There is wrong information in this video. The X sign means no stopping or parking. It's called a clearway. When approaching a roundabout to turn left, indicate left before you reach the roundabout. If going straight on, indicate left as you pass the exit before the one you want. If you are turning right, indicate right before you before you reach the roundabout. Then, as you pass the exit before the one you want, change your indicators to left.
Please note, the national speed limit is 70 only on motorways and dual carriageways (at least 2 lanes in each direction). Otherwise it's 60 mph, or any slower speed that's signed.
I, in UK, for the past I have driven a manual car for 45+ years. I now drive an automatic because of age. On roundabouts Give Way to traffic approaching the roundabout on your right, not just on the roundabout. Unless you can join the roundabout before that traffic joins the roundabout. It is all about timing. This also applies to mini roundabouts.
Highway Code: most of Europe and a lot of the rest of the world are signed up to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1978) which is a United Nations multilateral treaty to ensure consistancy on road signage. The UK Highway Code is based on this. The US does it's own thing. The motorway services which had a TV series made about it is TEBAY on the M6 in Cumbria. Definitely worth a visit.
Totally agree about not getting an electric hire car if you are going any distance. If you do get an EV, your trips are probably going to be 50 to 100% longer than in a ICE car because you will have to wait while the car is recharged. A point about fuel stations - I believe the colour of the fuel dispensing pipes are different from in the US. In the UK, diesel comes from a BLACK hose and petrol comes from a GREEN one (for Unleaded petrol). And in many petrol stations, there are two kinds of unleaded. One is labelled E5 and contains 5% ethanol and the other is labelled E10 and contains 10% ethanol. The E10 is cheaper by a few pence per litre. As all rental cars will be fairly new, they will all be able to use E10 fuel so always choose this nozzle to save yourself some money! And finally, I agree about driving in big cities. I make it a rule to never drive in central London, Birmingham, Manchester etc unless I really have to - and I have been driving in the UK for 55 years!
I live near Swindon, the Magic Roundabout is indeed magic, it might look scary, you just have to know where you want to go and aim for it, whilst still being aware that you have to give way to traffic from the right. It's a very efficient 5 way junction. Also, you should definitely indicate before your exit that you want to leave the roundabout, you might have got yourself in the wrong lane , which might ordinarily not be a good lane for that exit, if there could be any doubt about your intentions, indicate!
Oh and, dont forget, we _don't_ have jaywalking here. We are raised as children how to cross* the road safely on crossings, and without crossings, so know how to do it, and traffic needs to watch out for pedestrians... (in England* at least, the rules / laws are probably different in Scotland and Wales, and I know they are in Northern Ireland).😊
@@jamesfahy2935 We cross the road when we feel we can do so safely, regardless of traffic lights and various guided crossings... We don't _call_it_ 'jaywalking'.
Something important you didn't mention is that "turn on red" is *not* a thing in the UK. If the lights are red, you wait. A lot of junctions are controlled with "Give way" signs rather than "STOP 🛑" - at these junctions, if you can see that it's clear to pull out then you don't need to come to a complete halt - STOP signs are only used at junctions where there is additional danger and drivers might be misled into thinking it's clear when it isn't. I've never heard of a rental company that charges extra for mandatory third party insurance - what they will usually charge more for is insurance covering damage to the car you're hiring (although it isn't often these days that I have to rent a car in the UK, so it might have changed!). One tip I would give is, don't think you need to hire the same size car as you drive back home. Our roads and our car parks are not designed for American-sized vehicles, and while you might think the Ford Explorer you have isn't a particularly big car, when you're squeezing past other traffic on a narrow country lane or trying to manoeuvre it in a tight parking space, you'll realise it _is_ a big car by UK standards. A smaller car will make those experiences a lot less stressful ... and will also save you a lot of money on fuel, don't forget that petrol is more than twice as expensive in the UK as the USA. Not true to say that there are no 4-way intersections (crossroads) in the UK, not by a long stretch, especially in towns and involving minor roads - what we don't have is the 4-way stop. But yes, roundabouts are a lot more common in the UK than in most of the USA, both in urban areas and on faster roads. And you got your left and right mixed up when talking about signalling on roundabouts - left is the easy one in the UK, right is where you have to go around the roundabout and then switch to indicating left to come off! (And again when you were on the narrow lane in the Cotswolds) Correction on the national speed limit - it's 70 on motorways and _dual carriageways_ but it's 60 on single carriageways (ie, two-way roads) (and that still applies if the road has multiple _lanes_ - it's only a dual carriageway if there is a physical barrier separating oncoming traffic) - but it's lower for trucks, buses and towing vehicles. Sure, you're probably not going to want to hire anything like that, but it's still useful to know that other traffic, even down to a Transit van, might have a lower speed limit than you do in a car. But yes, there are a lot of country roads and lanes where the NSL of 60 applies, and there is absolutely no way you _could_ hit 60, let alone should - use your judgement about what is safe and sensible! Also note, the default speed limits are 30 if there is regular street lighting (and it isn't a motorway), otherwise NSL. In those circumstances, you _won't_ see any repeater signs. If the speed limit is _anything else_ then there will be regular repeater signs to remind you. The reason we back into parking spaces is because it's easier to manoeuvre into a space if your turning wheels are pushing you in rather than pulling you in, and it's a _lot_ safer driving out forwards and having a clear view over the bonnet (hood) of the next car, than backing out when the next car is blocking your view (and you have to move a lot further before you even get a view). Yes, British car parks were generally designed when average cars were smaller than they are now, but there's nothing difficult about them if you can control your car! (And this comes back to what I said earlier about not hiring a bigger car than you need). Also, a lot of towns and cities - especially older cities like York, Lincoln, Oxford etc - will have Park & Ride systems, where you can park your car on the edge of town and there's then a frequent bus into the centre. If you're just visiting for the day then this is almost always the best option (just check what time the last bus back is if you're planning on staying into the evening), it will work out cheaper and it's a lot less stressful than driving and parking in the centre. Toll roads are *very* rare in the UK. Apart from the congestion charge in central London and very small zone in Durham, there's the M6T that bypasses Birmingham and then it's mostly just odd bridges and tunnels across major rivers, I can only think of about half a dozen on main roads (although there are a few on back roads like the one you found near Bath). The Dartford Crossing across the Thames east of London uses a freeflow pay-online system, for the others you can pay by cash or card. Navigation - signage on UK roads is generally good (although it can be hit-and-miss in some town/city centres) once you understand it. The key things you need to look out for are the road number and the next main town/city in the direction you're going. You will very rarely see cardinal directions on signs, and street names are not prominently shown. Motorways are shown in blue, main A-roads in green, other roads in black and white, tourist destinations on brown. So if you're heading to Highclere Castle and your sat-nav is telling you to go one way but there's a big brown sign saying "Highclere Castle" pointing the other way, follow the sign! Road numbers shown in brackets mean that you can reach that road further along - so if you're in a town and you're wanting to get onto the M5 motorway, if you see a sign that says "(M5)" then it means that road will take you _to_ the M5. Even if you're using a sat-nav, it's helpful to have an idea of where you're going so that you can look out for signs as well, these can be particularly useful in terms of telling you which lane you need to be in approaching a junction, which isn't always obvious otherwise. Also note, in Wales and parts of Scotland and Ireland, signs will often be bilingual, so just focus on the English words/names and ignore the others!
If you are approaching a main road at a T junction you will see two white lines on your road at the junction, if they are continuous lines you must stop, if they are - - - you don't need to stop if the main road is clear for you to go.
You got muddled over left and right several times😂 For example the story of driving on a narrow road and meeting a car head on, three times you said you pulled to the left when you should have gone right, uh no, in the UK you should have pulled left, I assume you meant you pulled right US style when you should have gone left😀 Also the descriptions for indicating in a roundabout were for a US roundabout. In the UK if you’re turning left you just signal left but if you’re turning right you change the signal halfway round just before you exit. As for parking, the size of the average car in the UK has increased a lot since the 1960s but the standard car park space hasn’t. By comparison I believe cars in the US despite still being massive, have actually got a bit smaller. At least 2020 Lincoln Continental is several inches smaller than it was in the 1960s because I just looked it up to check I wasn’t just making it up😂 Oh, and the bridge to Wales is free now. By the way, you shouldn’t let your friend drive your rental car, the I insurance is probably invalid. Very few people have insurance to drive any car, only their own. Sometimes, people have policies which allow them to let other people drive their car but not to drive other people’s cars, but if it was a hire car, the owner of the car, the hire company would have to authorise an additional driver. Even if an owner has a policy which lets them lend their car to someone else, it’s almost always for the minimum legal cover not for fully comprehensive cover.
