Three Tips for Driving in the U.K., by Paul

Speed limit sign

Disclaimer: This blog should not be used as a subsitute for actual driving instruction in the U.K. Just in case you were considering it.

So we're embarking quite soon on our adventures with American visitors during this, our last Scottish summer.  Most are going to rent (ahem, hire) cars for some portion of their visit, so here are a few tips from Paul, the licensed U.K. driver.

Tip 1: The centre line should always be to your right. It will feel strange because you will be driving from the wrong side of the car, but if the centre line is to your right, you're OK.  Being aware of the centre line also may minimise youe chances of sideswiping parked cars on the side of the road.

One side note about those parked cars...if you're coming up a road that is, in theory, two lanes, but there are parked cars reducing it to one lane, look at which direction most the cars are facing.  If they're going the same direction as you, you should yield to oncoming traffic.  

Tip 2: Roundabouts are everywhere, so it's good to know how to drive through one. Stay to the left to go around the roundabout, even if you are turning right. The link below to the UK drivers Learners Guide offers quite a helpful quick guide to which lane you should be in coming into a roundabout, depending upong where you want to exit. The section is called, in a very British fashion, "Lane Discipline." Basiclally, look at the road to get guidance on which lane to be in (i.e., if you're going to Dundee, one of the lanes might actually have Dundee, or some abbreviation thereof, painted in it), and follow the rule of thumb that if you're turning right (taking the the third exit off the roundabout) you should stay in the inside lane, and signal your intentions (paradoxically, signalling left as your approach your turnoff).

Roundabouts can be complicated so pay attention to these signs on approach to see which exit to take.

Tip 3: Speed Limits. Speed limits are actually fairly fast, especially as you start driving and realize how narrow some of  the 60 mph roads are. You can go 70 mph on the motorway, and 60 mph on most other roads. When you approach a village/town that has streetlamps, however, you need to slow to 30 mph (the circular sign at the top of the blog, with the red border, is a speed limit sign).

   
The national speed limit is 60 mph, and in addition to perhaps seeing a red-bordered sign saying 60 to indicate that, you might also see this, which indicates the beginning of the national speed limit.

National Speed Limit sign (60 mph)

It's uncertain why rule-makers in the U.K. chose such a cryptic sign, but cheer up, you could be driving in Wales instead and not even be able to tell where you're going, thanks to Welsh spelling:

Welsh road sign

So happy driving in Scotland.  Despite some complicated roundabout signs, the general direction signs are quite vague, if somewhat reassuring...you might see a sign that gives the names of the two nearest towns, and then a helpful arrow pointing straight ahead, accompanied by the words, "To the North."  So, keep going North, and if you start seeing signs for Inverness and the A9, turn around and head back to Perth, where there is one roundabout to rule them all; you can go to any city in Scotland from it, including our lovely city of Dundee! 

We Have Acclimatized. I Mean, Acclimatised.

For my last Scottish language post, I said that we had given in, and started speaking more like Scots.  But really, it's not giving in at all.  It's acclimatizing.  Or as they say in the U.K., acclimatising.

I used to teach this in Introduction to Biological Anthropology - what is acclimatization? Acclimatization is adjusting to your environment.  I remember that Rhonda, my mentor, used to use the example of sweating in Arizona.  When you first arrive in Arizona from another part of the U.S. that features more reasonable temperatures, you sweat equally all over your body.  After a a few weeks, your body adjusts and you begin to sweat more efficiently, preferentially cooling your trunk, because, of course, that's where the important stuff for staying alive is located.  You have acclimatized. 

In Scotland, we have acclimatized in several ways.

First, we have changed our language, as previously discussed.  Even Paul, who doesn't really have much of an ear for languages, tending to remain pretty much American-English only, complains that half the time he calls our daughter's sweater a "jumper," in proper English fashion.  And as I read a book about food the other day with the three-year old, she identified the red fruit as a "to-mah-to." No, I said. "To-may-to."

We have also acclimatized to the cold, or more properly the absence of heat.  The cold is still nasty.  Especially the windy, rainly cold, like the entire month of November. Not kidding, the entire month. But, when we were in Edinburgh last July to get our passports renewed, it was HOT. And by HOT I mean 75 degrees.  This weather is described by Scots as "roastin'" and indeed we were roasting. It was clear and sunny ALL DAY, unheard of around here...here is a picture of that day. Look! Short sleeves! And I have my fleece around my waist, it's so hot. Truly, roastin'.

Roasting in Edinburgh, August 2014.

Another acclimatization is to driving - and riding - on the wrong side of the road.  Paul now has a full UK driving license, but in the early days he gave a couple of car dealers near-heart-attacks as he drive down the road, trying to stay to the side instead of (counterintuitively) hugging the center (I mean centre) line of the road.  Riding in the passenger seat, which would be the driver's seat in the US, took some getting used to, too.  For the first month or more, I habitually tried to get into the wrong side of the car.  Once I was in the correct seat, it still felt strange to be in the driver's seat yet have no control over the car.  And going around all the roundabouts made me feel slighly sick every time we took the car anywhere.  But eventually, I acclimatized.

The last acclimatization was to food availability.  When we first arrived, our families and others from the U.S. would ask us if we missed anything from the U.S., food-wise. And at first, we did. Decent bagels. Normal marshmallow. S'mores. But as we were here a little longer, we adjusted to what you could (and could not) get and became concerned with the bigger issues, that were mostly beyond our control.  Like, there are only two kinds of takeout food in Dundee that are any good.  They are: fish and chips, and Indian/Pakistani food. That's it. I feel lucky because I get to travel for work every couple of months, so every time I go to a bigger city, I seek out decent takeout food - Thai! Mediterranean! Sushi! Even (dare I hope for it?) Mexican! Okay, not really. You have to go all the way to London for that! Also, while the grocery store carries a number of products that we want to buy, they seem to mkae a game of organizing them in the most obscure possible way, so we can't find them. And, although we have also aclimatized to this, the Scottish idea of "customer service" bears only a faint resemblence to what you would see in the U.S. The idea of low profile shop assistants does have some benefit - you will never find a salesperson hovering next to you, glibly inquiring, "May I help you?" But, on the other hand, if you truly need help, sometimes it's like a prairie dog colony - you see salespeople all over the place, and then as soon as you open your mouth to ask a question, they're gone. Whoosh.

Two years of acclimatization. And soon we'll be back, and I'll be writing this blog in reverse.  Talking about how no one in America speaks properly or can cope with the cold.  Having the same unease about driving on the wrong side of the car, and actually driving again after two years of not driving. And of course, realizing that although Americans have proper bagels, marshmallows, S'mores, and of course fabulous takeout food (I'm looking at you, Tucson), the grocery stores will seem strange after two years away, and the salespeople uncomfortably clingy, over-helpful, and just plain American.

Time to acclimatize again.