be legal even if only to accommodate lorries and tourists.

tinus_hn 3y ago
You could allow driving but outlaw selling.

dieselgate 3y ago

Why mad? I see plenty of people in the states with RHD vehicles that mostly seem to be Japanese imports, rarely it’ll be a fancy UK vehicle. (In WA state) It seems to carry a bit of fashion but not sure if it would translate the same to other places like the UK for example. I personally wouldn’t want a RHD vehicle but more for practicality/parts availability Edit: not attempting to vouch for Tesla in this case at all, this reacher is ridiculous and a bad move imo

dharmab 3y ago
There's two major safety issues: You can't see around cars to be able to pass. Okay, so you often don't pass. But much more importantly, car headlights aren't symmetrical. The one pointing towards the oncoming lane has a "cut" beam to avoid blinding other drivers while the other has a taller beam to improve visibility of anything entering the road. When you drive LHD in a RHD country, or vice versa, you are blinding other drivers while having low visibility of pedestrians and animals. Technology Connections did a great video about this. His solution was to stop driving his RHD car in low light. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2J91UG6Fn8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2J91UG6Fn8
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  Headlight regulations seem to be mostly ignored by manufactures of modern cars. Modern LED headlights are insanely bright, and seem to be unfocused or not set up with any kind of "cut" beam. Driving at night is now sort of a game where you get blinded by oncoming headlight glare every minute or two and then hope your night vision recovers in time for you to avoid hitting something you can't see. It might be good for drivers of these cars, but it's terrible for oncoming traffic.
  - kjkjadksj 3y ago
    In driving school we were taught to look at the right shoulder when headlights are coming at you like that. Keeps you from being dazzled and keeps the car in the lane.

housemusicfan 3y ago

They would have thought of this before they built the Channel Tunnel, with LHD and RHD cars moving freely between the UK and France, no?

bpye 3y ago
It’s not a car tunnel, it’s a train tunnel. There are trains that carry cars but there were ferries before that. Yes you can drive a U.K. car in France and vice versa, but I doubt anyone wants that experience at home.
dingaling 3y ago
One of the original proposals for the Tunnel link included a road tunnel. The problem of coordination was one of the factors that pushed selection towards a rail-only solution. Unlike cars, there is no distinct LHD/RHD split by nation for trains. French trains tend to run on the left on the up service[0] like British ones do, but Paris Métro runs on the right. [0] except in Alsace, where they mimic German trains on the right