Whenever you drive on the "other" side of the road, it's tricky to be aware that the opposite side of the car is near the kerb, maybe nearer than you thought, at least for the first day or 2
I’ve returned quite a few rental cars at Heathrow and had no trouble- they always seemed keener to check the barcode on the windscreen to ensure it was still the same car, than bothering about scratches.
The national speed limit is 60mph on A Roads unless posted differently, NOT 70mph. You are unlikely to be pulled over by the police, but very likely to be caught for speeding with a Speed Camera. There are cameras everywhere. Sometimes they are temporary hidden in a speed enforcement van.( they usually have a sign on to indicate they a checking for speeders).
Windy little country roads, hmm. It's often legal to drive the national speed limit, i.e. 60 mph on a single carriageway road, including single lanes it really isn't sensible to drive faster than you would feel comfortable braking suddenly if you come face to face with a car coming the other way, however locals might assume they know the backroads like the back of their hands and come roaring round the bend at 60
Yes you need a new copy as several laws get changed EVERY year Infact there are new ones coming in the next couple of weeks. all can be found on the UK Govt website allong with the official Highway code and practice tests. FREE
And... 'Diesel' is pronounced _Diezel_ it was my dog's name so I know how to say it properly ( _not_ diesel... Diezel despite its spelling!) 👍🙂🏴💜🇬🇧🤭🖖
If you have an accident with another vehicle and no one is injured don't call the emergency services.this is a waist of time and resources.just exchange insurance detaisl take photos etc
Pretty sure that if you don't have a Manual License and you're driving a Manual it's an offence and your Insurer will definitely not pay out on an accident - as is typical with insurers, any excuse not to pay out, but not having an appropriate licence can really screw you. Fun Fact: most folk are Right-handed and most folk have a dominant eye too (Right one), due to that + driving on the left it means your right eye is more focused on the centre line so you have better vision (both sides), so actually... it DOES makes sense to drive on the left. However, the left/right thing in different nations mostly comes down to a lot of other factors and not due to this - and it'd be insanely costly to change at this stage.
In the USA, there are no 'manual' or 'automatic' licenses. You just have a license; they don't care what kind of car it's for! But yeah, if you never driven one and rent a manual, that's not going to go well for anyone!
@@anglotopia it's definitely something you should inform the Insurance Company - they're absolute weiners about damage or payouts - although, I expect that's the same in the US - read the small print - ALL of it lol
I've always driven on the right, in Cyprus and the UK, and when I went to France (at the age of 65) I didn't find it too difficult driving on the left. I just had to remember the driver's side is on the middle of the road line. It's really not that complicated. For Americans, the narrow roads and roundabouts are probably more problematic.
So much incorrect and potentially dangerous information in this video. I strongly suggest that you do not take lessons from Americans on how to drive in the UK. The best advice they gave was to buy the Highway Code. Buy it, read it throughly and repeatedly, and obey it. Oh, and even if you drive manual in the US, rent an automatic in the UK. The gear lever will be on you left, not your right. You really don't want to be automatically reaching for the lever with your right hand at a junction where you're also trying to remember the correct road position for the car in the UK. Driving an automatic will minimise unnecessary distractions and allow you to concentrate on the correct road position. Driving in the UK is fairly safe if you drive sensibly. Road traffic fatalities in the UK are very low compared to the US. Last time I checked, the UK was about the 2nd or 3rd safest country in the World. The US was ranked about 27th. So, enjoy it, but pay attention.
So... Youve been driving here in the UK for twenty years (plus?) and still cannot correctly pronounce _Birmingham_ - _Birmingum_ (others?) (or spell _kerb_ correctly!) ... Still acting like 'newbie American visitors' ?! Lol?!😊
We've given up all hope of attempting to 'correctly' pronounce English place names; we always do it wrong to someone when a place name can be pronounced 20 different ways depending on where in England you're from. So, we make a best effort.
There is wrong information in this video. The X sign means no stopping or parking. It's called a clearway. When approaching a roundabout to turn left, indicate left before you reach the roundabout. If going straight on, indicate left as you pass the exit before the one you want. If you are turning right, indicate right before you before you reach the roundabout. Then, as you pass the exit before the one you want, change your indicators to left.
Thank you! I knew I was wrong about the sign. It's been a while since I drove there, so I figured something I would say would be wrong.
Please note, the national speed limit is 70 only on motorways and dual carriageways (at least 2 lanes in each direction). Otherwise it's 60 mph, or any slower speed that's signed.
Backing into a space allows more control. It is taught on our driving instruction.
