Driving in the UK is Scary for Americans - Here’s Why!
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Nothing better than a little show & tell to explain WHY driving in Britain can be so terrifying or at least nerve-racking for Americans. The narrow country lanes, with their tall hedges, blind curves, and lack of shoulders make driving tricky at best and dangerous at worst. In this video we will show you a recent drive through the countryside and the "dance" that often results when you meet oncoming traffic!
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Here is a tip from a very experienced GB driver. When you enter a single lane road remember when and where you last saw a passing point.
Yes, I definitely try to do that! It's a little distressing in situations like that one where there really weren't very many passing places at all 😳
I wonder how they coped with two meeting horse and carts?@@MagentaOtterTravels
@@peckelhaze6934 I really can't imagine!
Interesting to watch your perspective as I live in rural England and these are my “every day” roads. I imagine it’s quite stressful for visitors, but please remember that everyone local is used to this - just take your time and wave thanks and try not to stress out. I think you did great here! 👍🏻
We rely on the kindness and expert driving of locals like you! What tripped us up here was that the oncoming car was a clueless tourist like us! In retrospect, we should have done the reversing! LOL
Thanks for your comment! Which English county do you live in?
@@MagentaOtterTravels Like the first poster here, the roads around the village I live in are all like that. They were originally horse and cart roads. The thing to remember, is to make a sort of mental note of potential passing places (wider parts of the road, gateways into fields etc ) as you drive along, in case you need to reverse, and hope that whoever you might meet has done the same!. If the other driver ends up reversing, it's best not to approach too closely as they reverse, if only out of politeness. I'm in the Lake District, in the North West of England, by the way. It is much easier to drive on these roads at night, as you then get plenty of warning of anyone coming from the opposite direction.
The two times I’ve been over there this year. This is what I actually hope to experience. Why? Because the more I have to concentrate on driving out of my comfort zone, the less I think about the troubles at home. This takes my mind off all the worries.
That's a good point. It really does take full concentration which I think can be a good mental exercise.
I'm sorry to hear about trouble back home 😢
Most of these country lanes have a passing place every 200 yards or so but this one was an awkward exception.
Ian, the driver in this video. You're right. I've driven these little country lanes many times and I don't ever recall going down one that was quite like this where there were very few passing places. Usually driving these lanes aren't too bad. There are plenty of passing places and you rarely encounter oncoming traffic anyway.
Depends where you are driving. They certainly don't in Devon and Cornwall, you just have to be aware of any wider bits such as gateways or side roads and simply drive to the conditions.
And what an odd coincidence that I wasn't intending to film a driving video! I just had the camera on for another reason and accidentally caught this tricky situation on film! I just wanted my American friends to understand what I am talking about when I try to describe these wee country lanes ;-)
@MagentaOtterTravels
One of the most important things you did there was to smile and give a big thank you wave. Us Brits are generally pretty tolerant in situations like that but really appreciate the courtesy of a thank you. Also as someone who has spent most of my life driving through extremely narrow Devon lanes one other tip to not annoy the oncoming driver is to leave a decent gap between the cars, which you did, a lot of people not used to lanes drive right up close to the reversing car and it can be extremely distracting for them, plus if they go slightly off line which is easy to do when it's narrow it gives them chance to just pull forward slightly to correct themselves. But to any visitors don't be put off driving these roads as they will often get you to fantastic places. Just drive with care, use common sense, don't go faster than the distance you can see to stop and most importantly as Ian did be polite.
@@nigelheath7048 after driving the most terrifying little lanes, we always seem to end up at the very best places! This is a lesson I first learned on our drive to Lustleigh! 💖
Well that was awkward! I hate those moments too. What's even worse is doing that at night on a pitch black road when you can't even see to reverse! That first car made it so much worse though, reversed much too far and missed spots where they could have pulled over enough for you both to pass on the grass verges. The most awkward encounters like this are when neither driver wants to go back until eventually someone blinks and does, resenting it the whole way and fuming as the other car finally goes past them. 😂
I agree 100%!
At least at night the headlights give you some advance warning
@@1971efc yes, Ian has said that many times! We do like the advance warning. But our favourite thing is when there is a car ahead of us! Then they can "clear the way" 👍👍
I fitted a 300watt small light bar to back it's great in dark for reversing .
@@davidlawrence942 great idea!
Yep, always wave to say thank you. This driving etiquette goes a long way when they have changed their driving behaviour to suit you 😊
Yes definitely!
@@MagentaOtterTravels As we both know, this kind of driving etiquette is virtually unknown in Texas. It doesn't matter how much you might help the other driver, they rarely, if ever, acknowledge it.
It's normal driving etiquette in the UK.
@@fizzyridertoo and this type of bob and weave is rarely done because the roads are wider 😉
You are correct, a blog I read from an American on a travel forum who had toured around England and Scotland in a car, summarised that the side we in Britain drive on was the least of the differences to get used to, it was the narrowness of roads, winding roads, ( they called it bendy) roundabouts, speed differences, understanding and interpretation of how road signage works, the road numbering scheme, A &B roads, A roads with an M suffix, what parentheses (brackets) mean and being prepared with town names en route to know what direction to take, as compass points are rare.
This is Ian, the driver in this video. While it is challenging to drive these roads, fortunately, you actually rarely encounter other drivers and so long as there are plenty of passing places, it's not too bad.
Roundabouts are becoming more common in parts of the US, but when we first started driving in Britain 30 years ago, I had never seen a roundabout in my life! Even though I was almost 30 years old.
@@ians3586 The country lanes are "bendy" because when they were being built, hundreds of years ago, the builders had to keep going around cows in the field! 😉
Just back from New England. Whilst I agree the roads are wider, the speed limits confused me. When on a Freeway ok it was 60 or 70 or 75. In UK only ever 70. On smaller roads just outside towns could be 20, 25, 30, 35 40,45 50...no obvious reasons for this. In UK usually 30 or 40....always clearly marked.
@@Nevswim The reason for the wildly varying limits in the USA has a lot to do with the fines collected around small towns. Many of them rely on penalising driving infractions in order to fund their towns.
I love the narrow roads, they always lead to great places. Tip, make a mental note of pull-in's you have passed and take a position over to the right on a bend so a car can see you sooner. Cover the brake and Always wave.
Good advice! And yes, we endure these challenging roads because they always lead to the best places!💖
Many years ago my wife and I were on holiday in Devon we went down some very narrow roads. `On one occasion we were going down a very steep single track road when a car came up. He was very insistent that I back up. The problem was we were two up on a 500lb motorbike with luggage. My wife got off and informed the driver that bikes do not have reverse gears and it was impossible to push the bike backwards up the hill. He wasn't happy but had no choice but to back up.
