American Reacts to 6 Ways British and American Driving is Very Different
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- Опубликовано: 16 фев 2023
- In this video I react to ways British and American driving is very different. After seeing this I may need to study more about British driving before I visit the UK. The road signs alone are so confusing, but add in driving on the left and other British rules of the road and it may not be as simple of a transition as I thought. LOL
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Not one person in the UK says "Central reserve" 😂
It's a Central Reservation.
That's the (usually) grassy area between opposing direction lanes, more often than not divided by an armco barrier.
Signs it's a roundabout and the bit in blue m22 is a motorway aka highway
Zebra crossing is called that because it's painted black and white
@@FrankJazzgaming17We also have a whole zoo of different types of crossings which is why we still include the zebra in it's name. eg:
Pelican Crossing: controlled by lights
Toucan Crossing: Like Pelican but allows cyclists to cross
There are also others each with their own set of rules and features.
@@KenFullman Most are also related to the animal in some way, Pelican comes from Pedestrian Light Controlled, Toucan sounds a bit like two-can, Pegasus are similar to horses, puffin is just for its similarity to a pelican but there is a slight difference. Its worth noting outside of Bristol or London very few Pelican crossings still exist most have been replaced with puffin crossings.
It's called a Zebra crossing because it's made up of black and white stripes. Look at the cover of the Beatles album "Abbey Road" for reference.
If you intend to drive in UK , the "Highway code " is the go to document. Gives rules of the road and driving test is based on its contents.
Very narrow country roads aren't the majority, but we do have some.
They're called single track roads, and they have passing places, which are cut-outs at the side of road, which you pull into, to let other vehicles pass you.
Often it involves a technique Americans aren't familiar with, called reversing. 😁
Europe / UK high proportion of narrow rural roads, with tarmac surface. USofA high proportion of unsurfaced rural dirt roads instead, often one vehicle width.
Also passing places are not just for oncoming traffic, but also for traffic that has caught up with you due to them driving at a higher speed than you are comfortable doing. Use the passing place. Let them through. If they end up in a ditch because they were too going fast for the corners, that's on them.
Try driving a double decker bus down a single track road and meeting a lorry (truck for Americans) coming the other way. Company rules forbade reversing to a passing place (passenger safety & place too small anyway) or pulling onto the grass verge & risking a broken axle dropping a wheel into a transverse drainage, ditch. As a small female bus driver I would just stop, prop my elbows on TV he steering wheel rest my chin on my hands & smile at the other driver until he backed up or me. Never failed😊😊
Living in the south west of the UK many of the Grockles/Emmets (tourists) we get down here also can’t reverse yes even the English ones.
For UK signage, Triangles warn, rectangles inform, circles give orders. Stop and give way (the triangle is inverted) have unique shapes, so can be identified even if obscured by snow or dirt. European signs in general use symbols so that language is not important and they will make sense to any driver from another European country. US signs write everything in English.
The Europe signs are not only in Europe. Many Countries in Asia, Africa and South America (+Mexico) use the signs regulated (and last changed) in the "Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals" from 1968
Details you can find here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals
Let's not forget that in Europe just a few kilometers can take you somewhere with a completely different language and occasionally alphabeth. The signs make it easier to travel in Greece, for instance, where even the letters, not just the language, are completely different.
It's same inside cars, in Europe a lot of the buttons and switches use symbols, but in America it's actually written in English 😂
I was always confused by the American sign "PED XING". I thought it was the name of some Chinese guy, but he's everywhere!!
@@DSP16569 I think the Vienna Conventon adopted a similar system to the one introduced in the UK in 1965 which was developed from the Continent.
The hazard perception test is part of the United Kingdom driving test. The test is intended to check a candidate’s ability to detect developing situations that require a motorist to take some action, such as changing speed or direction.[
The test was introduced in 2002 and updated in 2015 with computer generated clips replacing the live action videos.
Sadly as an experienced driver I spot far more hazards than the test requires. You are not allowed to spot extra hazards! I also passed the theory test with no revision. 40 years after I took the test. Judging by the number of near misses it doesn't work.
@@womble321 Agreed, Its a rubbish test. It shows you have practice the test.
@@womble321 it was the same for me.
The hazard perception test is ridiculous, it scores you but only when you click when the computer wants you to click. You could see the hazard early and click but it was before the computer wanted you to click and you either get no score or a low score. It's rubbish in my opinion, And I've had to do 3, car, motorcycle and truck. Hated every one of them.
@@derekdelboytrotter8881 was gonna say that. I passed the theory easily but scored terribly on hazard and I'm 100% convinced it's because I spotted a hazard before the computer had that 5 second score gap
It is the USA that is out of step on road signs, almost the rest of the world use a unified system as agreed many years ago. Even China follows the same scheme.
As for the direction sign shown, it carries lots of information, including the basic shape of the junction you are approaching, the roads leading off of the junction with their road numbers. The gap in the circle is a reminder not to turn right onto the roundabout.
We also have large signs showing the exit name etc, but UK colours are International, as used worldwide. Blue background for Motorways, Green for Major Roads , and White for other roads.
One thing we do not have is the dreadful 'Four way stop' , we tend to have mini roundabouts with 'Give Way' lines and signs. Much safer and clearer.
@@josephturner7569 as do the US, I found them pretty dangerous when I worked there as most people just drove straight through them
@@josephturner7569 yep lol. 🙂
@@josephturner7569 The Netherlands also has flashing yellow lights on some low-traffic junctions at night.
I like 4 way stops as at least we know what they mean. I have no clue how to use a roundabout and I doubt many Americans do x
In the UK we give way to traffic from the right in Europe they give way to traffic from the left it's quicker and easier to move
To put into perspective about not needing a car in the UK, where I live I have 4 train stations, about 10 bus stops, 3 parks, 6 schools, 3 tram stops & 2 large supermarkets & numerous smaller grocery shops all within 5-10 minutes walk from me. ❤️🇬🇧
And where I lived in Norfolk there were 4 buses a week
I can't even imagine that. We don't have any busses or trains. I do have quite a few nice parks near by but if I were to walk it would probably take me 45 minutes to get to the grocery store.
