Driving Automatic

Did you ever use the handbrake while driving the hilly areas of CA?

LOL, no! I learned it here and used it just long enough to pass my test. 

Yeah, in the US we call it a parking brake, but they call it a hand brake here for a reason -- they use it. Not just hill starts. If you come to a stop for more than about 20 seconds, you're supposed to put on the hand brake.

Interesting! Excellent point. "Parking brake" is so ingrained into us here in the U.S. --

Same here. I drove for 24 years in the States...all over the country. 14 years of that I drove a manual. I took 24 lessons here and passed my theory and practical on the first attempt.  The extra practice really helped with handling the roundabouts.  Too many Americans and Europeans get killed in our area when they forget and turn the wrong way at a junction.  Happens all the time.

By the way... (and I might need to start a new topic for this) but, it was only £102 a year more for me to be added to hubby's insurance. We pay £354 a year for both of us, full coverage. Through Admiral Insurance with 5 years of no-claims discounts.

Yikes. I will take driving lessons for sure. I must say, I am seriously impressed with the way motorists navigate roundabouts in England. Earlier this month while there I didn't notice anyone entering out of turn -- traffic flowed even at the busiest places -- it was like a Swiss clock.

I've found the majority of drivers here to be better skilled than in the US and WAY more polite. But I drive mostly in London and the outskirts and there's just not enough room on the roads to be too aggressive.

I've found the majority of drivers here to be better skilled than in the US

When I was a student in the US, I remember talking to a girl in one of my classes who said she had only spent a total of 2 hours behind the wheel before she got her licence  !

In the UK, it took me 15 months, about 60-70 hours of paid lessons, another 200 hours or so of private practice in my parents' car and two failed driving tests before I got my licence .

When I was a student in the US, I remember talking to a girl in one of my classes who said she had only spent a total of 2 hours behind the wheel before she got her licence  !

I can almost believe this. My driving test was on a course in a parking lot and you were only allowed to drive between 10 and 15 mph. The parallel parking was by far the hardest part but you were also allowed to fail one thing. I failed parallel parking but still got my license. I don't think that you have to do the parking bit in a lot of western states where there really is no reason to ever have to do it and I remember you went to school in New Mexico? So yea, I guess 2 hours behind the wheel is plausible, if on the low side. I had my permit for about 10 months before I got my license and had to take 6 hours of state-mandated lessons before I was allowed to drive around with my mom. Mostly, I just was the one who drove to the store or errands or whatever over the course of those 10 months with my mom, so mostly short trips not necessarily dedicated "practice times." I definitely could have passed the test with much less practice but might not have ended up as good of a driver.

When my Brit ex came to the US years ago, he held a full UK license. When he went to the DMV to get his CA license, the test consisted of driving around the block. There were a couple of 4 way stops and 1 traffic light and that was it! He was back in about 15 minutes and he could not stop complaining about it for days lol.

When my Brit ex came to the US years ago, he held a full UK license. When he went to the DMV to get his CA license, the test consisted of driving around the block. There were a couple of 4 way stops and 1 traffic light and that was it! He was back in about 15 minutes and he could not stop complaining about it for days lol.

Yes and he probably only paid $15 for the license.

I've found the majority of drivers here to be better skilled than in the US and WAY more polite. But I drive mostly in London and the outskirts and there's just not enough room on the roads to be too aggressive.

Hi Ms C (wifey!!)

Take some trips around some Euro countries if you're finding the UK more polite and skilled!!! you'll be extremely pleasantly surprised!!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I really don't, but I drive a lot in the country and there is "room" for misbehaving.

We drive in North Norfolk and it is terrible.  Lots of tailgaiting at the speed limit of 60, lots of overtaking on blind bends and hills (I guess no one has been there before so no one will be there now) people parked on not quite two lane roads with car doors open into the road(!).  I was even overtaken while doing 30 in a town centre. 

Also, I was making a right turn, with no turn lane, and someone behind me was coming fast. I thought, there must be more room than I thought, because he is clearly passing me (and setting off the speed warning sign), but nope!  Just driving with two wheel on the sidewalk. 

Although I don't like some of the cyclists, driving in/around Cambridge is fine. 

I don't know if the Norfolk people are local, and so feel safe enough to break the speed limit on windy roads, or aren't local and don't know any better.

When it was time to get my licence here it took me about 8 weeks of lessons on an automatic, despite driving in the US for 10 years.  The instructor saw I was capable of handling a car, it was just that I needed those lessons to get used to the quirkiness of driving on these funny little narrow english roads.

Hindsight, I should have just learned a manual at the time.  I only did automatic here because my wife didn't want to learn manual and we only had enough £££ for one car.

What really annoys me is that for my birthday this year I wanted a power-car experience day.  Then I found out that you have to have a manual licence to do it.  I couldn't believe it!  Not one of those cars has a clutch, they all run on flappy-paddle technology.

Hi Ms C (wifey!!)

Take some trips around some Euro countries if you're finding the UK more polite and skilled!!! you'll be extremely pleasantly surprised!!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Hi sweetie!

As usual you are spot on! 

Hi

MsC - Next time you are in Holland do what me and my best mate used to do (he lived out there for 9 years) and go around cutting people up, shouting at them with 1 finger salutes, tailgate, flash your headlamps..    those Dutch are so placid they'll look at you and smile and give you the thumbs up and merrily carry on !   driving there really is courteous and civilised!  do any of that here and you'd end up in prison for the day and in the papers!

NYbrummie - I can understand your frustration at the requirement of having a manual licence for some of the experience days. I think that comes from the fact that on any particular day some of the cars might not be available and they'd need to substitute with a manual gearbox car in order to keep things moving along - no pun intended. The paddle shift gearboxes in super cars and high end sports cars are 'relatively' easy to use when you are in that 'mode' for the gearbox. What you'll find is, with various shift programs, different response times for gearchanges driving these cars is 'currently' suited to those types of drivers and enthusiasts who have experience of a manual gearbox. This is where it gets a little softer - for a bread and butter road car, similar to what many posters here have mentioned, as you gain experience you do 'switch' off from this aspect of how a car performs and 'why'. Things such as hill starts, engine braking, choosing yourself which gear you'd like to be in for certain road conditions, all aren't experienced and never thought of by many auto drivers. Go to a track or experience day, and you'll be faced with cars that need to be driven harder, you need to know what gear you need to be in for that sweeping left corner or that tight hairpin, if you want to 'vary' your route or learn some drift angles of entry, you need to know these things and, hear and feel what the car is doing. You cannot get that sort of knowledge and experience from having an auto only license and driving experience that usually entails on public roads.

I've mentioned it a couple time before in threads like these, but I'd love to give some people a dogleg manual or a right foot clutch operated gearbox and have a chuckle at the ensuing wtf looks and comments

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

MsC - Next time you are in Holland do what me and my best mate used to do (he lived out there for 9 years) and go around cutting people up, shouting at them with 1 finger salutes, tailgate, flash your headlamps..    those Dutch are so placid they'll look at you and smile and give you the thumbs up and merrily carry on !   driving there really is courteous and civilised!  do any of that here and you'd end up in prison for the day and in the papers! 

Heh - have you ever driven in Cyprus, Dennis?  Then you'd know just how courteous & civilised British drivers are...I mean at least we tend to observe some lane discipline, traffic lights, speed limits (more or less), road rules, etc - at least most of the time.

I've driven in the US, the UK, Belgium, France, Netherlands and Canada.  The only place I refused to drive was Naples!  I've never seen such 'creative' driving