Driving hints for new users of English roads натисніть на кнопку вище для перекладу

I am writing this document to help you make the change to driving in the UK. it is not a legal document and is based on my idea of best practice suggested by thirty years as a police officer, Heavy goods driver, and driving instructor.  I have driven and ridden motorcycles in  countless places including Albania, Ukraine,  Russia, India, and America in situations ranging from well-controlled driving to absolute chaos.  My biggest advice to you is to take your time,  never ever ever rush a decision. You might have to travel some way to correct a mistake but at least you get a second chance. Learn the road signs and their importance.  Signs in the Uk are rarely incorrect and have been placed there for a very good reason.  The white and yellow lines painted on the road also have much more significance there is a simple rule the more paint, the greater the danger and the more you must consider. Double white lines in the centre of the road mean no overtakin...

​London as well as many larger tows and cities are extremely expensive both to drive and park.  In London and soon many other cities, most cars will have to pay a tax called the congestion charge as well as an emission charge for most vehicles.  For more information please click here   Parking is prohibitively expensive you are far better to arrange to travel into London by train or underground can purchase special tickets which will allow you to hop and off all  public transport. Most large towns and cities operate PARK AND RIDE a service where you can park your car and obtain a regular bus service into the city.  Always make a note of which bay AND which car park as there can be many  

​ Driving on the left Driving on the left is not complicated but changing from driving on the right is.  You will have to use a different hand for gear and handbrake but you will quickly adapt and it will become quite natural to you. however strting to drive on the left has its peculiarities. This is probably the time you need to be more aware, and it’s a good thing to remind yourself every so often.  Initially, foreign drivers keep too far right of the lane, use your left mirror to see where you are on the road on a nice safe and quiet road check and move more to the left so you get more confident with your positioning.  When positioning for junctions and roundabouts try to achieve a position over the point of the arrow of the road marking painted on the road, use the point in the direction you want to go and try and achieve getting it under the centre of the car. On open roads and motorways look for the very slight change in the colour of the road between the two wheels...

Roundabouts From the short survey that I have carried out, roundabouts appear to be one of the biggest concerns. In the UK there are two different types of roundabouts, Mini-roundabouts, and Roundabouts with a central reserve. All follow the same basic rule the difference is that a mini-roundabout has only markings and no central island you MUST travel around the central marking clockwise and avoid the central white area.  With the larger roundabouts deal with them in four separate operations in this example you are dealing with a four-exit roundabout.  Approach  1. Approach before getting to the roundabout you should know which exit you are taking ( see later on how to deal with a traffic roundabout that you do not know which exit to take)  On the approach to most roundabouts, you will have an advanced sign. This sign is an exact replication of a plan view of the junction, with you always entering from the bottom and the juctions off will be represended as they appe...

 If you are planning your first drive on UK roads take a bit of time to prepare.  One of the first things to plan is your route, google maps are good for this and can be used for directions. but be careful in the UK there are often many different routes that you can take to the same destination, all have advantages and disadvantages as for advice if necessary. there are also many places miles apart with the same name make sure you have the right one see my rule of five when naviagating   Google maps are a good source of information and can be used to give you verbal information. But please beware that you can get into considerable problems unless your phone is used 'handsfree'. Holding your phone whilst driving is a serious issue and  could result in fines and even your licence being revoked Know exactly where you are going and how long it will likely take. In the UK times can vary considerably due to the time or day of the week that you travel give yourself ple...

In the UK most drivers are polite and simply need to be asked, by the use of your indicator, to let you in front, it is permissible to use an indicator to almost ask for permission to change lanes. The car behind will often flash once to allow you to change, unfortunately, we do have some drivers who are not quite so obliging or simply not concentrating, so be careful, wait  until you see a clear space use yo ur door mirrors,  and remember:   MIRROR, SIGNAL, MANOEVER  and  Its nice to be nice especially on the roads  When driving remember the matra,  LEFT IS BEST .  and keep to the left unless you have a good reason. This includes motorways  W hen traveling on major roads and dual carriageways, traffic merges onto your road from the left. If necessary you should move over one lane to the right and speed up or slow if necessary to allow them to filter onto your road, adjust your position and speed slowly, whilst unofficial, you can flash the h...