That is absurd!!! The other driver clearly had bad manners! And no sense! We absolutely LOVE Devon! But don't always enjoy driving the tiny roads to get to the fabulous destinations... ;-) Cheers for your comment! Dara
I suspect this is because usually you give way to vehicles coming up the hill, the other driver obviously wasn't switched on at all to the fact you were on a motorbike which doesn't have a reverse gear.
On a narrow twisting country lane like that do not be tempted to drive above 30 mph. Approach every blind bend with extreme caution. There could be a farmer in a tractor with a trailer full of hay coming towards you.
Exactly! Ian is a very cautious driver. We are always flabbergasted at the curvy country roads that have 60 mph speed limits posted!😳
Fairly normal where I live, and the locals are very polite about it - everyone waves and thanks each other. No point getting all aerated about it, is there? Probably best to be doubly careful about driving speeds on such lanes - 20mph is often quite fast enough. I'd advise against going onto very grassy or muddy verges if possible, some of them are quite soft and can also hide a multitude of sharp objects which can rip tyres.
You're very right about maintaining a safe speed. I usually stick to about 20 mph and haven't had a significant problems yet.
Good advice. The car rental companies certainly get a lot of scraped up hubcaps and wing mirrors!
One tip with country lanes. Try not to get too close to the vegetation at the side of the road. Sometimes this can be brambles (blackcurrent) or horthorn (natures barbed wire!) resulting in long scratches along the side of the car. Not what you really want in a hire car! I did it myself once. A few days later I noticed the scratches and thought that somebody had 'keyed' my car. Several hours later, I remembered a certain country lane I had driven down!
Oh yes, those rental cars get returned with lots of scratches on the sides, the hubcaps, and the wing mirrors! The only thing worse than those prickly hedge rows are stone walls on narrow roads😳.
Thanks for watching and commenting! Dara
Not to mention irrigation ditches.
I learned to drive in England when I lived there (from my English husband) and I didn't find it scary. But I grew up in the middle of nowhere America with narrow roads and blind curves. We also had to back up at times when meeting other cars. It was "normal" to me. LOL! Also, waving to say "thanks" to be polite is something we do in the south too.
I did not grow up around blind curves. That has been an unsettling adjustment! Lol
@@MagentaOtterTravels You grew up in Texas, didn't you? It's kind of flat in most spots. LOL
@@MagentaOtterTravels I grew up in a rather rural part of Kentucky. We lived back a gravel road, which was a tertiary road off a secondary road that was barely a lane and a half wide. 😀 It was great prep for England.
@@christy3122 sounds like it! Where did you live in England? And where do you live now?
@@christy3122 I grew up in Illinois. About an hour away from Chicago in a semi rural subdivision where we didn't have sidewalks. But the roads were always wide enough for two-way traffic, and didn't have high hedgerowe on both sides!
When driving on such roads, you need to make a mental note of any places where you can pass in case you need to reverse back.
I was once in a bus on such a road that had a head on collision with a young woman who underestimated her stopping distance when towing a horse box with two horses.
Another time a woman asked if one of us could reverse her car back the 25 yards to a field entrance, Apparently she was well known in the area for her inability to reverse.
Unable to reverse a car? How the hell do they ever pass a driving test?
We "can" reverse, but we are not good at it... it's usually much faster when the other person reverses. However, if we have just passed by a passing place, we definitely are the ones who reverse! Even if it takes us a little bit more time 😉.
Ian really is a very diligent and courteous driver! 💖
@@MagentaOtterTravels I wasn't referring to you, honestly. I meant the mystery driver in the OP's comment who needed someone to reverse her car to a field entrance.
@@chrisaskin6144 I knew you were not referring to Ian. We might not be precision driving experts, but we would not ask someone to reverse our car for us! 🤣
@@MagentaOtterTravels .
I mentioned the incident to a chap in a pub in the local small town. He knew exactly who she was, clearly she had quite a reputation.
Polite those Brits. Love how this guy that just keeps backing up. Just like Eric Idle in European Vacation!
lol... they are polite. But I'm pretty sure that driver was not from those parts... no idea if they were British though!
I used to deliver to a village called Nempnett Thrubwell Somerset in a 7.5 tonne truck. It was 3 miles of sheer hell.
Oh my goodness! You must have developed very good driving skills and nerves of steel!😱
I have a lot of admiration for you. Doing that is inconceivable to me.
I drove in a country English lane today…and i met a horse box speeding around the corner…he couldnt stop in time ,i had to avert a bump by mounting the verge..the lanes are full of speeding gamblers.
Most of the drivers I encounter on these roads are driving safely but I don't understand why the speed limit on these lanes is usually 60 mph when a divided lit dual carriageway can be 30.
@@ians3586 .
Speed limits are just that, limits. It doesn't mean driving at those speeds wouldn't be considered careless or dangerous.
@@grahvis we are famous for driving 30 miles an hour in 60 mile an hour speed limit places ☺️... I get violently motion sick very easily, so Ian has to take corners on these curvy roads much slower than 60!
Mounting the verge. That would make a good book title.
@@NewCastleIndiana yes!!
That poor but courteous driver’s still stuck on that stretch of road - endlessly reversing so that others may progress😃
I hope not!!
I came here after seeing your video where you showed some of your wide American roads and can see why you find driving so stressful in the UK. I guess we're just used to our little country and village roads so know what to expect. We do have big roads too, but guess it's all relative lol
I love where the little country lanes lead! But Ian is more brave with driving them 😉😬
Oh, how easily he reversed and didn’t have a mental breakdown. He/she must have been a Brit.
He knew what he was doing, practice makes perfect. It has happened to me dozens of times and I can't ever recall it being anything but a polite experience where both drivers work together to solve the problem. You might imagine it would be a focus for conflict, but I have never had that experience.
I have had a 'head on' with one old lady who was notorious for going too fast. The police judged it to be equal fault, which was a little bit difficult to accept given that I was at a standstill when she hit me.
I doubt I've spent more than 10 minutes on roads like that in the past 10 years and I live in Dorset which is a pretty rural county.
The real nightmare for me of driving in the UK is entering a busy urban area that I'm unfamiliar with, even when I go back home to Birmingham and know where I'm going its a pain because they keep changing the road layouts.
Yes, urban areas can be stressful in a different way! In any country! Did you see the videos we did of Birmingham this summer? We took the train there and used public transport during our visit. It was nice to avoid having to drive in the city, and the expensive parking! 👍
Cheers for your comment! Dara
@@MagentaOtterTravels Saw it, loved it and commented, I told you about the various ways to ride a boat on the canals.
Depends where you live in Dorset. If you rarely go out of Poole/Bounnemouth conurbation you might as well be in any other city/town, but there are plenty of roads like that, I travel on them everyone I leave home. Go to Devon or Cornwall if you want to see properly narrow roads though.
@@robhayward2655 I know they aren't exactly a rarity but as a rule you'd have to be going well off the beaten track to drive on one.
I was making the point as some people who don't live in the UK seem under the impression we drive on roads like this a lot.
