Visitors to Britain from North America, continental Europe, and many other parts of the world, will be used to driving on the right hand side of the road and the left hand side of the car. Coming to Britain they will have to adapt.
If you're an experienced driver it shouldn't be a problem; if you feel very nervous about the idea, then ask somebody else to drive or plan a trip that's dependent on buses or trains. Be careful if you're in places where there's little other traffic, and be especially careful when you first start driving in the morning or after a break.
It also helps if you have an alert passenger, who is able to remind you if you forget which side of the road to be on. You will need to be rather more careful about positioning the car on the road than you would be at home.
You will find the pedals are in the same position that you are used to, with the accelerator (gas pedal) on the right. But you will need to operate the gears, or the transmission selector, and almost always the handbrake (parking brake), with your left hand.
Finally, if you are arriving after a long flight and are unfamiliar with driving in Britain, think about not driving when you first arrive. All airports in Britain have good bus or train connections, and if you wait until the following day before picking up a car, you won't have the problem of driving while jet-lagged. Renting a car away from an airport may well be cheaper, and you'll probably start in a place where it's easier to get used to the conditions.
Currently (August 2003) standard unleaded petrol costs around 75p/litre in London. I cannot undertake to keep this up to date. Leaded petrol was withdrawn from sale at the end of 1999.
For budgeting a very approximate rule is that you might spend £ 12 on fuel for each 100 miles that you drive.
You will probably find it cheaper to book in advance from outside Britain. Particularly for North American visitors, the rates quoted outside Britain, by all the major international car rental companies, are much cheaper than those quoted locally.
Not unless you have a very specific reason to, and you know exactly where you are going to park. It's slow and if you're unfamiliar to the geography it's difficult to navigate. Most people who work in Central London commute by public transport whether they own cars or not
The weight of traffic in London varies a lot according to the time of day. But, except early in the morning, it is not appreciably lighter on Saturdays or Sundays than during the week.
In the same vein, for long journeys between major cities you may find it easier and quicker to use trains or even local flights than to drive.
Assuming that you are competent and confident with both, only you can answer that question. An automatic will give you less to worry about while you're driving in unfamiliar conditions. In particular you won't need to worry, if you're unused to changing gear with your left hand. But an automatic will cost you more, and if you're not used to an automatic it's actually another level of unfamiliarity.
Almost all new manual cars in Britain are five-speed.
It may be stating the obvious, but if you can only drive an automatic, don't plan on renting a manual car and picking up the technique as you go along. In Britain, if you learn to drive on an automatic you are only licensed for an automatic. Whatever the legal position, if your own country doesn't make that distinction, only rent a manual car if you're familiar with one. If you try and drive a manual car, and haven't driven one before, you'll be a danger to both yourself and other road users.
You will need to specifically ask for an automatic when you reserve your car. With some companies the only automatics available are medium size or larger cars.
All speed limits and distances, on signs, are given in miles or miles per hour. 1 mile is about 1.6 km.
A circular white disc with a black diagonal line implies that the national speed limit applies - there is no more restrictive speed limit. Where a lower limit applies it will be indicated by a number in a circle with a red border. In addition warning signs, such as those on the approach to bends, sometimes carry a recommended speed limit.
The national speed limit, on motorways and on dual carriageway (divided highway) roads outside towns, is 70 mph. The speed limit for single carriageway roads outside towns is 60 mph. The normal speed limit in built-up areas is 30 mph.
No. Of course not all of the GATSO cameras are loaded with film, and not all the film is checked by the police. But enough are loaded that if you make a habit of speeding past them, you will be caught sooner or later. In any case, part of their purpose is deterrent.
For Britain you won't need one if your driving licence is a EU style (pink) one and/or includes a clear description in English. You can drive for a year in Britain without getting a British licence.
If your licence isn't in English, even when a car rental company may give you a car without asking for an international drivers' permit, you may find it useful in the unlikely event that you are stopped by the police.
You must wear seat belts, front and rear, in a car if they are fitted. This is of course sensible irrespective of the law.
The minimum, in practice, is 21 but many companies will insist on minimum ages of 23 or 25. If you want to rent anything at all non-standard, like a light truck or a sports car, you should be at least 25.