A lot of people in Europe choose where to live and apply for jobs based on access to public transport, hence the less car ownership. It means house prices/rent is more closer to train stations.
US Zoning laws are why the USA is so car centric ... it is relatively recent and nothing to do with the size of the country
Australia has very good public transport, most people don't need a car to go work, but most families still own a car (singular), but will also do insane journeys that UAians would think crazy (just pop up to mom's - drive north for 12 hours and you're there, it's easy ... )
It's worth pointing out that public transport is not great everywhere in the UK. I grew up in a village of about 1000 people in the south Midlands and we had a bus that would pick you up in the morning going one direction, then drop you back in the village coming back in the late afternoon. That was it. Learning to drive was absolutely essential as soon as you turned 17.
The hazard perception test consists of watching a series of video clips on a computer (as part of, and at the same time, as the theory test). As the clip plays, a hazard will develop and you have to click as soon as the hazard is spotted. The earlier you click, the more points are scored, one clip will have 2 hazards to spot. Score enough points and you pass, fail and you have to do both the theory and hazard perception test again.
I think it was Johnny Vegas when he was on Top Gear when he said "when you've never driven before, you perceive everything as a potential hazard" 😂
It's horrendous. After driving in the US for 20 years I noticed all hazards that weren't "computer" hazards and always clicked at the wrong time because I was noticing them too early. In the end I just had to learn to time my clicks and click 3 times, spaced apart
It's called a zebra crossing because it has black and white stripes!
As for lights: we call the system as a whole "traffic lights". We don't have names for the individual lights, they are just called the red light and green light.
And amber light.
......and amber. Which also means 'stop' but is a warning that the lights are about to change.
we do also have puffin, pelican, toucan and pegasus crossings
In South Africa, traffic lights are referred to as 'robots'.
@@christineharding4190 Flashing amber too on Pelican crossings when light is about to go green.
We call them traffic lights. They still have Red for stop, Amber to warn it's changing and Green for go. But it has been proven that roundabouts drastically cut the number of serious accidents.
There are some country lanes (they are referred to as lanes, even though they are roads) that are so narrow with hedgerows that come right up to the roadside, no one can pass at all.
Every so often there is a "cutout" on the side of the road that one car has to pull into to allow the other to pass - if you see someone coming in time, you can pull in and wait for them to pass, otherwise one of you will have to reverse back until there's space for the other to get past you.
The A9 in Scotland is a major road with passing places ...
One good video to watch is Evan Edinger's 'British vs American' driving video, where they talk about the differences in driving culture and learning how to drive, with both a British and American perspective 😊
Having served in the British Army, I had no problems driving on either side of the road nor handling left or right hand drive, I owned a British Car in Germany, so right hand drive, but the military vehicles were left hand drive. Having passed my test in the UK (went from motorcycles to 4 tonne trucks) I have had to complete the theory test in which ever country I served, Germany, UK, Canada, Jordan, Egypt. The most fun I had was passing my tank driving test.
I find the only time I have to concentrate when driving on the right hand side of the road is at roundabouts.
Driving in the States is child's play. So easy.
@@gillfox9899 I did notice thy are some what lazy drivers, auto gear box, long roads, hardly any curves let alone bends - everything was right angles.
I loved the look on the car drivers faces when it dawms on them that the Chieftain Tank coming towards then has "L" plates...😄
@@iangregory3719 Have seen that too when taking my Familiarisation out in Sennelarger, the horror on their faces seeing three tanks with L plates
I spent so many years driving various forklifts - will say it's actually better when a vehicle is left hand drive , all forklifts are laid out as a left hand drive vehicle its right hand drive that feels odd to me
In the UK, we call it Zebra Crossing because the road is marked with black and white stripes. The roads are narrow and slightly complicated especially in central London. There’s an increase of one way roads with no access 🚫 or blocked from oncoming traffic.
the sign in your post means no waiting just for your info no entry or access sign is different ⛔
British signs (in terms of one’s instructing you about directions and distance) are really well thought out for quick readability which is why they mix upper and lowercase and have they spacing they do, colour coding and use of symbols that are pretty standard internationally.
Also the signs he compared are somewhat apples and oranges - one is for a large roundabout the other is for an interstate exit warning
They are Vienna convention compatible .... i.e. they use the same in Mexico, Europe, China, and most of the rest of the world ... except the USA
The roads in the UK are far narrower and are much more windy than in the US.
Where I've lived in the Lincolnshire countryside all my life most roads are very narrow to the point that they've no pavements lining them and if you meet an oncoming car then one of you has to pull over onto the grass verge to let the other person pass. The two way road, (one lane in each direction) is literally a six foot wide strip of tarmac so it's not wide enough for two cars to pass each other without one having to pull onto the grass.
These roads are totally unlit and can be so windy that you drive five miles of road to do a two mile direct journey across the fields between two villages.
Obviously these areas are a total contrast to the fully integrated public transport system in London and so a personal car is absolutely essential.
Nothing raises a heart rate like a pitch black game of "Where's the dyke?" on an East Lindsey back lane.
Most of those roads were laid out width wise when all travel was by foot or horse (maybe with a small carriage if you were lucky) I for one am glad they decided to keep them closer to what they were instead of widening all the beautiful country lanes we have, it's really not hard to reverse a little and pull in to let an on coming car pass I never understood why so many people are afraid to drive in narrow lanes most people I know refuse to go near any kind of lane unless I drive for them lol
Stuart Fitch ... Yes the unlit roads are a nightmare here in South Lincolnshire, especially when it comes to animals, deer, badgers and the odd fox litter the side of the roads around here where they have been hit by vehicles. Of course if you are unlucky enough to hit a deer head on then its not only the animal that's worst for wear.
We moved from London to just outside Lincoln 6 years ago and the fact there’s literally no traffic congestion up here was one of the biggest attractions.
