Driving on the right

[AlexGL00000000]

Hello - we are currently waiting for our Cali Beach to be built, and already planning our first overseas trip to mainland Greece. I was wondering if there are any useful tips or especially kit (mirrors, etc.) which help when driving a RHD vehicle on the continent. Many thanks.

 

[DavidofHook]

We have been going to France & Spain for over 25 years.
My experience is that it is not a problem, you are close enough to see the kerb , and I adjust our mirrors very slightly to the left. I use my (now inside) mirror to see behind & the outside mirror to check for overtakers. The inside mirror gives a view behind although once we have camped we tend to leave the back blind up so no view is available.
Please do not worry driving on then right isnot s problem

 

[Hawthorn37]

Agree with @DavidofHook , you should be fine. That’s quite an inaugural trip you’re planning btw - good on you! We haven’t yet taken our Cali over the channel yet!

 

[Velma's Dad]

Nothing special required kit-wise apart from stick-on headlamp diverters.

If you're not used to continental driving you could put something on the dashboard to remind you whenever you get under way again after a stop, especially for the first week. The biggest danger is pulling out onto the wrong side of the road after a break especially on a quiet road.

If you get confused in the middle of a complex junction don't be afraid to just stop until you've worked it out, better to get honked at by a local than heading the wrong way onto a dual carriageway.

On a single carriageway road, when you need to overtake hang back more than you would do in UK, ease out and have a look, then go if clear.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Hello - we are currently waiting for our Cali Beach to be built, and already planning our first overseas trip to mainland Greece. I was wondering if there are any useful tips or especially kit (mirrors, etc.) which help when driving a RHD vehicle on the continent. Many thanks.

Just like Cliff Richard in summer holiday. I like it.

As Velma dad said, caution, especially if you have spent most of your time on autoroutes. In France it’s possible to go nearly five hundred miles without having to negotiate being on the wrong side of the road. When you hit traffic, at night, your first thought can be “get out of my way you bloody idiot!!! “They flash their lights, you flash yours, then the Penny drops.

So a friend tells me anyway

 

[Snowball1935]

We are in our 80’s. Until COVID, we regularly holidayed in France for about 7 weeks in May/June. I found driving in France more relaxing than in the UK.
Returning home after those 7 weeks, leaving Portsmouth being on the M275/M27/M3 was like driving on Brandshatch.

 

[Hawthorn37]

We are in our 80’s. Until COVID, we regularly holidayed in France for about 7 weeks in May/June. I found driving in France more relaxing than in the UK.
Returning home after those 7 weeks, leaving Portsmouth being on the M275/M27/M3 was like driving on Brandshatch.

Totally agree. The best part of a touring holiday is driving in France, and the worst part is the M25 !

 

[bob_summers]

About 15 years ago I worked as a service engineer based in London - my “patch” was from SE England down to Holland, and I’d be over there about once or twice a month.

Never a single problem driving on the wrong side.

UNTIL you get lost, stress out, make a U turn and drive off on the left.

Now it’s the opposite - when I visit the UK I put a sticker with DRIVE ON LEFT where I can see it

 

[AlexGL00000000]

Great - many thanks for the helpful reassurance. I have driven on the 'wrong' side in a RHD before, but just wondered if there were any features of the Cali that needed to be taken into account, such as driving position, etc. I agree with the comments about European driving too - I've driven in Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France and Italy and none of those countries come close to rivalling England for bad, aggressive driving (except possibly Paris). We're planning to drive to the Peloponnese via a ferry from Venice to Patras, so hopefully not too much driving.

 

[westfalia]

Now it’s the opposite - when I visit the UK I put a sticker with DRIVE ON LEFT where I can see it

That's a tricky one , I just program the thinking to be 'I must drive next to the pavement'
After an hour I'm back in the swing of things being on the wrong side.

 

[westfalia]

Great - many thanks for the helpful reassurance. I have driven on the 'wrong' side in a RHD before, but just wondered if there were any features of the Cali that needed to be taken into account, such as driving position, etc. I agree with the comments about European driving too - I've driven in Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France and Italy and none of those countries come close to rivalling England for bad, aggressive driving (except possibly Paris). We're planning to drive to the Peloponnese via a ferry from Venice to Patras, so hopefully not too much driving.

Your driving position needs to be up straight. Maybe on a Greek island
they will let you get away with a laidback position, but its not a good idea
to relax your driving position. Better to pull up and have a rest.

If you enter Germany please dont stay in the overtaking lane driving at 75mph,
we won't be impressed at all with that behaviour.

 

[B J G]

The 'danger' area is when you turn right or left out of a junction, all too natural to go to the wrong side of the road.

 

[Snowball1935]

I love the French traffic islands lane-free of markings. Particularly with the caravan in tow, simply stick to the right, put L/H indicator on, and switch to R/H indicator when approaching my turn off.
No risk of getting in wrong lane on unfamiliar roundabouts, as can frequently happen in the UK. You can also find it dicey when in the correct lane at busy times, when the impatient locals just “do their own thing” to get through a roundabout as swiftly as possible.

 

[Jim2007]

I love the French traffic islands lane-free of markings.

Don’t go to Hook of Holland:

 

[WelshGas]

Your driving position needs to be up straight. Maybe on a Greek island
they will let you get away with a laidback position, but its not a good idea
to relax your driving position. Better to pull up and have a rest.

If you enter Germany please dont stay in the overtaking lane driving at 75mph,
we won't be impressed at all with that behaviour.

Too true.

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

A small stick-on wide-angle mirror on the passenger side is useful to spot vehicles that are in the blind spot over your left shoulder


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Don’t go to Hook of Holland:

View attachment 94056

Swindon (UK) Magic Roundabout(s):

 

[Swiss Cheese]

Part from the above, you should adjust the headlights for driving on the right. I expect you'll have the ability to do that electronically from the dashboard.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

The only danger I’ve found is pulling out of a petrol station onto an empty road. It’s very easy to forget and drive half a mile on the wrong side. This has happened to me a few times. Thankfully with no tragic outcome so far.

 

[Barbara]

Past experience:
Switzerland - green signs for motorways, blue for others. Not sure if same now.
Spain- roundabouts - traffic does not always take the route you are used to in UK. Pedestrian crossings may only be marked on road no signs.
Traffic lights will look different - high up and sometimes no repeater
Now I always only pull into a layby on the side I am and facing the way I am going as nearly pulled out on the wrong side of the road in the past on a quite road.
Driving around Rotterdam is just like driving on M25.

Saying all this I too like to drive in France and Spain.
Side door of California is on the prefect side for parking beside the road as that is the side beside the kerb.

 

[Snowball1935]

In France, I once made an attempt (signaling) to park in a layby on the opposite side of the road. There was a traffic cop already in the layby, and he stopped me - it seemed by his intervention that it is illegal in France to pull across the opposing traffic to enter a layby on the opposite side, so from then on I followed Barbara’s method.

 

[66tim99]

especially kit

Magnetic UK stickers
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HCHRQWP/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[Hawthorn37]

Part from the above, you should adjust the headlights for driving on the right. I expect you'll have the ability to do that electronically from the dashboard.

Apart from if LED headlights are fitted. In this case there isn’t an option to select for driving on the left or right. The headlamp beams are flat and evenly distributed, with no ‘kick up’ to the near side.

 

[bvddobb]

Sticker on the dash with common speed/height number conversions from imperial to metric (“how many miles was 50/70/90/110 km again?”).

 

[Straad]

I agree with all the above. Driving abroad is easier than getting to South of England. One tip. The most dangerous time is 48/72 hours in when you start to get confident and stop concentrating so hard. Beware!