Usually car rental agreements in Britain restrict you to 'the mainland UK' - that is you cannot take the car to continental Europe or to Ireland (North or South).
Most companies will rent you a car to take outside the UK provided that you pay a surcharge, and tell the company exactly where you will be going. This is necessary so that any necessary equipment and documentation can be arranged. If you are going to continental Europe, the documentation will probably include a 'Green Card' which is an international certificate of insurance.
Renting a car in Britain and dropping it off elsewhere in Europe is not usually feasible. Several of the major international companies offer this in theory but will quote prohibitive rates for it. However Hertz at least offer a deal where you can exchange a British rented car for a French one at one end of the Channel Tunnel
Generally I would recommend visitors from North America or continental Europe not to take cars rented in Britain to the continent, simply because that seems like a way of making life difficult twice over. You will both be on an unfamiliar side of the car, and on the wrong side for the road layout.
The principal rule is that traffic already on a roundabout has priority, and this applies whether the roundabout is a tiny hump in the middle of the road, or a massive roundabout with buildings in the middle.
On the approach to a roundabout, indicate left if you are leaving by the first exit. Indicate right if you are going most of the way round the roundabout before leaving it. A good guide is to imagine how you would indicate if the roundabout was not there and there was simply a crossroads in its place.
Once on a roundabout, you should indicate left as you approach the exit which you intend to take provided that you can do so unambiguously
These are parking restrictions. Look for a nearby sign for the exact parking restrictions, but typically a double yellow line means no parking at any time, a single yellow line means no parking from 8am to 6 30pm Monday to Saturday, and a broken yellow line means some less severe restriction - such as parking allowed for half an hour only at a time. In many areas some parking spaces are reserved for those with residents' permits.
This varies slightly between rental companies but the general rules are very similar.
Third party insurance is the insurance that protects you against claims that somebody else might make against you, in the event of an accident. This is the only insurance that is legally required in the UK. Usually your rental payment will include the cost of this insurance. The only way to avoid paying the rental company's third party insurance is to arrange in advance to use your own insurance, and this is generally only available to large corporate customers. No credit card is going to cover you for third party liability.
Loss damage waiver, or sometimes collision damage waiver and/or theft protection, is insurance against loss or damage to the car through theft or accident. You have the option of accepting, or not, these from the rental company - though if you accept you will typically still be liable for a small amount of any costs incurred. This amount is known as the excess and can often be waived for a small fee.
Many loss damage waiver schemes are not strictly insurance, but simply an agreement with the rental company that they will bear the risk if you pay them more than the standard rental fee.
If you have a 'premium' credit card, such as a gold card, issued outside the UK, your card may include insurance against loss or damage of any cars rented using it. It's a good idea to check with both your card issuer and the rental company how this works. It may be that if something does go wrong the rental company will charge the price of a new car to your card, and leave you to sort it out with the insurers.
Personal accident insurance is also usually offered, but you may find that it duplicates cover which you already have through your travel or household insurance
Yes. It's called the Highway Code and is available from most booksellers and many newsagents and also online at http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/. It is updated every 2-3 years.
British American Petrol Gasoline Petrol station or Gas station garage (for buying fuel) Garage (for car sales Dealer or or repairs) mechanic Car park Parking lot or garage (for parking) Bonnet Hood Boot Trunk Windscreen Windshield Tyre Tire Kerb Curb Pavement Sidewalk Road surface Pavement Dual carriageway Divided highway Motorway Freeway Traffic lights Traffic light Manual gearbox Stick shift Handbrake Parking brake Indicator Turn signal Driving licence Driver's license Car hire Car rental Number plate License plate Gallon About 1.2 US gallons Fuel consumption Gas mileage Lorry or truck Truck Saloon Sedan Van Van (parcels or equipment) People-carrier or Van (6-9 passengers) MPV
Driving times, in Britain, are so variable that they aren't often quoted in everyday conversation. They vary according to the time of day, but also just according to traffic conditions, as a single source of delay can easily add an hour to a journey. Also, you can spend well over an hour travelling across London, so any time from (for example) Salisbury to London is very approximate, unless you have a specific destination in London.
As a very rough guide, you could work on average speeds of 65 mph on motorways, and other fast dual carriageways, and 45 mph on other roads outside towns and cities. But if you plan to drive for all or most of the day, it would be prudent to include at least an hour's allowance for possible delays.
