driving

[ksd]

Hi first of all thankyou for the replys to my last post, what i need to know is what is it like to drive in florida ? this will be my first time driving on the wrong side of the road any tips welcome thankyou.

 

[caroley]

Haven't tried it myself, but dh says it's a doddle. Roads better, drivers more courteous.

Definitely better than in Birmingham, anyway

 

[coxan]

Hi

My hubby loves to drive out there, very courtious drivers, slower speed limits, and they are very patient with UK drivers, we often got lost but never had any problems

ANNIE

 

[snookhams]

I agree with COXAN, drivers in Florida (or maybe the whole ofUS) are much more courteous, stick to speed limits etc. DH doesn't drive so its down to me all the time and its a breeze if you can cope with a major UK motorway (like M25 erghhhhhhhh) then you will have no trouble, and because I was sitting on the other side of the car it was never an issue to drive on the other side of the road, hope you get on OK ( oh and it can't be too bad got upgraded last time to a 15 seater minibus and coped OK, perhaps it was that we were so big nobody wanted to mess with us)

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Tips:
- you can usually turn right on a red light. Providing you are in the right hand lane and there isn't a sign which says "no right turns on red light" and it is clear to go.
- you can overtake on the inside and the outside on a freeway.
- roads are wide, although a lot of cars are wider too ;-)
- agree - US police are VERY stringent about speed limits (unlike here where motorway limits are 70, but most people drive at 80+).

(I am sure there must be more tips and people will post them). You will have lots of fun driving.

Boo

 

[WebmasterPenny]

It's much easier to drive over there! No need to worry too much about turning a corner and going to the wrong side of the road either...all their junctions have turning lanes and the lines go across the junction with you as well...basically as long as you stay in your lane, you really can't go wrong! The roads and lanes are bigger, traffic moves at the speed limits and the drivers never cut you up. What I would say is get a good map and familiarise yourself with the roads before driving them if you can - just from a confidence point of view, it seems much less intimidating if you aren't worried about getting lost so much.

If I can do it, trust me, anyone can!

Penny

 

[bengunn]

Just to agree with everone else, the driving is easy.

The first time I drove in the USA (not in Florida) was also the first time that I had driven an automatic and even then I did not find it took long to get used to driving there.

 

[Janice]

Yep - as everyone has said - it's easy peasy!!

I drove a 8 seater Chevy during one trip - bigger than our Transits - and really enjoyed the experience.

I drive automatics anyway - so didnt find that a problem. One tip I would offer is to familiarise yourself with where the important bits are such as Wipers, Lights, Footbrake (they dont normally have handbrakes on US cars) and how to lock and unlock the car/trunk/hood before leaving the car park. Nothing worse than spending embarassing moments looking for how to lock/unlock the car when parking in a public car park! (Trust me - we know!!!) LOL

HTH - but most of all enjoy!