Driving a right-hand-drive car for the first time
The pedals and gear pattern don't change. Your seat, shifting hand and maybe the turn signal do.
The first strange thing about a right-hand-drive car has nothing to do with the road. It's sitting down on the right, with most of the car on your left.
The good news is how little has actually moved. The pedals are in the same order. The gear pattern is the same. What changes is where you sit, which hand shifts, and possibly one stalk on the steering column. You can sort out all of it in the rental lot, before you drive anywhere.
What "right-hand drive" means
A right-hand-drive car has the steering wheel on the right. It's the car you'll get in countries that drive on the left: the UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
The name sounds like driving on the right. It isn't. If you've read about renting a car in "a right-hand-drive country", that's a country where you'll be driving on the left.
What stays exactly where you left it
The pedals. Same order as at home: accelerator on the right, brake to its left, and in a manual, the clutch on the far left.
The gear pattern. In a manual, first gear is where it has always been on the pattern. Because you're shifting with your other hand, your brain may want to mirror the pattern and put first where third should be. Don't let it. The pattern isn't reversed. Getting into first now means pushing the lever away from you instead of pulling it toward your knee.
What moves: your seat, your shifting hand, maybe the turn signal
You. You sit on the side nearest the center of the road, with most of the car's width on your left.
Your shifting hand. The gear lever is still in the middle, so in a manual you shift with your left hand. If you can rent an automatic, do. It takes shifting off the list while you're still getting used to keeping left.
Possibly, the turn signal. On a right-hand-drive car, the turn signal stalk might be on the right of the steering column. Or it might be on the left, where yours is at home. It depends on the car. If the wipers sweep across the windshield when you meant to signal a turn, that's the mix-up. It's a minor slip, and better found in the lot than at your first turn.
Ten minutes in the rental lot
Before you start the engine:
- Get in on the right, then set the seat.
- Set all three mirrors: the one in the middle of the windshield, which is now up and to your left, and both door mirrors.
- Find the turn signal and the wipers. Flick each stalk once, so your hand learns which is which.
- Find the headlights and the hazard lights.
- In a manual, with the engine off and the clutch down, run through the gears once. First is where it always is.
- Drive one slow lap of the lot before you join the road.
That's the car.
The part ten minutes won't fix
The first time I drove on the left, I had an accident while taking a right turn. I looked the wrong way for oncoming traffic.
I knew the rule. The problem was habit.
Nothing in the rental lot touches that half. Keeping left after a turn. Right turns across traffic. Roundabouts that go clockwise. A lap of the lot teaches none of those. That's the half worth practicing before you fly.
If you want the road half in more detail, our post on adjusting to driving on the left walks through it.
Practice the road half before you fly
LeftLane puts you in a right-hand-drive car in your browser. Start with First Drive, which has you drive, steer, brake, reverse, signal both ways and look both ways from the right-hand seat. The Empty Car Park is a free warm-up with no traffic and no score, where you just sit on the right and move the car.
Then the scenarios take you through the road: clockwise roundabouts, right turns across traffic, keeping left after a turn.
What it can't show you is which side your rental's turn signal is on. It coaches when to signal, and which way. Ten minutes in the lot does the rest.
Ten scenarios are free forever, no signup and no card. Twenty more come with a one-time pass. It runs in your browser on a computer, tablet, or phone held sideways.
Quick answers about right-hand-drive cars
Are the pedals reversed in a right-hand-drive car?
No. They're in the same order as in a left-hand-drive car. The accelerator is on the right, the brake to its left, and in a manual the clutch is on the far left.
Is the gear shift reversed in a right-hand-drive car?
No. The gear lever is in the middle, so you shift with your left hand, but the pattern is the same. First gear is in the same place on the pattern. Reaching it means moving the lever away from you instead of toward your knee.
Which side is the indicator on in a right-hand-drive car?
It depends on the car. Some right-hand-drive cars put the turn signal stalk on the right of the steering column, and some keep it on the left. Check before you drive: flick each stalk once in the rental lot.
Is it hard to drive a right-hand-drive car?
The car is the easier part, because the pedals and the gear pattern don't change. What takes practice is the road: keeping left after a turn, right turns across traffic, and roundabouts that go clockwise.
What does right-hand drive mean?
The steering wheel is on the right. Right-hand-drive cars are used in countries that drive on the left, such as the UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Where these facts come from
- Jason Torchinsky, "How To Drive A Right-Hand-Drive Car", Jalopnik, January 25, 2018, on shift patterns, pedals, and mixing up the wipers and the turn signal.
- "Left- and right-hand traffic", Wikipedia, section on road vehicle configurations, on steering wheel position and gear shifters.
- Right-hand-drive owners on the PistonHeads forum, on turn signal stalks on the right in some cars and on the left in others.