Yeah the roads are narrow but that’s the same in rural areas all over Europe. We drove to Emmendingen in the Black Forest a few months ago and believe me when I say those roads in the surrounding villages round there made the Lincolnshire lanes look like the M1! 😮
Interestingly enough, the reason why roads wind as much as they do is to do with laws that once prohibited the removal of trees, thus roads had to go round them, usually following the contour of the land.
I live in rural Cornwall, pulling into passing places is normal on the country roads. Lots of rural roads are single track.
Yep same where I l work and live in the Cotswolds. I also drive for Waitrose and have to go down some unbelievable small roads. Some of which were only originally for horses.
Apart from spine roads (wider roads that run through an area for several miles) rural lanes/roads are often very narrow. I live on the North/Mid Devon borders. When you learn to drive on UK country roads you can drive anywhere.
I used to live in Lincolnshire, hundreds and hundreds of narrow country lanes there, coming to live in Wisconsin, no such thing, lot’s of side roads but still plenty of room, one other big difference in roads, almost every type of road in the states have a wide kept up gravel side strip wide enough so slow moving vehicles like tractors etc can drive on that to avoid ques of traffic building up behind.
I'm in Devon over the border isint it fun when you get a grockle down the lane. Emmett youre side of the border
@Smear Campaign usually a Londoner In a big car like a merc.but it can apply to any tourists outsiders in Cornwall they call them Emmet's.i just pull in and laugh at the grockels they are everywhere from June onwards to September when they decide to go back home
Fun fact: there is a split in British roundabout signage to remind European tourists that, a roundabout in the UK flows clockwise, where in most of Europe they flow counter-clockwise.
Anti-clockwise 🙂🙂🙂
Another example of the differences between UK English and US English language: 'anticlockwise'and 'counter-clockwise'😊
Fun fact! (Or somewhat dull)
We have 5 types of crossing, all named after animals.
Zebra crossing - normal pedestrian crossing called that for the black and white stripes
Pelicon crossing - PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled crossing, press button which turns lights red and let's people cross
Puffin crossing - more modern version of the pelicon crossing, it has sensors that detect when people are still crossing and to detect when people are waiting to cross, still has a push button.
Pegasus crossing (also called an Equestrian Crossing) these are for where bridleways reach a road, basically the same as a pelicon crossing but has the buttons higher to be used by a horse rider
Toucan crossing - play on "TWO CAN CROSS" these are made for pedestrians and bicycles to use where there is a cycle path
Perfectly correct
except it's Pelican ...
Also, the animals stuck with children crossing roads safely. All infomercials used 'Beatrix Potter' type characters
All 'crosswalks' in the UK are named after animals depending on the type of crossing. The orginal: the zebra is so named because of the black & white stripes marked on the road surface. The sign you were confused about was an information sign which was telling you that a roundabout was ahead and showed the direction of each turning off. The names and road numbers in brackets indicates that the direction will lead to another major road ie in that sign M4 & M32 were in brackets because that turning will take you on a road that you can turn off onto one of the signed roads. 'M' roads are motorways and have blue signage. 'A' roads are marked in green, 'B' & 'C' roads in black and white. This sign is in the city of Bristol.
And the break in the roundabout signs shows that you can't get to any of the turnoffs turning right. You can only access them by going left, keeping all traffic going the the same (correct LOL) direction.
@@glennleader8880 good point that I forgot to include
And, for reference, a "Ring Road" is not another term for roundabout, but is a circular/orbital road around a town or city (or a busy area of a town/city), to help cut down on traffic on the interior of the "ring".
@@MajorMagna "come on down to the M25, the biggest carpark in the country!"
I remember this as a joke back in the day. I'm old 😪
@@toddlerj102 To be fair, I don't think it's much different now!
"Licence" is the noun, "license" is the verb (in the UK). The same applies for some other words, for example: "a doctor practises medicine at a doctors' practice." p.s. Thanks for the videos :)
@@neuralwarp Ohk, that's interesting, can you give an example please?
@@SamTier ‘Whoo hoo, I got my driving licence!’
‘Ah crap, before I can work as a surgeon, I need to be licensed first.’
@@autumnwinter1462 Are you saying that's not a noun, then a verb??
@@wessexdruid7598 Both (in the UK)
@@autumnwinter1462 licence is a noun, you can put the in front of it. License is a verb, it has "to" in front of it as in your sentence
We have a few roundabouts in the UK🤣- 4 miles to our favourite weekly shopping means negotiating 6 roundabouts which we do with the smug confidents of a UK citizen😃
@@neuralwarp Is Milton Keynes the one with the contraflow roundabout or is that Melton Mobray ? Used to visit both - never sure which was which.
A big difference for me was in teh states you are allowed to drive through a red light if turning right but you must stop in the UK when the red light is showing!
This is what, as a European driver, I don't understand. The light is red then you stop. Surely it is dangerous not to?
"We have Honda Accords, so we have small cars". This kind of demonstrates the difference in car size. The Accord would be considered a medium to large car in the UK. A Civic would be a far more popular and average sized UK Honda model and the Jazz would be the small one.
In the US you maybe can bu a VW-Passat (US-Model is bigger than the European one) and consider the GOLF as a "small" car.
But VW in Europe the Golf is a common "middle class" car and the VW-Polo or VW-UP are the smaller ones.
Same with BMW/Mercedes and Audi - In the US these are seen as Premium "only for Millionairs" - Cars because only the expensive, big and powerful cars are sold in the US.
I looked for the Prices on their web-pages for Germany (without sales discount).
Cheapest BMW in Germany: 30.600€ - BMW 1
Tpical US BMW: BMW 3 M Sports 73.900€
cheapest Audi in Germany: Audi A1 - 21.700€
Typical US Audi: Audi RS4 -86.500€ up to RS eTron GT 142.500€
cheapest Mercedes in Germany - A-Class 36.800€
Typical US Mercedes: AMG E63 - 87.000€ (found only price for the E53)
All prices for the base model (no extras)
Cars have got bigger over the years though. The current polo is bigger than the original golf. And the current civic is enormous compared to the original.