I, in UK, for the past I have driven a manual car for 45+ years. I now drive an automatic because of age. On roundabouts Give Way to traffic approaching the roundabout on your right, not just on the roundabout. Unless you can join the roundabout before that traffic joins the roundabout. It is all about timing. This also applies to mini roundabouts.
Highway Code: most of Europe and a lot of the rest of the world are signed up to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1978) which is a United Nations multilateral treaty to ensure consistancy on road signage. The UK Highway Code is based on this. The US does it's own thing.
The motorway services which had a TV series made about it is TEBAY on the M6 in Cumbria. Definitely worth a visit.
Totally agree about not getting an electric hire car if you are going any distance. If you do get an EV, your trips are probably going to be 50 to 100% longer than in a ICE car because you will have to wait while the car is recharged. A point about fuel stations - I believe the colour of the fuel dispensing pipes are different from in the US. In the UK, diesel comes from a BLACK hose and petrol comes from a GREEN one (for Unleaded petrol). And in many petrol stations, there are two kinds of unleaded. One is labelled E5 and contains 5% ethanol and the other is labelled E10 and contains 10% ethanol. The E10 is cheaper by a few pence per litre. As all rental cars will be fairly new, they will all be able to use E10 fuel so always choose this nozzle to save yourself some money! And finally, I agree about driving in big cities. I make it a rule to never drive in central London, Birmingham, Manchester etc unless I really have to - and I have been driving in the UK for 55 years!
I live near Swindon, the Magic Roundabout is indeed magic, it might look scary, you just have to know where you want to go and aim for it, whilst still being aware that you have to give way to traffic from the right. It's a very efficient 5 way junction. Also, you should definitely indicate before your exit that you want to leave the roundabout, you might have got yourself in the wrong lane , which might ordinarily not be a good lane for that exit, if there could be any doubt about your intentions, indicate!
Oh and, dont forget, we _don't_ have jaywalking here. We are raised as children how to cross* the road safely on crossings, and without crossings, so know how to do it, and traffic needs to watch out for pedestrians... (in England* at least, the rules / laws are probably different in Scotland and Wales, and I know they are in Northern Ireland).😊
We certainly do jaywalk in London.
@@jamesfahy2935
We cross the road when we feel we can do so safely, regardless of traffic lights and various guided crossings...
We don't _call_it_ 'jaywalking'.
Something important you didn't mention is that "turn on red" is *not* a thing in the UK. If the lights are red, you wait.
A lot of junctions are controlled with "Give way" signs rather than "STOP 🛑" - at these junctions, if you can see that it's clear to pull out then you don't need to come to a complete halt - STOP signs are only used at junctions where there is additional danger and drivers might be misled into thinking it's clear when it isn't.
I've never heard of a rental company that charges extra for mandatory third party insurance - what they will usually charge more for is insurance covering damage to the car you're hiring (although it isn't often these days that I have to rent a car in the UK, so it might have changed!).
One tip I would give is, don't think you need to hire the same size car as you drive back home. Our roads and our car parks are not designed for American-sized vehicles, and while you might think the Ford Explorer you have isn't a particularly big car, when you're squeezing past other traffic on a narrow country lane or trying to manoeuvre it in a tight parking space, you'll realise it _is_ a big car by UK standards. A smaller car will make those experiences a lot less stressful ... and will also save you a lot of money on fuel, don't forget that petrol is more than twice as expensive in the UK as the USA.
Not true to say that there are no 4-way intersections (crossroads) in the UK, not by a long stretch, especially in towns and involving minor roads - what we don't have is the 4-way stop. But yes, roundabouts are a lot more common in the UK than in most of the USA, both in urban areas and on faster roads.
And you got your left and right mixed up when talking about signalling on roundabouts - left is the easy one in the UK, right is where you have to go around the roundabout and then switch to indicating left to come off! (And again when you were on the narrow lane in the Cotswolds)
Correction on the national speed limit - it's 70 on motorways and _dual carriageways_ but it's 60 on single carriageways (ie, two-way roads) (and that still applies if the road has multiple _lanes_ - it's only a dual carriageway if there is a physical barrier separating oncoming traffic) - but it's lower for trucks, buses and towing vehicles. Sure, you're probably not going to want to hire anything like that, but it's still useful to know that other traffic, even down to a Transit van, might have a lower speed limit than you do in a car. But yes, there are a lot of country roads and lanes where the NSL of 60 applies, and there is absolutely no way you _could_ hit 60, let alone should - use your judgement about what is safe and sensible! Also note, the default speed limits are 30 if there is regular street lighting (and it isn't a motorway), otherwise NSL. In those circumstances, you _won't_ see any repeater signs. If the speed limit is _anything else_ then there will be regular repeater signs to remind you.