We encountered this quite a few times. The scariest was a lorry flying round a corner and there we were with a bank to the left and a drop off to the right-no place to go. Our driver drove onto the bank and the lorry kept going, missing us by mere inches. I had my eyes sqeezed shut expecting the crash, but the lorry squeaked by and we were okay. The driver said something I won't repeat here (!). It got really quiet for a while and then the driver asked if we were alright. The feeble 'yeah, we're okay' came from the back seat and then we started to relax. We had to back up a few other times but nothing like the Lorry Incident! I found the round-abouts the most confusing.
Yes, that sounds like a terrifying incident indeed! I also agree with you about roundabouts. I understand how they work, but some of them in big cities can be particularly intimidating!
Confusing? They're very simple.
Give way to traffic already on the roundabout first.
Then give way to traffic from your right. If there's nothing on your right, then you can proceed onto the roundabout, and cars on your left (so you are on their right) would have to "Give way" to you.
My good wife is from Japan and I from the US. We live in California, in a city where there were a lot of temporarily resident Japanese businesspeople. We knew of several cases where they (or their spouses) would get used to driving on the right, go home to Japan, drive on the left, then come back to California and have an auto crash because they drove on the wrong side or turned the wrong way. Neither of us have ever driven in Japan, so we didn't have to make that change.
Ian usually does really well, but yesterday we were driving a neighbourhood here in Texas and I caught him driving on the left side of the road 😬
Hello Dara & Ian. Great video. I lived in the USA for 6 months in 1994. I drove everywhere and my hire contract stated that I change it every 2 weeks. Never washed or cleaned one! I had been on several US & Canada coach holidays, so I was quite well versed in US driving and road signs etc. when I arrived in the US at Newark (NJ) and met by my new boss. It was dark, icy and I had been up since 5:00 a.m. and taken to the car rental office and was given a saloon that was like the UK’s Vauxhall Cavalier. My colleague and I followed my boss onto the freeway and NJ Parkway. Our original route was closed so we diverted along the Parkway to another Staten Island bridge. My boss took us to our hotel (the old Holiday Inn). The next day we had to find the telephone exchange we were working in. it was in the Port Authority technical park. This was the first time I had driven on the right.
One of the jobs I had to do in the first week was after getting a driving licence. I did a theory test at the state DMV. Passed it, I used to be a teacher/examiner in cycling proficiency back home.
Within a couple of weeks, I had to attend a video course on things like alcohol and driving. The instructors seemed more interested in my old UK driving licence. A full sheet of paper, about A4 size, but apart from English mine also was bi-lingual, so was all repeated in Welsh. It didn’t help that my colleague who was from the London area so his was just English.
I don’t know how far I went in 6 months, but I did loads. Trips to Boston, I covered the most of New Jersey and the surrounding states you can do in a weekend. Never had any problems driving, never had the problem of driving on the UK side of the road. I think because I was city driving it was always busy. The worst thing was a burst tyre, so a quick change and was due to change my car next day anyway.
Very interesting, Peter! Your story reminded me of my first time driving in the UK. I had just married Ian and we went to visit his family. We arrived in London, drove 4 hours to get to where we were staying... and THEN I had to drive a hire car back to the house. I had been up all night on the plane with no sleep. It was dark. It was raining. And I had not driven manual transmission in YEARS!!! Operating the gear shift with my non-dominant hand and driving on those windy country roads with all the other challenges going on... was NOT MY FAVOURITE! hahaha
I can still remember how stressed I was and that was back in 1992! Cheers for your comment. Dara
Hilarious! Especially the "wave, WAVE!". 😂 Give me one of those country lanes than narrow cobblestone streets in various cities in Europe where you have to fold your mirrors in to get down them. Or somewhere like the Amalfi coast where it isn't a small car coming at you but a giant tour bus honking like a canada goose. 😂
That driver worked SO HARD at getting out of our way! They deserved WAY more than a wave... we owed them dinner!
Yes, the narrow stone street with stone walls where you have to fold in your wing mirrors? We walk and take the bus in those cities for sure!
my most unpleasent driving experience was driving up a steep, winding, ascending road to get to captain cook's monument in north yorkshire, and a huge american-style truck came the other direction and refused to make room for me, despite there being a layby on his side of the road and just behind him. i had to slowly reverse down-hill, a manouver that took a good few minutes, and had it gone wrong my car would've tumbled down a steep drop and into a ditch
Good thing you are a precision driver! Yes, coming face-to-face with huge trucks or lorries is absolutely the worst! A few years ago we were driving some American friends around Derbyshire and a giant double-decker bus was on narrow lane it shouldn't have been on... there was gridlock for a good 20 minutes while all the traffic around it was maneuvering. Our American friend thought it was the most exciting thing he'd ever seen! He was loving it, while I was having a mini anxiety attack! 😳
I once drove around a steep downhill hairpin bend to meet a digger coming up the hill. All he had to do was reverse in a straight line into a farm entrance but he refused to move forcing me to reverse up hill around a hairpin bend - some choice Anglo Saxon words were muttered I can assure you.
@@pureholy oh my goodness, you are a much better technical driver than me! That sounds like a nightmare! The part about your Anglo-Saxon words made me laugh 🤣. Cheers for your comment! Dara
If you get into a rude standoff..keep your car stationary,then let grumpy pass you ..if he scrapes your car….you’ve got him..
Not sure that's great advice, Gris...🤨
@@MagentaOtterTravels its a mean world out there..
Deep admiration of your masterful control of the vehicle on a narrow carriageway.
Don't admire us... we waited for the other guy to reverse 🙄... which ended up being a big mistake 😳
@@MagentaOtterTravels Maybe he thrives on reverse throttle. Strange...🙄
"they need to reverse, they know the road better than you" how did they know that? We "viewers don't know how they would".
Right. A lot of these rural locations get a lot of holiday makers who aren't used to those roads either.
That right there was my fatal mistake! I ALWAYS assume two things:
1 - they know the road better than us
2 - they are better at reversing than us
Because sadly, we are not good at reversing! And it's always the first time we have driven on that unfamiliar road. Therefore, I always assume everyone else is better than us!
Unfortunately, in this case, I think the oncoming car was also someone visiting Hay on Wye for the first time. They were equally clueless 🥺
@@MagentaOtterTravels Of course, I'd not thought about it from that angle, its a sort of fair assumption, but @MsPinkwolf is correct too, another point I wasn't thinking about either, I know someone who lives in Cornwall and her husband is good at reversing, you could move there 🤣
Yes but as drivers, when driving down these road clock when you pass a passing place.
Just wait till you try the road going up to the Queen's View, Pitlochry, where you turn a bend to see a 25T tourist bus coming your way, and where one side of the road leads a long sharp way down. No funfair park can give you that adrenaline rush, HEHE
This is Ian the driver in this video. Yes, encountering a bus is my worst fear. I will take note to avoid Queens View, Pitlochry. Fortunately, after many years of driving these little lanes, I find that I rarely encounter anyone at all.
