[TITLE: HOW TO DRIVE ON THE RIGHT/LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD WHEN WORLD TRAVELLING]
Hi there smart drivers, Rick with Smart Drive Test
talking to you today about
driving on the other side of the road.
Had a comment from Homer Sid,
he was traveling from Australia to Los Angeles, California
and wanted the 101 on driving
on the opposite side of the road.
Yes, I drove coach for Greyhound in Australia
when I lived there.
And I did have one indiscretion
of driving on the other side of the road,
the wrong side of the road in Australia.
Early in the morning, the bus left Parkes, New South Wales
as you can see here on the map, early in the morning,
I think it left at 5:15 am
and in the winter time, yes it was still very dark.
So I come out of the gas station
where we picked up the passengers,
got loaded on the bus and I'm talkin' on the microphone
giving the information about going down the road,
what time we were gonna be there,
when we were gonna have our break,
the safety announcements and those types of things.
And a little bit of distracted driving going on
for those of you who have talked on a phone
and tried to drive you vehicle at the same time.
Made a left-hand turn out onto the highway
to head south back to Melbourne
and drove right over to the right-hand side of the road
as I normally did because I drove
tens of thousands of miles on the right side of the road
and we're going down the road
and I got it kicked up and I thought
passengers were falling asleep and those types things.
And for those of you who've been
to the Outback of New South Wales,
you can see for a long distance across the flat.
Well I saw this truck comin' down the highway
and I was like, eh, kind of odd.
And we get a little bit closer,
we're probably about five miles apart now,
and I was like, eh, something's not right here.
And we got a couple of miles apart
and I'm looking into the darkness, seeing this truck
and I'm like that truck is on the wrong side of the road.
And it was about a mile apart, we were about a mile apart
when I finally realized that
I'm the one on the wrong side of the road.
I wheeled the bus over to the left side of the road
and carried on with the trip
thinking that I had gotten away with it
and none of the passengers had realized
that I was driving on the wrong side of the road
in Australia in the dark with a truck coming at us.
And we get down to the break and one of the passengers,
couple of the passengers actually, a couple of young men,
come up to me and said,
were you driving on the wrong side of the road this morning?
And of course, being cheeky as I am I said to them,
No, I was driving on the right side of the road.
I just needed to move over to the left side of the road.
So today we're gonna talk to you about traveling
to countries where they travel on the other side of the road
and some of things you might wanna keep in mind
if you're driving a car or riding a bicycle
or walking around so that you can be safe.
Stick around, we'll be right back with that information.
[INTRO & UPBEAT MUSIC]
Hi there smart drivers, Rick with Smart Drive Test
talking to you today about
driving on the other side of the road.
For those of us who drive on the right
and we travel to countries where they drive on the left,
Australia, the UK, Malaysia, other parts of the world
drive on the left side of the road.
There are certain precautions
that you need to put in place
before you go to these countries
so that you don't get run over in traffic.
Because as you know, we teach children and ourselves,
from a very young age
we learn what's called a traffic sense.
We learn that are there dangers on the roadway
and we cross the roadway at intersections,
we look a particular way for traffic
and those types of things.
For those of us traveling as pedestrians
we are the most vulnerable road user group.
And if you're deciding to ride a bicycle
you're also one of the vulnerable road users
in the world if you travel to a country
where they drive on the other side of the road
because when you come up to the intersection
or to cross the road
you're gonna look the wrong way.
And actually if you go to London
they actually have road markings
right there at the intersection
that for those of who are in countries
that drive on the right,
when we go to an intersection we look left.
When you're in a country that drives on the left
you have to look right to ensure that traffic isn't coming
and in London they've had quite a number of incidents
where pedestrians have been struck
because they look the wrong way
and then stepped out into traffic
and there was a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.
So know if you're on a bicycle or you're a pedestrian
that's when you need to be most careful.
And what I strongly suggest to you
is simply look both ways
before you step out into the roadway
because I've had my times living in Australia
and peddling my bicycle in Scotland on bike tours
and those types of things
where I looked the wrong way
and then road out into the roadway.
Fortunately, the other very important sense
that we have as human beings is sound.
So make sure that you're listening
especially the busier it is
and there's more traffic and urban noise
and those types of things,
make sure you're listening when you're walking around
or riding a bicycle in these countries
that drive on the other side of the road.
Now driving an automobile, most of the time,
you're not gonna be in trouble.
Especially if there is other traffic,
you simply need to follow the other traffic around
and you're gonna stay out of trouble
because most of the road rules in the world
are universal.
And if you watch my channel here
most of the stuff that I teach about driving
is universal and applicable in other countries.