The reason we back into parking spaces is because it's easier to manoeuvre into a space if your turning wheels are pushing you in rather than pulling you in, and it's a _lot_ safer driving out forwards and having a clear view over the bonnet (hood) of the next car, than backing out when the next car is blocking your view (and you have to move a lot further before you even get a view). Yes, British car parks were generally designed when average cars were smaller than they are now, but there's nothing difficult about them if you can control your car! (And this comes back to what I said earlier about not hiring a bigger car than you need). Also, a lot of towns and cities - especially older cities like York, Lincoln, Oxford etc - will have Park & Ride systems, where you can park your car on the edge of town and there's then a frequent bus into the centre. If you're just visiting for the day then this is almost always the best option (just check what time the last bus back is if you're planning on staying into the evening), it will work out cheaper and it's a lot less stressful than driving and parking in the centre.
Toll roads are *very* rare in the UK. Apart from the congestion charge in central London and very small zone in Durham, there's the M6T that bypasses Birmingham and then it's mostly just odd bridges and tunnels across major rivers, I can only think of about half a dozen on main roads (although there are a few on back roads like the one you found near Bath). The Dartford Crossing across the Thames east of London uses a freeflow pay-online system, for the others you can pay by cash or card.
Navigation - signage on UK roads is generally good (although it can be hit-and-miss in some town/city centres) once you understand it. The key things you need to look out for are the road number and the next main town/city in the direction you're going. You will very rarely see cardinal directions on signs, and street names are not prominently shown. Motorways are shown in blue, main A-roads in green, other roads in black and white, tourist destinations on brown. So if you're heading to Highclere Castle and your sat-nav is telling you to go one way but there's a big brown sign saying "Highclere Castle" pointing the other way, follow the sign! Road numbers shown in brackets mean that you can reach that road further along - so if you're in a town and you're wanting to get onto the M5 motorway, if you see a sign that says "(M5)" then it means that road will take you _to_ the M5. Even if you're using a sat-nav, it's helpful to have an idea of where you're going so that you can look out for signs as well, these can be particularly useful in terms of telling you which lane you need to be in approaching a junction, which isn't always obvious otherwise.
Also note, in Wales and parts of Scotland and Ireland, signs will often be bilingual, so just focus on the English words/names and ignore the others!
If you are approaching a main road at a T junction you will see two white lines on your road at the junction, if they are continuous lines you must stop, if they are - - - you don't need to stop if the main road is clear for you to go.
All correct, except in Wales the urban speed limit default is 20MPH, except when specifically signed 30MPH.
After London the most travelled cities in the UK are Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, Bath and Bristol are high with Oxford too
You got muddled over left and right several times😂 For example the story of driving on a narrow road and meeting a car head on, three times you said you pulled to the left when you should have gone right, uh no, in the UK you should have pulled left, I assume you meant you pulled right US style when you should have gone left😀 Also the descriptions for indicating in a roundabout were for a US roundabout. In the UK if you’re turning left you just signal left but if you’re turning right you change the signal halfway round just before you exit.
As for parking, the size of the average car in the UK has increased a lot since the 1960s but the standard car park space hasn’t. By comparison I believe cars in the US despite still being massive, have actually got a bit smaller. At least 2020 Lincoln Continental is several inches smaller than it was in the 1960s because I just looked it up to check I wasn’t just making it up😂
Oh, and the bridge to Wales is free now.
By the way, you shouldn’t let your friend drive your rental car, the I insurance is probably invalid. Very few people have insurance to drive any car, only their own. Sometimes, people have policies which allow them to let other people drive their car but not to drive other people’s cars, but if it was a hire car, the owner of the car, the hire company would have to authorise an additional driver. Even if an owner has a policy which lets them lend their car to someone else, it’s almost always for the minimum legal cover not for fully comprehensive cover.
National speed limit is only 70 mph on dual carriageway & motorway. 60 mph on ordinary roads.
Unless signposted otherwise on those roads.
Whenever you drive on the "other" side of the road, it's tricky to be aware that the opposite side of the car is near the kerb, maybe nearer than you thought, at least for the first day or 2
4.54 lt to a Uk gallon . I live in Birmingham and drive an estate car ( station Wagon ).!