@@ians3586 Hey bother, Queen's view is amazing. Well worth a trip. They can be lonely roads. Just keep those sight balls peeled. As I said, no funfair will give you an adrenaline rush like that. Part of the experience.
@@nlckolteen okay. Take that back. We will add to the bucket list.
Remind me to not go there!!! LOL
My grandma who lived in Devon and drove a VW beetle never reversed she just pushed on forward, she thought she owned the road as she lived there!! 😂 ...as a kid I just hid with my head down in the back seat 🙈😂
Your gran sounds like she was a force of nature!
@MagentaOtterTravels ...oh gosh yes...86 and still driving at the time in her sunglasses to her canasta evening in neighbouring villages...lol
Where I grew up the roads were even more narrow than that. There was also grass growing in the middle of the road.
It was what I was used to.
Take care and best wishes
Was that, by chance, anywhere near or around Dartmoor?
@@ians3586 Yes, it was about 10 miles by road from Okehampton, the house was called Tor View. I saw Dartmoor daily in the view from the garden.
@@rachelpenny5165 yes, I remember that you grew up not far from Tavistock! Are you a fan of Okehampton cheese BTW?
We absolutely love that part of the country, but Ian dreads driving around Dartmoor. 😱
We always get scared when we turn onto a lane that has grass growing between the tire tracks. We know it's going to be very narrow! We just hope it is also not very frequently traveled!!!🙏
I think I saw that Ian was driving an automatic? I always enjoy driving in the UK because I get to drive a manual again. Also the proximity sensors sounding reminded me of our trip this spring. You don't have that in the good old USA. Also the sell retracting mirrors are another feature of cars in England that reflect the narrow roads and subsequent parking there.
Those retracting wing mirrors are essential! Especially parking on the streets in a town like where we live in Cheltenham! 😱🥺
Yes, he was driving an automatic. Neither of us are any good at driving manual transmission. Good for you for enjoying it ! 😉
I live in Monaco, but frequently drive to the UK. As soon as I drive off the ferry, I automatically change sides without even realising I've done so.
I love driving down country lanes, and narrow and mountainous roads, more than driving in the city. My house in the UK is in the middle of nowhere and the lanes are barely wider than the car. Needless to say, if there is no passing point, a lot of reversing is involved. I've also often reversed down mountain roads, which is an interesting experience.
Oh goodness! You must be a VERY good driver. Certainly much better than me. Let me guess... you are a Formula One driver! ;-)
Hi Dara and Ian … we’ve been on holiday in Crete ( 2 weeks) just got back early hours of Sunday morning … we hired a ( as we usually do) and although I’m quite apprehensive about driving on the wrong side of the road after about 1/2 an hour I’m Ok … a lot of the roads in Crete are very scenic especially when driving into the mountains and like you I find it a little scary at times … a lot of the roads go through villages and the roads are very narrow … people park/abandon their cars at very interesting places with barely enough room to squeeze through …. it gets very interesting when you meet a coach/bus or a lorry coming at you as the drivers are practically suicidal (driving at speed)and won’t give you an inch ….. I was relived to give the car back ….. 😂😅
Yeah, that's when I decide to rely on public transportation, the occasional taxi, and a lot of walking! Lol
I'm imagining that Crete has an extra element of "fear factor" - deadly drop offs. Those are an absolute no go for me. There was a stretch of road along the coast in Exmoor that I decided to avoid for this exact reason. Otherwise I think that the challenge of these lanes is well worth it for the beautiful places that you can encounter.
@@ians3586 your not kidding ….. and most of them don’t have barriers ….. also most of the small towns have very little in the way of direction signage and no road markings …. Sometimes you drive into the town centre and find yourself surrounded by restaurants and cafes etc and the road seems to have disappeared … which is completely weird …. sometimes my wife in the passenger seat gets freaked out … especially on the deadly drop off switch back roads …..
It's quite stressful for us Brits too - I'm ok with my local roads as I know all the passing places, but when driving in an unfamiliar area it's not great. The worst road I ever took was just outside Bath trying to get from the A46 across to Bath racecourse - very narrow road with no passing places. Never again !
Oh heavens! I agree, no passing places are the WORST!
😆 - I think it's scary for Brits too!
The crazy thing is, often you'll see on these country lanes, the national speed limit is in force - the white sign with the black diagonal line - which means you can drive legally at 60mph!
Can you imagine? - A road like the one in your video, with the hedges high on either side.
Then there's many cyclists out enjoying nature and also many horse riders.
My only tip is to drive very very slowly if you don't know the twists and turns and just drive slowly if you do.
I "hug" the hedge and my eyes are always looking toward what comes into my field of view right at that hedge point - hard to explain!
Slowly is the only way - and why not, enjoy the countryside!
The worst part is when an oncoming car arrives and neither of you have any way to pass each other, so someone has to reverse.
The usual unspoken rule is the one who passed the last place where two cars could get by should reverse, but it usually comes down to British politeness.
In fact, I'm not really sure how it works!
We saw it in your video - that person kindly reversed back. Luckily nobody was coming up behind them!
I have rarely seen cases where you end up with 2 or 3 cars backed up either side - that gets messy.
And tractors? Oh dear.
If we're bobbing along through the countryside, often we'll be just praying nobody is coming the other way at certain points!
You have to try and keep a mental record of all the potential passing points you've driven past and then, if you encounter another driver, try to calculate whether you should reverse or not. 😆
Lots of hand gestures help - and you'll probably agree, 99% of people you meet in these encounters are friendly.
The exceptions can be what we call "the white van man" - some of those drivers of delivery vehicles can be quite brutal. Sometimes they'll just go for it and whiz past you at 40, 50, 60 mph and you'll be in the hedge or the ditch! - Chicken!
Thank you for your delightful comment! Yes, Ian always drives well below the 60 mph limit on these narrow and curvy roads! I get very motion sick, so he has no choice 🤣
It was nice of the oncoming driver to reverse, although I felt bad because there were so few passing places on that stinking road!
Dara hi
How do I send you some pictures of the Cotswolds in the winter ?
Hiya David! My email is MagentaOtter@gmail.com Cheers! Dara
The thing to remember is them 60mph roads were lanes long before the car was invented ha ha ha -- now you know why us Brit`s are such good drivers
Absolutely! Which is why if THEY want to reverse instead of us, it's the best option. We are NOT good at reversing... and we are always driving the unfamiliar road for the first time ;-)
Oh I actually find these moments quite fun/challenging and generally hilarious. But then, I have a weird sense of humour. ~With our car having the steering wheel on the left makes some of these encounters funny as the opposing car gets confused when they don't forst see the driver but passenger - a freaked out one. Leen doesn't have my sense of humour 🤣🤣🤣🤣! We had a few encounters in those 4 weeks....I could write a book Dara. Ian well done. B~est way is cool headed way. You were wonderful. Dara was always safe. A friendly wave goes a long way!👌🇳🇱🙋♀🇳🇿
Oooooh, did you drive your car from the Netherlands to the UK? I think I missed that bit!