Very true
A Honda Accord would be considered a midsize car in the US as well. A small car is a Civic as you said. We don’t have as many of the sub-compact and sometimes even smaller cars that they have in Europe. When I was in Europe and I saw some of those super small cars. I was just terrified because if you got in an accident with one of those in the US you would be dead.
A Smart Car is a City car .. a Mini (even the new bigger ones) is a small Car, any hatchback is a medium car ...
The freeway sign he showed should be compared to one of our blue motorway signs. He bizarrely showed a sign for a roundabout.
A non driver discussing driving. As someone who does not drink coffee, look out for my vid on the types and blends of coffee available. I am sure it will be as accurate.
Yes, in general, in the UK and throughout Europe, rural roads are significantly narrower than country roads in the US. Being much older, other than former Roman roads, they are much more windy too. Fewer than 1 percent of European highway mileage is more than six lanes too. The closest thing I saw to UK country roads during my years in the US were some rural routes in Virginia and West Virginia. My oldest took his test in VA and the supervised road part took about 15 minutes. My youngest took his in England and his road test took almost an hour and incl: parallel parking, hill starts, reversing into a side road, etc. Also, he had to have proof of 20 hrs of registered driving school instruction before the test.
There are a lot of "single track roads" in the countryside where you have to use passing places that are not "Main Roads".
Factor in high hedges and tight bends and you’re often driving blind. Keep your speed down so you can brake suddenly, watch for the passing places as you may need to reverse into one, and feel free to sound your horn before a sharp bend so that anything that’s out of sight but coming towards you knows to be careful. Tractors always get right of way!!
They can be A roads therefore a main road in some areas
I grew up in a farming area where the roads are only just wide enough for a lorry (normally a milk tanker) to drive though. There was even grass growing in the middle of the road. There was no public transport though, but 3 miles away there was a bus to Exeter twice a week. Now it is 4 times a day and travels from Exeter to Barnstaple.
Where I live now there is a regular bus service until 2pm. But due to the way multiple sclerosis effects me I never learnt to drive as I was diagnosed with MS when I was 18.
You sound like you are from my neck of the woods! I drive the lanes every day to get to and from work. I would say that it makes up around 60% of my driving. They are ok when you know them, where the passing places are etc. and other users drive carefully when they get to blind bends etc. The problem is mainly when users that are not familiar with them, enter them and see the national speed limit signs and think it means they are safe to drive down them at 60mph. That is where the trouble lies in every case! Oh and those that refuse, or cannot , reverse (yup, actually had an old lady once tell me that she can't drive in reverse!!) to a passing place 2 car lengths behind them but instead expect others to reverse 400 yards to get out of THEIR way! The lanes are ok for light or local traffic but because of the narrow passing places, are not able to cope with heavy traffic flow at all and diversions or people trying to avoid accidents etc, cause more problems than if they waited it out on the main routes as the passing places are not designed to fit more than 1 or 2 cars in them.
❤
Lapford near Exeter the farming roads would give you heart attack so narrow
@@kimtodd61 I grew up in a farming area between Winkleigh and North Tawton and the proper roads looked like a farm lane. Take care and best wishes
I'm surprised he didn't mention 'Turn Right on Red' which doesn't exist here in the UK.
A piece of trivia in Australia in the outback they will have wide roads but only the central part of the road is tarmacked. So you drive in the middle of the road until you meet somebody coming in the opposite direction when you drive half on the tarmac and half on the gravel at your side.
That's seems a pretty good system.
Unfortunately - or fortunately - most country roads in rural areas are very old and have farmers' fields/hedgerows/walls either side
fender we call the wing. zebra crossing is because we have black and white stripes on the ground where you cross the road.
Comment from American visitors, “The side you drive on is the smallest of the differences” the signage (like destinations in parentheses) roundabouts, no straight wide roads, no grid, no shoulders, limited expensive parking, speed and bus lane cameras, road numbering system, cyclists.
Motorway services are places on the motorway that you can stop, get food, go to the loo or even stay over night (in a Premier Inn or Travelodge usually). They vary in size and will usually have at least garage to get fuel and a shop to a whole load of shops, takeaway places and places for you to buy stuff for your trip as well as an over night stay
Thank you for all these videos on your channel, being from the UK it's good to learn the differences and I've learnt a lot from your channel regarding the US.
I have a 11.5 years old Mini Cooper with only 42,000 miles on the clock!
A parkway isn’t like a highway. A parkway is a train station located in the outskirts of a city. A train station located in the centre of a city is sometimes called Central.
When my husband and I were driving in England we found the signs going into the roundabouts overwhelming. In our first roundabout we missed the turn off we wanted and did what we would have done in North America… and got out at the next exit…which took us miles out of our way with nary a place to turn around and go back. Now we know what we should have done was to make another circuit around the roundabout to get back to the right exit. You live and learn🤦♀️
Those roundabouts look so confusing. I probably would have done the same thing.
One thing a lot of us native Brits/Europeans don't really notice because it's so normal to us are just how many street signs we have EVERYWHERE. Normally they just kinda merge into the background, but if ever I stop and deliberately notice just how many street signs are on display, I can usually spot at least a dozen every few hundred yards.
@@reactingtomyroots - islands/roundabouts are incredibly easy and efficient to use but, like anything, takes a bit of getting used to if you’ve not used them before.
It is amazing really when you yhink how many trucks in Europe travel through the countries and across into UK seemlessly.
Changing to drive on different sides of the road and back again many times.
@@susanashcroft2674 I travel from the Uk over to Europe quite a lot, sometimes on the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam in my own car & sometimes I fly to wherever & take a hire car, obviously left-hand drive.
It's surprising how quickly one gets used to driving on the right side of the road & sitting on the left to drive!
