Monday, January 15, 2007

Driving Mantra - Stay on the left



We hired a car, and it is uniquely difficult to drive "on the wrong side of the road". We are constantly reminding ourselves and each other to "stay to the left". There are a few things which are quite problematic, and I feel like I've messed up a couple of times even though we've read the tips on driving in New Zealand.

After a while, it got lots easier, but here are some lessons we've learned -- and continue to learn -- about driving:
- the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car (yes, we still go to the wrong side)
- the turn signal is on the right hand side of the steering wheel (we are constantly turning on the windshield wipers when we want to turn left)
- round-abouts are confusing, even to New Zealanders -- we've asked the locals and they also have no idea
- outside of in-city roads, the speed limit is almost always 100kph (62mph)... even on narrow, steep, scary, winding roads
- the yield to the right laws are slightly less confusing the round-abouts. In its most extreme incarnation, a driver turning left must yield to a driver turning right. This makes sense in the US, where a right turn is the quick turn; here a right turn crosses traffic and yet still must be yielded to. Strange but true.

1 Comments:

At 4:11 PM, Blogger John said...

Roundabouts - confusing to kiwis. I'm so glad to hear that from someone else. I thought we were doing something wrong!

The whole yield to the right (crossing traffic) thing really is screwed up. We found ourselves waiting on someone when we were turning right, who was waiting for us because we had the right of way. Weird!!!

 

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