I love this! First off, I try to stay on A and B roads. You have to pay attention about 100% of the time. The wave is key! They are very polite drivers as a whole, much more so than here. I live in a major US city and some of the same applies here occasionally.
What part of the states do you live in? I'm currently visiting New York City. There's a lot of honking going on on the streets here incessantly! Definitely would not want to drive here!🤣
@@MagentaOtterTravels , I'm in Chicago and the traffic lanes can be quite narrow in places with parked cars. Driving here makes driving in the UK a bit less daunting. The honking does seem to be a New York thing. Only driven in Manhattan once and that was early on a Saturday. It was fine but nothing I care to do again.
Dara-We have got to meet! I am laughing my head off. I plan to attempt driving in the UK once I retire...but I tell ya....I don't know if I could get through the narrow roads due to simply dying with laughter.😅
I decided I'm better off walking and riding public transport 😉. Glad I made you laugh today! 💖
hi dara, what you have to think about, these roads were put in by romans, or farmers, long before cars came around, these were used for horse and cart, ot to live stock to the markets, also the hedges you see, are farmers boundries, , over the years they have had tarmac, to make if more car friendly, welcome to england lol, i know you stay here alot
This is Ian, the driver. I don't mind these roads as much as Dara does. I find that we rarely encounter oncoming traffic and there are usually plenty of passing places. This particular situation was unusual in that there were almost no passing places.
I fully appreciate the origin of the road and why they are so narrow and curvy. But it doesn't make it any less stressful to attempt driving them with a car 😱
@@ians3586 Hi Ian, hope your well, i have a question an a bit of story about driving wrong side of the road as you call it lol, my first question, how many times have you gone to the wrong side of the car and have you got in on the passenger seat, it happened in spain, not to me but work college, my boss had bought villa in spain, i drove from the northeast to south spain via the tunnel through france, having then to drive on the right side, i did ok as i was in van righhand drive, the other guys flew over rented a car left hand drive, we would drive down to the pub, leave car over night, pick up in the morning, with van i was driving, alan work mate got in the car, wrong side and sat in passenger, seat, look round to see if anyone was looking go out a bit sheepish, got into the driving side, i lost it laughing.
@@seanmc1351 I can definitely relate to your story. I actually don't usually have a problem with that but Dara does. When we first get to the UK after months of being in the US she will consistently go to the driver side even though she has absolutely no plans to ever drive in the UK. But I'm not perfect. Yesterday I was in a quiet neighborhood here in the US, where there were no cars around, and I discovered when I got to the end of the road I was on the wrong side of the road. I only knew this because someone was trying to turn in to the road right where I was.
@@ians3586 Hi Ian, hope you and dana are well, getting the sun, we have storm today in the northeast, with that little thin you mentioned wrong side of road, I was in right hand driver van, first time driving to spain, it would be like your u haul, we call them boxed lutons. it was my firat time going to spain, i was in right hand drive, never drove on the left, ineve gave it a thought, i was in ferry from portsmouth to santander, 24 ferry ride, i was all good till i found the leaflet in my room, telling you about arrival, the port in in the midle of town, busy traffic, omg, i have to drive on the left, put my sat nav on, followed a car pulling caravan till we got out city, anyway, i did great, got al the way to sounth spain 16 hour drive, call my boss sai im here, for the first time i took a roundabout english way going down the road on wrong side, till a spanish driver looked at me funny, i realised, but there was a central partition, i drove thru the plam trees to get on the right side, lapse of thought lol
Where I live a WW2 American Vet..was visiting his old haunts driving on the right for a minute…it didn’t end well..
Oh no! I hope it was not a fatality!
@@MagentaOtterTravels i think it was. Actually ..it was quite a while ago now….well ww2 vets have nearly all expired now in 2023..i can still recall what people said that the Americans said in the forties…one thing one said about a sandstone passageway road…a massive snake of a road weaving around he said he could blast it for us to make a straight road…as people over the years have shot through the fence and into the yonder ,or met their doom with an oncoming car,its still a bendy road 80 years later…i wanna know when that American soldier is going to make good his promise..
This reminds me of driving in Wales.
Pretty much the same but in wind and rain.
Those hedgerows for y'all that don't know are actually stacked stone walls that have plants growing in/on them.
So it's not like if you had to crash into one of them that you'd just drive through a bush or hedge into a field.
You're going to at least damage a side mirror or scratch up the side of your (probably rental) car if that happens.
This actually was filmed in Wales ;-)
I live in South East London, I drove to Wales for a 4 day holiday and then back (228 miles each way) in 2018. I quite enjoyed driving through the Welsh roads, and I passed through the Brecon Beacons and on my way there nearly witnessed a mad local flattening several sheep that were in the road.
The main thing I despised of when I stayed there was the constantly changing speed limits. I ended up on a long road near Worcester going across to Wales, it was literally 60 for perhaps half a mile, then 50 for a few hundred metres, then 40, then 30, then 40, then 30, then back to 40 and then 50 again only to drop back to 30 100m or so later. It was literally changing non-stop and the last 60 miles took around 90 minutes to drive.
Sometimes down near lulworth in Dorset you can be unlucky to meet a tank going to the shooting range funnily enough the car has to back up🤣
Oh my goodness! That would be an experience. But I have a policy of not arguing with tanks, so... we would definitely do the reversing! I have to comment on your profile photo... is that your cat? I just finished my video for this Friday which features a similar looking kitty... my son's cat Cleo ;-)
@@MagentaOtterTravels Yes. It’s my cat Ted he’s six years old and a brilliant mouser,I dread every morning wondering what might be outside the back door😂
"Wave"! "Wave"!
I wouldn't argue with you.
Ian is very good about giving people a little wave of gratitude. 👋
Imagine what it’s like on a bike (motorcycle)
Slightly better visibility but those roads are usually strewn with gravel, which makes stopping ‘fun’
Oh my goodness, I could never!😬
@@MagentaOtterTravelsand even most interesting when it’s white van man or a supermarket delivery van - they stop for no one.
@@davefrench3608 oh yes, good point! Scary times!
This is my British husband’s biggest fear, lol! We’re in the States, which is where he learned to drive. But we want to move back to the UK and he wants to keep driving, but he’s only ever driven on big old American country roads!
Yes, I understand! 😬 What part of Britain do you want to move to?
Yes our number one obstacle /fear in visiting the UK and renting a car. Terrifying 😫~Cara
These kind of roads are nearly always in the deepest countryside, if you’re just driving between main towns and villages the roads will be much wider and you’ll be fine! 😅
The main problem is that it's against the law to not drive down these roads.