​ Drink Drive   The Uk operates two systems with regards to drinking and driving one allows a concentration of 80 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood or 35 Micrograms per 100 Millilitres of breath in Scotland.  for more information go here   Click here to see Alcohol unit calculator Police can also implement another system, which if they know you have been drinking and suspect your driving is affected as result,  can arrest you and take you before a Doctor who will decide if you are impaired and this can be at a much lower level than the one above   My advice is one glass of wine OR one small beer is the maximum if you are driving.  Beware of the strengths of some of the British beers and ciders,  Also, be very concerned about driving after a heavy drinking session the night before. Alcohol takes a considerable time to leave the body  If in doubt don’t drink or don’t drive.  Drink driving is becoming socially unacceptable and the pol...

 Motorways are the uk special roads they are in the main free there are tolls on some bridges and special roads. Motorways are indetifed by blue signs on the approach to a motorway you will see it on roads signs To join the motorways you should accelerate up to the speed of the traffic already on the motorway and whilst using OBSERVATION,  SIGNAL, MANOUVER slip into the traffic already on the motorways  Keep to the left unless overtaking, my suggestion,is to travel slightly over 60mph but not as fast as the limit  of 70 MPH (112kph). You should know your exit number that you need to leave the motorway or alternatively which motorway you changing to. Give yourself plenty of time motorways often become clogged and progress slowed . If you are unfortunate to breakdown pull as far left as you can put your hazard warnings lights on and either use your phone or the motorway phones to inform motorways control of your problem they will need to know the motorways you are on. ...

  Parking   Parking is comparatively expensive and there is little opportunity to park for free. Supermarkets often let you park for perhaps an hour but it is very important to read and understand the sign that will be displayed. Often parking is either by paying at a meter or by phone even parking at some Lidl is controlled. Make sure you have a note of the registration number of your vehicle, it is often required. On road parking is strictly controlled you cannot park where there are two yellow lines on the side of the road,  you can however   stop to drop off or pick up passengers.  Do not stop on the controlled area near a school which will be marked with a white or yellow lines be even to drop off passengers.  You may have to park some distance away  Also when near schools you must obey the school crossing controller who will have this sign.

Headlights and driving at night  Modern Cars have day running lights (DRLS) not all cars will have this but beware that if you are driving during the day in poor visibility there are no lights to the rear. ALWAYS poor visibility use dipped headlights  and consider putting the rear fog light on if visibility is severely reduced . Driving at night can be tedious. avoid it as much as possible in the early days of driving in the uk   And remember that during the autumn and winter it gets dark very quickly in the evening. AT NIGHT Drive on dipped headlights and when driving avoid looking directly at the oncomin traffic learn to look slightly left ( This is the opposite to what you have been used to driving on the right.

Open my shared note: Drink Drive Notes Sent from my iPhone

Traffic lights in the UK are often computer-controlled and called ‘intelligent’ as they know what traffic is doing and can adjust timing accordingly. Traffic lights frequently have cameras recording and if you go past the stop light on Red you can be prosecuted. See here for more information on traffic lights    Uk traffic lights also differ from most of Europe in that they also have a solid white line ( The stop line) across the road indicating where the leading vehicle should stop (behind the line). Remember the saying THE LIGHT CONTROLS THE LINE which means.  If you are past the stop line the traffic lights can be discounted, see the final paragraph In Uk the traffic lights sequence is as follows.   RED  D o not pass the white line. Under no normal circumstance can you pass this line whilst the light is Red, you must not turn left whilst the light displayed is Red unless you have a green arrow ( a filter light) displayed  AMBER and RED do not proce...