Driving and cars

Everyone asks us about driving here -- driving on the left, cars with steering wheels on the right, etc. The first few days it was a little unnerving, but you actually get used to it amazingly quickly. There are still days that I sit at the intersection with no one in front of me and I have to think about which lane I should end up in, but I have not yet driven the wrong way down the street. We have pretty well mastered the roundabout which is an essential to British driving. There are no overpasses or underpasses, everyone goes around the roundabout. There are very few traffic lights and virtually no stop-signs (except for the one on base which the driving class instructor continually makes fun of in the class).

The roads:
Most of the roads near us are small, with no shoulder, and barely enough room for two cars traveling in opposite directions. These little roads are shared with tractors, trucks, buses, horses, bicycles. To make it more interesting, most of these roads have a 60 mile per hour speed limit. It makes for interesting driving. There are freeways (motorways) that are similar to US roads, 70 MPH speed limits in most places. The main difference is the complete absence of overpasses. You exit on the left and enter a roundabout to continue on to your new road.

The cars:
We brought one American left-hand drive car with us (the Subaru). In some ways it is actually easier to drive than the British car. You can more easily judge the curb distance on the left side and in a slightly bigger car the wet curvy roads are less intimidating. It is not for city driving. We took the car into Cambridge once and attempted to park in a parking garage which was a near impossible undertaking. There are a fair number of SUVs on the road here, but the roads and especially older cities are really not designed for them.

I mostly drive the British car we bought (well the second car we bought). It is a little Honda and zips in and out of parking spaces with little problem. It is gas efficient and small which were the two essentials.

Buying a car was a nightmare -- by far the biggest issue we have encountered thus far. We originally bought a used Audi. We had it for a week and ended up having to return it because it had major mechanical issues. It was a paperwork nightmare and a crash course in British consumer protection laws (which are very good actually).  Then we decided to buy the Honda. We went in on a Saturday, expecting to leave with a car. We offered cash, credit card, cashier's check.... nope. First we had to prove we could insure it. And supply them with hard copy original insurance papers - no email or fax accepted. Then we had to get them the money... and they had to have it for 5 business days. Apparently counterfeiting is a big issue at car dealers, so even with a wire transfer it took days for it to clear. Then they have to get it British MOT certified and taxed. Only after all that do they allow you to pick up the car. It took 2 weeks. A US dealership would be out of business if this were their practice, but here this is normal.

Gas:
We try to buy gas on base whenever possible. We pay $0.75 per litre. Off base it is 1.19 pounds or about $2 per liter. Interestingly we buy gas in litres, distance is in miles, and gas mileage is calculated in miles per gallon (but British gallons, which is different than US gallons). Its a crazy mixed up place. They have a strange way of mixing up metric and non-metric measurements for things.

Walking:
There is a reason they have the roads marked like this in London:

Without it there would be car meets pedestrian accidents constantly. The problem is, no other towns have these markings. It is hard to retrain your brain to look right. Just to cross our road to school I have to remind the kids to look both ways, twice, at least.
It's all part of the adventure!