I hope it's not because you think we're poor drivers. I know that we've more than our fair share of drivers who really shouldn't be on the road, but statistically we're one of safest nations on the planet when it comes to driving.
The crazy thing is the speed limit on these roads is 60 mph while a divided dual carriage way that has street lights is 30.
@@chrisaskin6144 no not at all. Just the thought as an American driving on the opposite side of the road and on these narrow lanes terrifies me. 😊
It's fine, long a you aren't in one of those oversize vehicles. It's probably safer at night when you can see the oncoming headlights. Nearly had a problem with a ditch once when the road went to one lane over a bridge though. (There's a sign NOW...)
That sounds very scary!! But yes, the warning of headlights is helpful.😉
I once had someone take my wing mirror off at night in a narrow lane. It was quite scary, I heard a bang as we passed each other and found out what had happened when I got home.
Oh my goodness! That would be scary! Where we live in Cheltenham, peoples wing mirrors are always getting ripped off on parked cars. But being in the car at night and hearing it happen would be very alarming!
I know someone how had their mirror hit and they ended with glass hitting the side of their head, only a couple of scratches.
I pulled as far left as I could but he didn't appear to slow down. I just hope he had some damage too.
@@johnt8998 this is Ian, the driver in the video. I find that most of the drivers I encounter on these roads are driving very safely but I do get annoyed when I encounter someone who is racing along the road with no regard for others. Just because the speed limit is 60 mph on these roads doesn't mean that you should be driving that fast! I'm sorry that you lost your wing mirror to someone being careless.
The trouble is, all I could see was his headlights, I couldn't get his number. By the time I had found somewhere to turn around he had gone. And I wouldn't have known which car it was anyway.@@ians3586
I've had to back up nearly a mile on a country lane before now - but that's because I find reversing easy and the people coming the other way were nervous elderly. On the other hand, I have had a low-speed smack with a car coming the other way. Just go extra slow on those roads, not least because there are also horse riders, cyclists and walkers. As a cyclist I've had to leap off into the hedge more than once.
Oh my! Both of those things sound pretty hair raising (and pulse raising!)... we do always drive slow and carefully on those roads!😉
It's not about knowing the road better. It's about remembering potential passing places as you pass them. If you haven't passed a gate in a mile, it would be daft to reverse that far. It's all about being courteous.
I understand what you are saying. But I think you're kind of taking my comment out of context
Its just everyday life. One tip. always be courteous. If you have a passing point only a hundred yards or so behind you. Reverse first and always reverse for tractors towing. Its very rare to meet someone who refuses to reverse. And if your a tourist, plan your trips so you don't drive these roads at night. Not unless you really enjoy freaking out and having a meltdown in the middle of nowhere. Years ago I met an American couple in a similar situation at night. I ended up reversing their car for them while my mate drive mine. It was that or dealing with two tourists having a panic attack. Enjoy your visits.
My husband Ian is a very safe and very courteous driver. He always does really well, except for one thing. He is not good at reversing!😬
@@MagentaOtterTravels Actually I thought you dealt with it very well. I blame sat Nav. I'm, old enough to remember the days it did not exist and only locals and delivery drivers drove these roads. and of course tractors slowly charging up and down. Just general advice to any tourists. Maybe it might take a few miles longer but a lot of beauty spots and sights of interest can be reached by wider roads. Maybe just take a quick look at a map. I'm sure your heart rate will thank you for it. It most certainly will at night. I'm fairly used to them but they can still be terrifying in winter and once the sun has gone down.
@@paulturner5530 yes, when we were first married over 30 years ago, Ian would be driving around the countryside and I would be navigating using a road atlas. Because of my severe motion sickness, it was a nonstop disaster! Lol
These days, we try very hard to never be out driving after dark!
There are thousands of miles of these lanes in country areas where drivers just get on with it with very few confrontations. Tourists in oversized SUVs who can’t reverse and truck drivers betrayed by their sat nav can be a problem.
Yes, I totally agree! I applaud the locals who drive these roads regularly without worry.
Never driven in the UK, looks like quite a challenge!
Unless you are a confident driver, it's probably better to stick to public transportation. That's what I do! Thankfully Ian is my chauffeur, because he's the one that's been driving in Britain for decades and is a lot more comfortable than I am!
I'm English and have to say that Scotland is way better at providing passing places. I quite like all the waving at passing places, its like saying "good morning or hello" to starngers when you're walking in the woods.
This stretch of road was in Wales, and it really did not have enough passing places! It was a bit scary. Thankfully that is not typical!
you would be the same in Australia but to my knowledge we dont have hedges on the side of the road
Honestly, what is worse than hedges are stone walls! They aren't as forgiving as hedges when you bump into them 😱
@@MagentaOtterTravels in australia if a road it be that width it be one way
@@Mediawatcher2023 it really doesn't feel wide enough to be too way traffic 😉
@@MagentaOtterTravels exactly
"Well they'll have to back up...they know the road better than you!" 😂😂 Good job the other driver was compliant! 😅
It was very nice of them. Unfortunately, apparently they were clueless tourists as well!!! What a mess! But the best part of the video is that I filmed this all very accidentally! I was trying to just film something else and it was a coincidence that I captured the whole chaotic interaction of meeting someone coming at us headon on one of these tiny lanes😳🤣
Best part is that those roads have a 60mph speed limit in most cases.
I know, RIGHT?! I promise Ian never drives anywhere close to 60 on roads like this 😳
@@MagentaOtterTravels Why not? The rest of us do! ;) Meet someone else "breathe in!" :)
It's more normal to give the v sign, palm towards, as a thank you in 21st cent Britain - other motorists will appreciate it.
I live in the UK but don’t really have roads like this near me so when I went down to Devon for a week last year it was horrendous 😂 So many roads like this with loads of cars going down them, so having to do that dance every 2 minutes was not fun!
What part of the UK do you live in?
@@MagentaOtterTravels Right now I’m in Southampton on the south coast but I’m originally from Buckinghamshire which is up next to London (and that’s where I’ll always consider home 🙂)
@@IAmDavidHello I really didn't know that much about Southampton until this year, but now that Americans have all been travelling the world again, I feel like everyone I know went on a cruise that left from Southampton! You must see a lot of cruise ships and people going on cruises!
UK one lane roads are scary not just for Americans! I have no problem driving on the lefthandside of the road, a manual car is fine, drove them for many years, giant roundabouts, a bit nerve wracking but OK, one lane B-roads with tall hedgerows, absolute anxiety inducing!!
Yeah, and when the satnav takes you off of a B Road onto a true country lane, that's when you start really sweating 🥵
Yep the joys of the country lane! Cheers 🍻
Nothing like an adrenaline rush!
