Driving on the "wrong" side!!!!

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lewis
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Driving on the "wrong" side!!!!

Postby lewis » Sat May 27, 2006 11:52 pm

Wonder if anyone can help, last year i bought myself a new ford focus, my old student style fiesta died, in Britain. Am moving to the sunny climes sooner than expected and cannot afford to sell my new car, value is a lot lower than amount still owing. My query is i know that i will be driving in a right sided vehicle on left hand roads, is this as scary as everyone is telling me? Any advice is welcome. :shock:

Lorraine - Mijas
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Postby Lorraine - Mijas » Sun May 28, 2006 12:24 am

I know several older people who regularly bring their RHD cars over for winter holidays who are more than happy driving.

We have also just done the reverse and taken our LHD to the UK and more than happy driving here on the "wrong side". The only thing we now have to give extra consideration to, is overtaking, we drive carefully anyway but you need to keep lots of distance between you and the car in front to enable you to overtake safely, only other minor problem we have is with barriers in car parks as they are on the passenger side :D

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lewis
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Postby lewis » Sun May 28, 2006 12:52 am

Thank you for your advice, obviously I realise that certain things such as blind spots and round abouts are going to cause slight confusion and my parents have recommended that I have some lessons from a driving instructor once my boyfriend and I are out there so I definitely think Ill do that, but its comforting to know that it is manageable. Thank you for your advice. :D

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spanish_lad
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Postby spanish_lad » Sun May 28, 2006 3:08 am

as a driver of a rhd car i´d say.. dont bother :)
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lewis
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Postby lewis » Sun May 28, 2006 11:51 am

Seriously?! Do you mean dont bother with lessons or driving rhd? :D

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Graye
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Postby Graye » Sun May 28, 2006 12:39 pm

We drive back to the UK several times a year in our "Spanish" car. It always amazes me that it seems natural to drive on the appropriate side of the road - whichever country we are in.
I suppose the one thing I would say is that it's probably easier to take a "foreign" car into the UK where we have previously been used to the driving on the left and therefore don't need to adapt much to arriving in Spain in a car we are familiar with and then having to "change sides". But there are lots of British cars around - residents and visitors, and they seem to manage just fine.
I don't think lessons would help overmuch; just check on the web for information about Spanish road rules.

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spanish_lad
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Postby spanish_lad » Sun May 28, 2006 12:53 pm

LEWIS i mean dont bother bringing a rhd car to spain.

if you think its lost value now...as soon as it crosses the water and has been here for 6 months it is more or less worthless - a friend of mine just bought a 1996 bmw 3 series 2.5i for 50 euros...
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

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lewis
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Postby lewis » Sun May 28, 2006 1:02 pm

Spanishlad The problem is i have no choice as i still owe money on the vehicle to my partner being still a "penniless student". Its not the value that I'm concerned about as i knew that just driving it off the forecourt instantly depreciated the value! My question was about the logistics of driving in Spain as the question of whether to take it is unfortunately non negotiable. Thank you for your opinion though. :D [/b]

mark
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Postby mark » Sun May 28, 2006 1:40 pm

I'm sure that once you are here you will not need driving lessons. All your learning will be done once you get off the ferry and I'm sure you will find it second nature.just take it easy for a few miles/kilometers.

Regards

Mark

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spanish_lad
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Postby spanish_lad » Sun May 28, 2006 4:29 pm

well.. in that case i would say ... its a piece od p*ss mate, i´ve had a rhd car here for 7 years ;)

(no, before you all ask, not the same car and yes its been legal... :roll: )


the thing i would say lewis is that your uk plated car will become illegal to have here after 6 months.

as long as you are aware of that fact you have been warned, m´kay ??
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soegaard
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Don't worry

Postby soegaard » Sun May 28, 2006 9:48 pm

I have taken my LHD car to the UK lots of times. It's has never been a problem.
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