@@Bikeops2021 That's right, I think it is probably easier for Europeans in respect of people be it for social or commercial reasons travel a lot more around Europe so people adapt more and are used to changing over sides. Where as in the US I think people see it as quite a thing, somewhat daunting or scary even mainly because they have never been abroad, or their neighbouring countries all drive on the right hand side of the road.
Signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Some counties have English first (Clwyd), while others Welsh first (Gwynedd).
A ring road is a road which goes round a town or city in a ring in order to take traffic out of the city / town and make travelling across to the other side easier and quicker, even if it is a longer route (in miles).
It is funny driving on the left hand side of the car abroad on holiday with manual gearstick when your brain goes to change gear and you put your hand in the door storage pouch 🤣🤣
Lorry is from the 16th century to Lurry, meaning to pull or haul.
Interesting fact about the zebra crossing, as others have mentioned it's because of the black and white stripes on the road.
Other road crossings are;
Pelican crossing, when you have a button to change the traffic lights for pedestrians to cross, and,
Puffin crossing where there is a blinking light on a pole to warn drivers to watch for pedestrians as there are no traffic lights, so they may just walk out.
Additional fun fact, crossing guards as called Lollipop Ladies/Men because of their big round warning signs.
The (full-time) blinking light on a pole is used on a zebra crossing.
A Pelican (or "Pelicon" for PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled) crossing also uses a flashing amber after the red to tell drivers "You can go, but must give way to pedestrians on the crossing".
A Puffin (Pedestrian User-Friendly INtelligent) crossing differs from a Pelican in two ways:
1. It has a sensor which detects the presence (or otherwise) of pedestrians on the crossing, so it can lengthen or shorten the time that the light is red for vehicular traffic.
2. It uses the same light sequence as "normal" traffic lights (green -> amber -> red -> red+amber -> green), using red+amber instead of the Pelican's flashing amber.
An unwritten rule in the UK is, you have to refer to another driver who has annoyed you, as a "f***ing Muppet" 🤣
When I drove a left hand drive car I kept punching the door with my left hand every time I reached for the gearstick. Took me ages to stop doing that. 😂😂
It’s called a zebra crossing because like zebras the crossing is marked by black and white stripes. He didn’t mention it but we also have Pelican crossings too.
And Puffin and Toucan crossings.
@@jerry2357 Don't forget the rarer pegasus crossings (horse rider height buttons)
The direction sign next to your freeway sign is for a roundabout, the road you are approaching on is shown as the vertical black line at the bottom of the sign, the oval shows it is a roundabout as does the break to the right of the vertical black line, indicating that you cannot turn right and have to enter moving left. The pair of lines on either side of the oval indicate that there is a dual carriageway entering the roundabout, the two stubs are where drivers on that dual carriage way are entering the roundabout the two longer lines with a point at the end are the one way roads for leaving the roundabout. The single line pointing to the top left hand corner indicates a normal road with two way traffic. Each exit is labelled with destinations, the type of roads are identified by prefixes of M for Motorway, A for main roads and B for lesser roads with the identification number afterwards. Any road number in brackets indicates that it is a destination not the road you are travelling on. The symbols on the red square indicates a railway station and motorways are always indicated by white letters on a blue background. I hope this is helpful and gives an explanation of the sign, it sounds very complicated writing it down but when you get use to it, it seems very straightforward.
What he also did was not compare like for like, as that was a round about sign for a normal road, whereas the America sign was a freeway sign which the British equivalent would be a motorway sign, which will be a similar layout. Blue sign with white text, showing upcoming exits/destinations with distances. So a bad comparison.
The gap in the road or 'split' on the road sign is because you are entering a roundabout and the split is there to remind everyone, including foreign visitors, that there is no through way to the right, left turning only. The split will always be on the immediate right of the road you are joining the roundabout from.
I never had a love affair with cars here in the UK. I passed my test in 1967, last owned a car in the early 1990s, last drive in 2009 and allowed my driving licence to expire in 2018 when I reached 70. I never had an accident and my licence bore not one single endorsement, and I was never in sympathy with my last boss who had many expired endorsements on his but they seemingly didn't matter because ‘they were only for speeding’!
Whenever I have needed to cover sizeable distances our railway system has been eminently satisfactory. When I got divorced in 1988 I traveled the 130 miles to West London (1300 miles a week which is a hell of a commute over here) and then back daily by car, but I had also used the train. Since my divorce I have lived my native East Midlands town where the shops are within a short walk which provides me with some gentle exercise. This is just as well because no bus service travels along my wide leafy road on the edge of the town. I can understand the US obsession with cars but am so grateful that I am not obliged to share it!
There are some hazard perception tests on RUclips, but they may not work exactly as they do when you take the test at the test centre using their computers and clicking the mouse the moment you recognise a potential hazard in the video. The software used at the test centre will recognise if your clicks are too rhythmical (eg. you constantly click every one or two seconds throughout the clip) and that will result in a fail - you can't cheat the system like that, but you can do a double click when you spot a hazard.
I passed my driving test in 1990 and back then it was just the practical test plus some questions relating to the highway code (braking distances, road sign meanings, what to do in an emergency, etc.) but took another driving test as part of driving instructor training which included the theory test, hazard perception test and practical driving tests.
Most UK drivers generally learn in a manual (although that may be on the decline what with electric cars becoming more popular), so that means once they have a full driving licence, they can drive either manual or automatic. If they take their test in an automatic, they can only drive automatics unless they decide to take another driving test later on in a manual. Personally I reckon it's best to learn to drive a manual so you're covered for any eventuality should you need to borrow or hire a car somewhere and they only have a manual available.
Country roads were originally built for horses and farmers carts and they’ve never been changed
Motorway services in the UK tend to have at least some kind of convenience store, a coffee shop, and a couple of places to buy a meal, one of which is probably McDonald's or Burger King, they also have toilets, showers and a petrol station.
The Hazard Perception test is done on a computer - its basically a short video from a dash cam perspective and you have to click to register when you spot a potential hazard (such as vehicles emerging from junctions or hidden behind obstructions, incoming emergency vehicles, and cyclists) along the journey. You're scored based on accuracy, so ideally you don't want to miss any, but you can't just spam the mouse button either because you're marked down for repeated clicks where there are no hazards. It's a relatively brief part of the qualification and something you do at the same time as your theory (i.e. you need to pass these both before you can attempt your physical driving test).