Note that these are simply resources that I have used; I have not exhaustively evaluated any of them nor have I looked into every alternative.
Microsoft Autoroute Express is a route planning package delivered with many new PCs. It has attractive maps and some useful information on tourist sites. You set your own profile, of average speeds for motorways, other main roads, and so on, so you can 'tweak' the way that it calculates driving times. It allows you to zoom in and out on the maps, and to add your own points of interest, or pushpins, to the package.
However, with the speed profile as delivered, driving times, especially within London, are extremely optimistic. While preparing this I drove between Battersea and Muswell Hill, a journey which Autoroute Express estimated at 27 minutes. In fact it took around 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon, in light or moderate traffic by London standards. Also the driving profile allows you to select different times of day when you might start driving, but does not adjust, nor encourage you to adjust, your speed according to the time of day.
Finally, it betrays its American origins by offering compass directions (North, South-West, or whatever) and not towns or cities when it describes road junctions. The Itinerary display includes a 'toward' column but rarely uses it.
There are several route planners on the Internet. The AA and Mapquest (you will need to click over 'driving directions') both have route planners which cover the whole of Europe, not just the UK. Mapquest is a bit more user friendly than AA when you want to put in street addresses, or complete postcodes, but I don't find its presentation of the detailed street maps very clear. Like Autoroute Express the AA planner distinguishes between the quickest and cheapest routes. These planners only work in terms of elapsed time and, for the Battersea-Muswell Hill journey AA quotes 35 minutes, Mapquest only 30 minutes.
There are good street maps (showing every street and major building) of London and road maps (showing major roads and built-up areas) of the whole of Great Britain available at http://www.streetmap.co.uk. You can search these by street or town name, or by national grid reference or post code.
Direction signs, at least outside London and on main roads, are usually clear and comprehensive. However conventions about direction signs vary between countries, so it is worth learning a little about the conventions that apply in the UK. In particular visitors from North America should be aware that, with very few exceptions, road signs don't indicate which compass direction - North, South, East or West - they are pointing in.
Signs on main roads have a different coloured background according to the type of road. A dark green background indicates an 'A' road, a white background indicates a 'B' road, and a blue background indicates a motorway. At major junctions there are usually signboards on the approach to the junction, and finger-posts at the junction itself. Visitors from France should note that finger-posts always point along, not across, the roads that they refer to.
These signs will include show the names of principal towns and cities, and also road numbers. A road number in brackets - eg (A41) indicates that you are taking a road leading to the road with that number. Almost all maps will show road numbers, and many road atlases will highlight the major towns and cities that appear on direction signs.
Motorway junctions have numbers which appear in the corner of motorway signs. On other main roads junctions sometimes have names which appear on signs.
Main roads towards London are signposted to London outside Greater London; as they approach London itself they are often signposted to the West End and the City with different routes to each.
Signs with a white background and a blue border show local destinations. Learn to look for these if you are searching for a particular destination within a town, and to ignore them and concentrate on other signs if you are trying to find your way out of the town. Signs with a brown background are pointers to particular places of tourist interest.
When you hire a car, the hire company will probably define the size and type of car by referring to a particular make and model - perhaps a Ford Mondeo or a Renault Megane. This is a convenient way of avoiding any uncertainly about what constitutes a small, middle-sized, or large car. But most hire companies have a range of makes in their fleet, so unless you ask for a specific make you won't know exactly what type of car to expect until you pick it up.
As a guide, the hatchback versions of the two cars that I mentioned have the following characteristics:
Length (metres) Engine sizeFrom the Mondeo size of car upwards you will have a very good chance of an automatic beng available in hire companies' fleets
Ford Mondeo 4.56 1.6-2.5 litre
Renault Megane 4.16 1.4-1.9 litre
Also most cars are made with a wide variety of variations - manual or
automatic, petrol or diesel, even different body styles (for small and
medium-sized cars, in Britain, hatchbacks are much more common than
saloon cars with a separate boot). So, even if you know that you'll be
hiring a Mondeo, for example, it won't be possible to find out exactly
what fuel consumption or performance to expect until you know exactly
which variant you will get.