Try it in an HGV in the dark, raining, foggy and with mirrors over a stone wall on each side...go on, ask me how I know😅
I can't imagine. When I drive these roads I'm always thinking of lorry and bus drivers and how they are able to manage it. It seems absolutely impossible. However, do share.
NO THANKS! I would have a panic attack!!
Without double-checking I think that the car going up a hill has priority, according to the Higheay Code.
Yes, I think you are correct. I didn't think we were on an incline, but other people might disagree with me. In retrospect, I wish we had done the reversing 😉
Wow, that’s crazy!! Wonder how often they encounter another car and have to deal with that!!
On a good day, not too often. But on that trip it happened more than we would have liked 😳
Most of these "farm track" roads see little use except for the country folk who live in the area.
Here are a couple of tips or comments about driving on narrow roads -
Look well ahead and be prepared, and willing, to pull into a lay by even if an approaching car is quite far away
Many people, including British drivers, don't realise that passing places are for overtaking as well as crossing from opposite directions - it is extremely frustrating and annoying if you come up on a car that is going very slowly
Yes, they are entitled to travel at the speed they want, but if there is a car, or frequently a few, behind them it is only polite and reasonable to pull in to a passing place and let them go by
Generally, but not always, vehicles going down hill should give way for those coming up hill
Cheers for that!
We always travel well below the speed limit, especially on curvy roads. I'm super motion sickness prone.🤢
Ian frequently pulls over to let people buy so that we aren't holding them up.😉
Thanks! Dara
Drive at night, the headlights can be seen far before you meet any vehicle on the country lanes.
Okay... I finally watched ALL of the video. I have no idea where that white car was trying to get to. Haha!
They finally found a place to tuck into that was on OUR side of the road. Bless them. They were obviously as clueless as we were! If I had known they were also tourists, I would have suggested to Ian that HE do the reversing ;-)
Gosh. Meeting that car was scary! 😲I think that would be nerve wracking for anyone. I'd hate to have done that on my motorbike. I was never that hot on my emergency stops. 😂
There was a comedy film with a very similar scenario called The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins. The outcome wasn't quite the same. 🤣🤣
Sounds treacherous!!😱
'I'd hate to have done that on my motorbike.' Ex-biker here. I think you could have squeezed past on the bike. 😂😂😂
@@eattherich9215 oh yes, bikers definitely get to squeeze by and avoid most of these situations!
If you drive slowly enough those little lanes are not dangerous. As for driving in the UK in general comfort yourself with the thought that the death rate on British roads is 2.9 in 100,000. In the USA it's 12.9.
Excellent point! As I am a VERY motion sickness prone passenger, and Ian is a wonderful husband, he drives quite carefully and slowly around the curvy bits in those tiny lanes with no visibility!
The reason for it is in 1773 it was written in vto law to stop coaches and horses crashing in to things ,
Good video Dara very informative now I know why Americans are afraid of our roads ,👍
You stay safe
All the time American friends tell me "I'm afraid to rent a car"... besides the narrow roads, they are also terrified of roundabouts!
@@MagentaOtterTravels I can understand that, I think if they were born in UK. They probably would feel different,
.but I totally understand it ,
anyway. You and your family stay safe 👍
You only have to worry about narrow country lanes if you’re in the country. No problems in the big cities.
True. I do enjoy visiting the big cities. But my heart is in the countryside. There are of course lots of big Acroads and reasonable B roads. But occasionally we have to endure driving on these hair-raising narrow lanes. But it's always worth it! We always end up somewhere lovely 💖🇬🇧
I am always so nervous driving anywhere out of the country - eiiiiiiggghhhh
Same here! I'm a big fan of trains, buses and walking ;-)
There's lots of motorways and A roads here, you have to be in the middle of nowhere or Scotland to find those little country roads, drive safely
We're explorers by nature and have discovered many amazing places using these little country tracks. This was a trip to Hay Bluff. The experience was well worth taking some country lanes where you rarely encounter another car.
I don't find those narrow roads so bad.Everyone knows one of the other has to pull over or reverse. I've never see anyone get annoyed. I candepend what type of car you're in. I drive a small Fiat Panda, but someone driving a Hummer or stretch limo, will find it more difficult!
Yes, we always want to be driving small cars on those roads!
Always know where the last passing place you passed was, and look ahead to see if they are nearer one.
Good advice! Sadly, that road was REALLY lacking passing places!!!
This is a country lane. We hardly ever have to drive on them. Just drive slowly and be polite. Sometimes you reverse and sometimes they reverse.
We would like to avoid them as much as possible... better to leave them to the locals that live on them. But sadly we HAVE to rely on Google maps... and we sometimes get routed down lanes like this. We often reverse... and in this instance we certainly should have!! ;-)
Hello Dara, Americans coming to the UK and hiring a car may be nervous about both the driving and the model of car. They may of course have driven elsewhere in the world where over 30% of cars also drive on the left such as Thailand, most of the Caribbean islands INCLUDING the United States Virgin Islands no lees, Japan, South Africa and so on. Hyundai, Kia etc will be known in USA but what are all these unknown makes of car? In the former days automatics needed larger engines so can I hire a small unknow make of car with an automatic gearbox? And why don't cars built in the USA appear on the list? Yes, and the modern automatic gear box in Europe/UK is much more driveable than the old ponderous hydraulic big-engine types. So the names of Citroen, Vauxhall, Skoda, Renault, Peugeot, Seat, Fiat will appear on the list of car hire companies. Strange names to an American and so small. But to us Britons, these are car makers that are huge sellers here and very good cars at that. We also have Fords and the safety pecs will be higher than in the USA.
So I think it would be useful for one of your videos to enlighten potential hirers that a big car is a drawback here unless luggage space is a prime requirement and these new brands are simply what we drive very happily. And don't even think of hiring a car to drive around central London. And NO cell phones but very nice policemen and policewomen.
The most important thing for Americans when hiring a car is to make sure they get an AUTOMATIC transmission. Because the vast majority of us cannot drive manual transmission worth beans. And driving whilst shifting the gear with your non-dominant hand only makes it worse!
“Wave! Wave!” 🤣 👏👍
I'm a bossy goofball
Riding is the new driving? Have a think. 😊
In most cases there would be another route to take and would be a lot easier. 🇬🇧
This is Ian, the driver. I recognise that the use of these country lanes is optional but for me it is well worth it. In this case we were visiting Hay Bluff, a place we wouldn't of seen if we weren't willing to take these narrow country lanes. They usually aren't that bad. You rarely encounter other traffic and there are usually lots of passing places.
Depends where you are, if you're in Devon there usually isn't
I wish there were a Google Maps setting for "routes avoiding single track roads"... **sigh**
"The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road" ( G K Chesterton). I'm delighted to see (after a lifetime of watching motorists assume they are kings of the road) to be encouraged that natural England can occasionally hit back!
That is a hilarious quote! Yes, never a dull moment on these wee country lanes... you have to stay alert!
