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Re: MG trip to England

To: rkegg@juno.com (Randell S Kegg), danray@bluegrass.net
Subject: Re: MG trip to England
From: Leckstein <bleckstein@mail.monmouth.com>
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 21:24:01 -0500
At 08:53 PM 12/7/97 EST, Randell S Kegg wrote:
>       I have been to England a number of times, and here are my
>observations about driving there:
>1. The gearshift has the same pattern. Think about it as though you were
>shifting your LHD car from the passenger seat.
>2. The Pedals are all in the same order as a LHD car. This means that the
>gas pedal is to the far right, and is actuated by your right foot.
>3. The first half hour is the worst, after that you get used to it.
>However, roundabouts (traffic circles) are a special challenge, and
>require concentration.  Drivers in the roundabout have the right of way.
>4. Traffic outside of London is not usually too hectic, and the  Heritage
>Motor Centre at Gaydon is well worth the trip. 
>5. Make yourself a little sign with an arrow that says KEEP LEFT, and
>stick it on the dash in front of you. 
>6. There are pubs in every village.  You won't have any trouble in that
>regard.
>7. On M roads, (their version of interstate highways), the fast lane is
>the right lane, and the slow lane is the left lane. Just the opposite
>from the US.
>
>Good Luck...........
>
>Randy Kegg
>
All the above is true, but it isn't keeping left that is hard, it is
remembering always to LOOK RIGHT . In a car or on foot, more tourist are
injured because they fail to look right.  Our mothers taught us to look
both ways before stepping off the curb, but we soon get into the habit of
looking left as we step off the curb and then look right when we are in the
road. That can get you killed in Britain.

We had 89 cars on the COB in 1990, all yanks, most driving left hand drive
cars. The cars covered over 250,000 miles combined with only one accident.
A TC (right hand drive) fought with a lorry while the TC was exiting the
Jamaica Inn in Cornwall. The driver forgot to look right as he entered the
roadway. He lost the front two inches of the TC.  Keep left, look right.
Everything else was relatively easy to pick up in the first ten minutes you
are on the road.

Enjoy

Mike

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