The crossing is painted in black and white stripes. Looks like a zebra, so we call it a zebra crossing.
The complicated looking sign means you are approaching a circular junction (basically a massive, extended roundabout) the long lines coming off show which exit you need to take in order to reach the associated destination or road. The shorter stubby lines show other entrances to the junction (which you should NOT turn down as you'd be going against the traffic!) So in the example shown here, if I want to go to Stoke Gifford, I need to take the 2nd exit.
I can understand why he will find it strange as in the US it’s basically just a junction unlike our roundabouts with so many exits as well as lanes for the different exits that most UK drivers fail or fail to notice until they crash into someone
Fender (US) = wing (UK) - the panels with the wheel arches in them. Bumpers are bumpers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The UK road sign shown in this video was one you'd generally see around towns and cities, on A or some B roads and on motorway junctions once you've left/before you enter a motorway (the split in it denotes you don't go anticlockwise on a roundabout), so not comparable to the US interstate/highway sign - if he'd put a UK motorway sign (the massive blue ones with white writing), then that was more of a direct comparison to the US one. Motorway signs don't have that level of detail as ones on dual carriageways, A or some B roads.
Zebra crossings are called that as they're black and white striped. A classic example of a zebra crossing known worldwide being the Abbey Road crossing the Beatles used on their album cover. There are also pelican crossings and toucan crossings.
Lawrence has been in the States for a long time now, so is 'out-of-date' with a lot of UK things he comments on
@@anitawhite2669 Road signs haven't changed in the UK in past 50 plus years, so he's just not clued up on UK road signs as he doesn't drive.
When I last rented a car in Spain (stick shift) - for the first hour or so I went to change gear and then kept hitting the door with my left hand. Don't worry it doesn't take long - We have easy transport links for vehicles to France - so a lot of us will have driven a right hand drive car on the right hand side of the road (including me) the Eurotunnel links them in around half an hour so you can be driving on different sides within an hour. On the journey I change my dashboard to kilometres from miles per hour and seriously adjust the mirrors (this is the main thing) - we also have to adjust our headlights to point the other way or put stickers on them to direct them so they don't dazzle oncoming traffic. With the narrow roads - they will usually have passing places for you or the other driver to pull into so that you or they can pass
Uk road signs are designed to be independent of language. Being close to Europe we have many foreign drivers unlike the USA.
Fender as the bodywork around above the wheel would be wing in UK
As a Brit I learned to drive on the left hand side of the road. However I worked in many countries where I had to drive on the right hand side of the road. It was always strange for the first day or two but you soon get used to it.
1:40 - There are a lot of roads in the UK that are so narrow you have to pull over to let someone pass, like there's a lot you will never be more than about 10 minutes away from one. But these are the very very old legacy Roman roads that are still obviously there and do serve some properties but these have basically all been replaced by "normal" 2 way roads that even a lorry (or semi to use US speak) would fit down, plus lots of "highways" so while there are lots of roads like that, you'll very rarely need to use them, many drivers have probably never driven on one because there are so many newer wider roads that serve where you need to go. Generally you'd only go down a very old road to access am address or something that's a very old house and when you do use these roads you rarely see anyone else they are extremely quiet usually.
Beg to differ I live I rural wales and the closest road 2 cars can pass without pulling over is about 7 miles and the Romans didn't make it here rearly lorrys can bearly make it but have to to service the shops and pubs round here
Many if the old Roman Roads have been made into motorways, they were so straight, and led from one main town to the next. They mainly run north south which is a shame when you want to travel across the country. It's about time Cornwall got a motorway. And the M3 should be extended to Exeter. Never going to happen....
Not sure where you live but I've lived in the North East, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Lancashire and there are plenty of narrow roads with passing places.
When I lived in Norfolk there was only 22 miles of dual carriageway and no motorways in the whole county
Yes very obvious that you do not live in or even close to the countryside. I'm in rural Norfolk, and close to me we even have a section of dual carriageway, where each side is a narrow single track. Still it's a dual carriageway in a National Speed Limit area, so has a 70mph limit. Back in the day I came close to breaking that by 30mph in my new MkII XR2. Because that's the other thing that is really common here, we do seem on the whole to drive a lot faster than they do in the US, even given our smaller roads.
The "narrow road" thing needs a bit more explanation: Yes COUNTRY roads can be narrow. If you went for a drive in touristy, rural Cornwall you'll find narrow roads with high hedges. But most people in the UK live in towns and cities and drive longer distances on motorways. They aren't narrow, they're pretty much the same as the US.
29:20 those signs are confusing at first but you get used to them. Rather than having a lot of single signs for destinations, they show the entire circuit of the loop of road (ring road) and tell you what exits take you where.
Saves on fabrication costs
Hi Steve! A lot of the road signs are a little different and yeah, some roads are very narrow. Many eastern European roads are wide, largely to facilitate tanks. I am sure a great many American roads were narrow during the British colonial era. I know, only like 300 years ago 🤣
One thing he didn't mention is the handbrake (UK) or parking brake (US). This is one of the most important controls in the UK driving test, particularly on hills. We are required to have the handbrake applied at any time the vehicle is not moving. When starting off you are tested on the co-ordination between handbrake, clutch and accelerator.
The parking brake or emergency brake, (e-brake) is on the floor in a lot of US cars.
Very few manual cars are being sold, and many cars come with a "hill assist" system, where the brakes will hold for a second or two after releasing the foot brake on an incline to allow the driver to get their foot to the accelerator.
@@Cheepchipsable In the UK most manual cars from 2010 or so also have "hill assist" or "hill start assist" that engages when the car detects that you're on an incline.
@@TheIceMurder2really? Our car is a 2006 Renault, so I didn’t know that. How does that work, then?