I'm not surprised they reversed away quickly, probably camera shy😉
That's it! I wonder if the driver will watch this video? Lol
I have to slightly disagree with the main thrust here. As a dual national I have driven plenty in both the USA and UK and Americans main problem with driving in Europe and England is that you have to drive properly. As a Californian driving instructor a while back, this is a major problem for Americans. Sorry but the average standard of American drivers is DIRE. Talgating, driving too fast, not understanding the vehicle, ignoring stop signs - yes, you DO ignore them - I could go on.
There's a reason we call it a "California stop" 🤣
@@MagentaOtterTravels ho, ho, hadn't heard that. What's it called in new York I wonder, they barely slow down.
Worse than a 10 lane near Dallas airport when it was being remodelled ? NO.
Fair point
Also, note the courtesy extended to strangers.
Very courteous people in general 👍
U.K. drivers are one with their machine. We know it's exact limitations, our roads are ancient by ways sometimes prehistoric & even some pre human drove routes that wind along the paths of least resistance. We rely heavily on our finely honed sense of spatial awareness. U.S.A. driving looks sedate in comparison. You're roads are modern, made for vehicles.
I absolutely agree with you! And since you understand that, I hope you understand why in the video I said "let them reverse because they know the road better than you". I wasn't being arrogant, it was said out of fear and a lack of confidence. 99% of the time the oncoming traffic is a driver who knows the road and can quickly reverse their vehicle right back to where it needs to go. In this case, I'm afraid we encountered a tourist who was as clueless as we were! It really was a coincidence that this was even filmed in the first place! I was working on a clip of Ian giving the courtesy wave so that I could use it in my " things I love about living in the UK" video. Then we ended up having this whole game of chicken, which I thought was a great example of British country lane driving!
es the courtesy wave. All my children have gone through the stage of thinking that I know thousands of people on the road. I thought no ill of you. My comment was actually arrogant. I've listened to a fair few U.S. cousins comparing UK USA driving.
I think it rather fortunate that you met a tourist. U.K. drivers can be a tad aggressive. They're racing around like rally drivers, An anthropologist might say they're in hunting mode. Highly competitive. Hope you enjoyed your stay & God bless.@@MagentaOtterTravels
@@anvilbrunner.2013 they are not nearly as bad as drivers in Boston! They are downright bloodthirsty!
Oh I have a friend from Boston, I've heard all about that. Trigger happy Chaps. @@MagentaOtterTravels
@@anvilbrunner.2013 I only lived there for a few months one summer, but my son lives there now. Really hate driving there!
Roundabouts!! Sorry USA. Great video. Love driving in the USA on full automatic my main problem is Europe with its gear shift cars…
Country lanes, yikes
Do you have country lanes like this around you in Yorkshire?
@@MagentaOtterTravels so many Dara. Horrifying 😂😂
@@GENerationXplorers fun times!
These type of roads were designed for horses and pedestrians and are better suited to bicycles these days. You forgot to mention that there are also "proper" roads in the UK with multiple carriageways.
Ha ha, I have made over 300 videos. There are plenty of other videos documenting the motorways and bigger roads as well. 😉
And honestly, over 90% of the people watching my videos are British .🇬🇧Cheers! Dara
British country roads are far easier, and less scary, than the freeways in US cities. As long as you pay attention and are in control of the car, UK roads are easy. On multi lane freeways it is other people who are the danger and you have no control over them.
I'm a timid driver. I hate the big freeways and motorways as well!!!
Oh my… you’re way braver than me!!!!
And Ian is braver than ME! Which is why he drives ;-)
That was some reverse that driver did.
Yes, I felt bad! There were not very many passing places on that road!
Ha ha I dunno about scary for Americans as it's not much for fun for Brits either. When I drive on a single track road I always make a mental note of the last passing place so I know how far I might need to reverse. If too far I make a stand and hope the other vehicle does the reverse. Roads in Scotland are usually better as they have lots of passing places on their single track roads in the main.
This is Ian, the driver in the video. You're right. I've found that the roads in Scotland are less likely to be lined with hedges or stone walls. The good thing, in my experience, is that these roads are rarely used and so you don't encounter very many people. But you are right, it is a good idea to note the passing places as you are going along.
Hiya Paul! That road in the video was really lacking in passing places! I felt bad that the other driver did the reversing... because they had to go back SO FAR! It was on a wee road in Scotland that I decided to stop driving in Britain LOL!
Hi Dara,, I've had to pull my wing mirror in a few time whilst driving past people slowly in tight squeezes down one track roads. It's not much fun. I've also had to do the reverse for quite a while to let a tractor thro pulling a load of logs. It makes it worse cos going to hermit friendly locations usually have one track roads 🤣
@@TheHikingHermit excellent point! 🤣
yes but lanes are not every where, mostly people drive on motorways or big dual carriage ways, there are small roadsa allover the world,
Ian the driver here. This is true but my experience is you rarely encounter other drivers on these roads and the little bit of stress you may have using them, is well worth the end result of access to some of the most beautiful places in the UK.
Some people misunderstood me. I was not criticising the roads in Britain!
No you don't force the other driver to reverse. If you have just come past a reversing space then you should reverse.
As you can see later in the video, Ian frequently is the one to pull over and let people pass. But in that first encounter, that stretch of road really didn't seem to have many passing places! In retrospect, though, we really should have reversed. 2020 hindsight
Just wait until you meet a tractor with equipment on the back of it ( don't panic Mr Mannering lol ) , such joy lol , but on the good side they will know the roads so will open any gates and drive in to allow you to go past .
This is Ian, the driver in the video. Yes, that is a challenge. Fortunately in my many years of driving on the roads there that has rarely happened. I actually find that I encounter very few vehicles on these roads and usually, plenty of passing places.
@@ians3586 , at least you get a warning Ian because the road signs are white with black writing indicating local roads and you have to admit driving those roads is nicer than those long straight boring ones lol plus you do have to concentrate a lot more defo no cruise control for the lazy ones .
Oh has Dara never mentioned how neat the hedges are ( on the road side ) due to the farmers having to keep them in order for the traffic plus it has to be done before bird nesting season and of course no to be touched until after nesting season ?
@@lawrenceglaister21 you're right. The little bit of stress I occasionally experience driving these lanes is well worth it. It stresses Dara much more than it does me. These roads have loads of character, as you say the hedges support wildlife, and they lead you to some of the most beautiful and unspoiled places in the UK.
We need hedges for the HEDGEHOGS!!! Very important ;-)
I presume you mean Capt Mainwaring.
if you had sensors on your car it would slow down quckly without coming to a sudden stop
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Can you please explain?
This car has sensors but it's an 11 year old car so they don't activate any systems, they just warn you as you can hear on the video.
The all important wave, BUT if you're a proper local just raise the single finger .. no not like that, single index finger ...
Agreed. That's what the cool Britons do ;-)