I’ve returned quite a few rental cars at Heathrow and had no trouble- they always seemed keener to check the barcode on the windscreen to ensure it was still the same car, than bothering about scratches.
The national speed limit is 60mph on A Roads unless posted differently, NOT 70mph. You are unlikely to be pulled over by the police, but very likely to be caught for speeding with a Speed Camera. There are cameras everywhere. Sometimes they are temporary hidden in a speed enforcement van.( they usually have a sign on to indicate they a checking for speeders).
Windy little country roads, hmm. It's often legal to drive the national speed limit, i.e. 60 mph on a single carriageway road, including single lanes it really isn't sensible to drive faster than you would feel comfortable braking suddenly if you come face to face with a car coming the other way, however locals might assume they know the backroads like the back of their hands and come roaring round the bend at 60
Best advice for Americans who may be in the UK for a while is have some driving lessons with a local instructor.
Yes you need a new copy as several laws get changed EVERY year Infact there are new ones coming in the next couple of weeks. all can be found on the UK Govt website allong with the official Highway code and practice tests. FREE
And... 'Diesel' is pronounced _Diezel_
it was my dog's name so I know how to say it properly ( _not_ diesel... Diezel despite its spelling!) 👍🙂🏴💜🇬🇧🤭🖖
If you have an accident with another vehicle and no one is injured don't call the emergency services.this is a waist of time and resources.just exchange insurance detaisl take photos etc
Also we don't have a fast lane...1 driving lane and 2 overtaking lanes
National speed limit is 70mph on dual carriageways, 60mph otherwise.
Nobody reverses a quarter of a mile!
You really should have a Brit do some quality assurance on this video; there are too many errors.
There have been enough comments on the video to solve that problem.
Pretty sure that if you don't have a Manual License and you're driving a Manual it's an offence and your Insurer will definitely not pay out on an accident - as is typical with insurers, any excuse not to pay out, but not having an appropriate licence can really screw you.
Fun Fact: most folk are Right-handed and most folk have a dominant eye too (Right one), due to that + driving on the left it means your right eye is more focused on the centre line so you have better vision (both sides), so actually... it DOES makes sense to drive on the left. However, the left/right thing in different nations mostly comes down to a lot of other factors and not due to this - and it'd be insanely costly to change at this stage.
In the USA, there are no 'manual' or 'automatic' licenses. You just have a license; they don't care what kind of car it's for! But yeah, if you never driven one and rent a manual, that's not going to go well for anyone!
@@anglotopia it's definitely something you should inform the Insurance Company - they're absolute weiners about damage or payouts - although, I expect that's the same in the US - read the small print - ALL of it lol
You will almost never get a ticket for not moving out of the outside lanes. Unfortunately.
I've always driven on the right, in Cyprus and the UK, and when I went to France (at the age of 65) I didn't find it too difficult driving on the left. I just had to remember the driver's side is on the middle of the road line. It's really not that complicated. For Americans, the narrow roads and roundabouts are probably more problematic.
You must have caused a lot of accidents then!
This is a joke right, if you are on the left you pull over to the left...
So much incorrect and potentially dangerous information in this video. I strongly suggest that you do not take lessons from Americans on how to drive in the UK. The best advice they gave was to buy the Highway Code. Buy it, read it throughly and repeatedly, and obey it. Oh, and even if you drive manual in the US, rent an automatic in the UK. The gear lever will be on you left, not your right. You really don't want to be automatically reaching for the lever with your right hand at a junction where you're also trying to remember the correct road position for the car in the UK. Driving an automatic will minimise unnecessary distractions and allow you to concentrate on the correct road position.
Driving in the UK is fairly safe if you drive sensibly. Road traffic fatalities in the UK are very low compared to the US. Last time I checked, the UK was about the 2nd or 3rd safest country in the World. The US was ranked about 27th. So, enjoy it, but pay attention.
So... Youve been driving here in the UK for twenty years (plus?) and still cannot correctly pronounce _Birmingham_ - _Birmingum_ (others?)
(or spell _kerb_ correctly!) ... Still acting like 'newbie American visitors' ?! Lol?!😊
We've given up all hope of attempting to 'correctly' pronounce English place names; we always do it wrong to someone when a place name can be pronounced 20 different ways depending on where in England you're from. So, we make a best effort.
Let's just put you Americans straight about driving. You Americans may drive on the right side of the road, but us British drive on the correct side!