Yup! Irish woman here. Yes, the majority of Irish country roads are extremely narrow. I'm 51 years old now, living in Dublin my whole life, when I was a child, my Dad would take us down to Wexford for holidays during the summer. He would take the "back roads" as they were called. They were extremely narrow. Back then, ALL country roads were so narrow, you could fit only one car on them, if a car was coming in the opposite direction, it took great skill to move to the side to let them pass. Even more skill if you had a tractor coming the other way. In Ireland we call pavements paths. We call them Zebra Crossings because of the black/white stripe design like the patterns of the zebra.
The hazard perception test is part of the United Kingdom driving test. The test is intended to check a candidate’s ability to detect developing situations that require a motorist to take some action, such as changing speed or direction.
Roundabouts work well in the UK (and we have lots of them). Although we’re accustomed to them there are some that fill me with dread. Watch a video about ‘The Magic Roundabout’ in Swindon. It might blow your mind! 😂
I recently found out that Swindon isn’t the only place to have one of those Magic Roundabouts!😮🙈
Hemel Hempstead
I live in a town with something called the magic roundabout
One main roundabout with six other roundabouts around it. Quite famous and totally confusing, even where I live people panic when they have to use it !!!😂
There are two magic roundabouts in the UK. I'm guessing you're from Swindon though, as mine is less heard of.
@@Hirotoro4692 where is the other one which isn't in Swindon. That's interesting.
the country roads are narrow - also because lots of fields have hedges
I don’t recall it being mentioned in the video, but we actually have 3 traffic lights. Red, Amber/Orange, Green. Amber/Orange is to tell the driver to “get ready” for the green light
I don't know anyone who doesn't drive , in fact Margret thatcher once said that if you dont have a car by the time you're 26 consider yourself a failure in life 😂
The road sign with Stoke Gifford is very familiar to me, I use that roundabout several times a month. Parkway is the name of the local railway station. Stoke Gifford, Bradley Stoke and Winterbourne are villages. The break in the roundabout is to show that you can only go left not right. You would enter the roundabout from the bottom (having left McDonalds!), the small roads without a pointed end are roads that are entering the roundabout so not available for you to drive onto.
The red border around the name denotes a military Establishment (MOD Abbey Wood). The symbol next to Parkway denotes a railway station. It was the logo for the long defunct BR(British Railways) two opposing arrows which could also mean the tracks of a railway junction.
I have driven in on the right and the left..my Dad told me the only thing to remember is when you are driving you should as the driver be ‘sitting’ on the crown of the road, if you make a turn and you as the driver find yourself in the gutter next to the pavement or sidewalk you are driving on the wrong side of the road.
There is an exception to getting your full license at 17in the UK.
You can, if disabled and receiving the highest rate of disability welfare benefits, get your full license at 16.
It's because we have a lot of narrow roads with tractors lorry buses on these rds so you need to know to give way to the large vehicles and they need extra space for turning
basically the hazard perception test is a test where you sit in front of a computer and your played a video, you press the spacebar every time you see something that could be a hazard that would cause you to slow down, could be a car coming the other way could be a person getting ready to cross the road, could be a puddle which contains a pothole. it basically makes sure you able to be observant an predict what could happen on the road.
I love that you are reading it surprised by the British wording and I'm sitting here surprised by the American wording. Answers so many questions tho for us over here too
The confusing road sign looks straightforward to me - first exit off the roundabout - Ring Road; second exit - Stoke Gifford; third exit, Ring Road in the other direction; fourth exit - racecourse (probably back where you've come from). And I don't drive!
Plus, a ZEB-ra has black and white stripes. Like the crossing. Interestingly, a crossing that's controlled by buttons for the pedestrian is called a PELICAN crossing, or even a PUFFIN crossing. This is because British people like birds, I think.
It's strange you say we have a reputation for having a great public transport system. I feel most people would say we have a pretty poor system - compared to the Continent. It's expensive, often not reliable, and is being systematically run down.
I have mentioned before, I haven't driven for 25 years. I didn't learn until I was 23 and stopped at 38, so my whole driving career lasted 15 years. I always hated it, and as time went by I grew more and more nervous. (I believe that the opposite is true for most people.) As soon as I was able to, I packed it in.
There are the occasional times when I miss some things about it. I used to quite like doing a 'big shop'. I can't hire a car abroad and do some exploring. I can't just wake up and look at a blue sky and drive out to the seaside. And I'm at the mercy of public transport strikes - in a few weeks there's a rail strike, I'm due in London for a concert (Beth Hart), and I have to work how to get home from London at 11 at night. I think I'll have to take the coach to Stansted airport and then on from there.
But above all, I know longer have the incredible expense and overwhelming worry of having and driving a car, and that's fine by me.
That U.K. road sign at 29:21 is a roundabout sign.
What you call a fender we call that a wheel arch.
471 cars per 1000 people? I’m stunned by that ratio. Why do they all seem to be on the road at the same time as me??
I know a few people here in the UK. That have big commutes to work. They will work in the city but live in the here in the countryside.
What they do is drive to the train station, and take a 1-2 hour train ride, and a bus to their office. But their work day in the office is only about 5 hours. But they will do work on their laptops/ iPads/ phones while on the train.
My father was an HGV driver for 40 years and the only word we ever used in our home was 'wagon', not truck or lorry.
Hazzord purseption in the UK is very important. My fathers car was trashed by a STAG , he was in the Highlands driving in the dark ( in winter its dark for 20hrs a day) a Sttag tryed to jump across the wee road and landed on/in the pasenger seat.
Police were suprisingly happy, once they knew he had no plans to remove the dead (venison), all was fine. The Stag was put on a trailor and off it went, the land owner was informed, but it was a nice hall for the locals.