There are some differences,
yes, in North America we do not have
zebra crossings or pelican crossings
but they have those in the UK, you know, they're fun
because you know you can teach little kids
about zebra crossings and pelican crossings.
Now the other transition that I had
when I moved to Australia was roundabouts.
And I had a great deal of learning to do
in terms of roundabouts
and when I got my truck license
I had to go into a roundabout
and I kind of plowed into the roundabout.
Now it's not as big of a deal
because in Canda and North America now
we are beginning to get roundabouts here
so the transition isn't as big
as it was when I went there in the early 2000s,
roundabouts really hadn't even been
reintroduced into North America.
So if you're not familiar with roundabouts
you're gonna have to get familiar with roundabouts
because if you go to Australia for example,
or you go to the UK,
they love their roundabouts.
And they're single lane and they're two lanes
and three lanes and multiple lanes
so they can be fairly hectic and see the video,
I'll put a video up here for you on roundabouts,
if you're not familiar with roundabouts.
Now I will caution you the one time
that you're going to get into trouble
or you may deviate over to the other side of the road
is when there isn't any other traffic.
And that's what happened in the introduction
when I told you the story about the bus.
There wasn't any other traffic around on the highway,
there wasn't any traffic for me to follow.
Therefore I just went back to what I knew.
Also, probably I was a bit tired
and just went back to what we know
because that's what happens.
So I went and drove back on the right side of the road.
So as long as there's other traffic
follow the other traffic
because then you're gonna be alright.
The other thing about the automobiles is
is that vehicles are designed,
regardless of whether you drive
on the right side of the road
or on the left side of the road
you're always sitting in the center of the roadways.
So for us, here in North America,
when we drive on the right side of the road
we sit on the left side of the car,
therefor when we drive on the right,
we're in the center of the roadway as the driver.
It's the same thing when you're driving on the left,
the driving controls are on the right side of the vehicle,
you drive on the left side of the road,
therefore you're positioned in the center of the vehicle.
All of the controls in the vehicle are in the same place
more or less.
Okay, the foot pedals are all in the same place,
the throttle is on the right,
the clutch is on the left
and the brake pedal is in the middle.
Or if you're driving an automatic
the throttle will be on the right
and the brake pedal with be on the left.
So the pedals are in the same place.
The only thing that's different
is if you have a column shift on an automatic
or if you have a stick shift in a manual shift,
you're gonna be shifting with your other hand
depending on which side of the vehicle you're on.
So that's the only other thing
that's gonna be different.
And that's a little bit strange at the beginning
but you pick that up very quickly.
Now the other thing about driving coaches in Australia
that was different was
it depended on whether it was a bus
that was manufactured in Australia
or it was a bus that was manufactured in Europe.
Because there were quite a number of buses
that were imported from Europe.
The windshield wipers and the signals
would be on opposite sides of the steering wheel
depending on the bus brand.
So I would get in some buses
and go to turn the signals on
and they'd be on the other side of the column.
So that may be something
that you have to come to grips with
in terms of transitioning to driving a vehicle
on the other side of the road.
But for the most part, it's gonna be fairly easy.
Know that in North America
if you do come from the UK or come from Australia
that yellow lines divide traffic in opposite directions
and white lines as a rule,
divide lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction.
So the road markings will give you an indication
of which way the traffic is traveling.
So those are some of things
that you need to keep in mind
when you're driving and moving
to the other side of the road.
And as I said, just follow the traffic
and most of the time you're going to be okay
in terms of driving.
As a vulnerable road user, as a pedestrian
or you're riding a bicycle or you're riding a motorcycle
that's gonna be harder than it is going to be
driving a car because as I said
all of the controls are in the same place.
The only thing that's different is the gear shift.
The pedals are in the same place,
the steering wheel's in the same place,
you're still sitting in the center of the road
so it doesn't feel as odd as you think it might
as long as there's other traffic around.
And when you're gonna get into trouble
usually when you're driving
is when there isn't other traffic on the roadway.
And as I said, as a pedestrian make sure you look both ways
because you're gonna look the wrong way
because we've been conditioned as young children
to look a certain way
because that's the way the traffic's coming from.
So I was a lot more cautious when I was walking around
or riding a bicycle then I was driving a car.
I mean still, I was obeying all the road rules
and those types of things.
But that's where you're going to get into trouble.
Question for my smart drivers,
do you have any tips
for people traveling to other countries
where they drive on the other side of the road?
Leave a comment down in the comment section there.
All that helps out the smart drivers, world traveling.
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test,
thanks very much for watching.
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Thanks again for watching.
Good luck on your license and remember,
pick the best answer, not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day, bye now.
[OUTRO AND UPBEAT MUSIC :: PICTURE OF RICK AUGUST, PHD DRIVING BUS FOR GREYHOUND IN 2002]