We also learn to drive differently. There is no drivers ed in the UK, so the vast majority of learners will get a professional driving instructor and your first lesson will be on a public road. You can drive on private land from any age and you can ride a scooter/motorcycle 50cc and tractor from 16 but have to be 17 to drive a car on a public road
YES…. 😂 Country roads are very very narrow. Barely getting a car down if another car comes in the opposite direction you need to reverse, all the way back… once I reversed back at least half a mile down a winding narrow road in the dark with the street lights! 🤣🤣🤣 There’s normally no pulling over… there’s a gap every half a mile where the road widens but there isn’t anywhere you can instantly pull your car over.
There’s a really good video on the roundabout sign somewhere, but the gist is; the split is telling you to go around clockwise (you can’t turn right onto it), the names and numbers at each branch are telling you what towns and roads are down that branch (you would say, for example “Take the second exit to get to Stoke.”) the branches with points on are exits that you can drive down and the ones with flat ends are entrances that other people will be driving onto the roundabout from.
The Parkway you saw is a railway station, not a highway. Parkway stations are usually located away from urban areas and have 'park & ride' facilities. For example, East Midlands Parkway which is located in a more rural area beside a power station.
I am from Dundee, Scotland, we are known as the only city/town in the U.K. to call roundabouts circles!
I drive stick shifts. In the UK I use my left hand to change gear, when I hire a car in Europe I change gear with my right hand. It takes a couple of minutes for your brain to click, but then it's fine. Like looking in a mirror and touching your nose, your brain just accepts it.
That sign is a round about which is showing you where each road is taking you. The gap is just showing you that you’ve gone right around the round about and you’re about to be back where you started.
Where I live in England, we do not have "roundabouts". We call them "islands", and near me there is a "gyratory".
The traffic sign shows a roundabout is approaching. The lines show each of the roads leaving the roundabout, with an indication of where they go. The gap indicates the end of your options and shows where you entered the roundabout.
The break in the Roundabout sign is there for visitors from right sided driving countries is there to show to have to enter and go around the roundabout from the left, the break is on the right. I only learned this recently and have been driving for over 30 years.
If you learn to drive a vehicle with a manual gearbox in the uk, you can drive an automatic but not the other way round. Licence restriction applies.
I love when he mentioned about learning what to when driving in each country. When my dad is driving I learnt what not to do haha. Now I drive like my mum does haha
You can’t rely on public transport. Some days I start work at 5.15 in the morning. I live about 40 mins from my place of work. There is no way I could get to work for that time.
The sign you were confused by was for a roundabout. Large roundabout signs will have either a circle or an oval shape with branches coming off them. Each branch refers to one of the exits from the roundabout. Each exit on the sign will tell you where that exit will take you. So first exit takes you to place A, 2nd exit to place B, 3rd exit to place C etc.
An American fender is not called the bumped in the UK. The bumper is exactly the same. It's the front or rear metal (on old cars) or plastic (on new cars) bumper strip that runs across the front or rear of the car. An American fender is the car's front or rear quarter panels. The front or rear quarter of the car's body work on either the driver or passenger side of the car. We don't call them fenders, but we can refer to them as quarter panels.
Hazard Perception is the last part of the "Theory Test" exam.
I'll explain:
The Theory Test is a multiple question exam with 50 questions and can only be passed with 44 correct answers or more.
The test takes 45mins..
Once that is completed, you immediately move onto, or take a short break, the Hazard Perception.
This section is 15 real time road driver recordings where you are challenged to notice hazards before they occur and could possibly cause harm.
For instance, you are cruising 20mph down a high street, and 10metres up ahead is a zebra crossing (a black & white crossing where ALL drivers must stop if a pedestrian is waiting), a pedestrian is getting close to the crossing but you're unsure if they'll cross or not, so you get a certain amount of mouse clicks depending on how early you noticed the "hazard", and the earlier you notice it, the higher the score you get.
The highest score each video is 5pts and lowest is 1.
After these 14 videos, you score will be added up.
In order to pass, you need a minimum of 45pts out of 75.
You can not pass your theory test without passing both of these exams.
Once passed, your certificate lasts for 2yrs until you get your Actual driving licence or you'll have to resit your exam again.
I'm 36 and I've never owned a drivers licence for 3 reasons:
London's bad traffic
Public Transport
Drivers are almost always people watching or looking at their phones so accidents are high in London, while cyclists follow no rules and crash into pedestrians or cars because they ride through red lights all the time.
I'm only now getting my licence because I need a car to move out of London, and I'm looking for a driving job.
Keep up the good work and videos. I'm always fascinated by Americans fascination with grey grungy ol' Britain 😅
Yes the country roads are tiny! I live in the north west of England, surrounded by country side. And I remember back in the 80’s when I was a little girl (showing my age!) my dad had a “wide” car. It was an old Rover, 3.5ltr engine. When going over the country roads, if anyone was driving the opposite way, either they, or my dad had to basically pull into the bushes or whatever was lining the roads, just to get passed.
Driving in the Lake District on a Spring evening,almost took my breath away. I can’t believe the scenic contrasts within a few miles in the U.K. The Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales are next to each other both utterly stunning and yet totally different. I have friends in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. My God, why was nature so kind to the British. The greenery, the flowers.
The roads in the countryside are very small and sometimes you have to move out of the way
Thank you
for the heart
I'm originally from a country that drives on the right but I'm living in England for the last 10 years I have a car drives licence for almost 20 years I can tell that the gear changer is not a issue the most important issue is to evaluate the car dimensions related to the road it was my only struggle I was constantly hitting the curb (sidewalk) on the left for the first month or so
That complicated road sign was coming up to a large roundabout with the town/cities and road numbers for each exit so you know which to take. It wasn't a very fair comparison as the American sign was just directing to one place. Funny that you wondered if we have more roundabouts and then couldn't remember seeing a single one where you live. We even have roundabouts in tiny villages as a painted circle on the road, up to massive ones with trees in the middle. We have them all over the place. I don't know how you can stand all the crossroad junctions with traffic lights and having to stop all the time instead of merging into a round about when there's space. So much easier.
As someone who drove on both sides for many years, I can tell there is no difference in terms of which hand is being used, the only difference is road perception which can be confusing, but you get used to that within an hour of driving on the other side.