A Guide To Driving in the UK

Based on material provided by Margaret Austin

Driving is one of the easiest ways to get around the UK - but as in any country there are a fair amount of local rules and practices to get used to. We've provided an introduction below - this first page explains the basis of UK cars and roads, and you'll find a link at the bottom to a second page talking about services and navigation.

The Car

Cars available for hire in the UK will be right-hand drive models (ie the driver sits on the right-hand side of the car) and will usually have manual transmission (stick-shift) with the gears being operated by a gear lever in combination with a clutch pedal. Most cars have the gear lever fitted at floor level between the driver and passenger although some have the lever mounted on the steering column (but this is unusual). Americans and Europeans among you should bear in mind, that even if you are used to driving with a stick-shift, you will have to use your left hand to change gear in a British hire car. If you are hiring a car and want one with automatic transmission be sure to say so at the time you make the booking. Cars with automatic transmission will be available from major car rental companies at airport locations but may be in short supply from other locations.

In the UK, cars are almost always fitted with a handbrake rather than the foot-operated emergency brake which Americans may be used to. This is located between the driver's and passenger's seats and is also operated with the left hand. For vehicles with manual transmission it is necessary to put the handbrake on when stuck in traffic or at a junction on a slope as to avoid rolling backwards (or forwards as the case may be). The foot pedals are arranged in the same order throughout the world. From the left you will find first the clutch, in the middle the brake and on the right the accelerator (gas pedal). The clutch is operated with the left foot and the other two with the right foot.

Recently manufactured cars sold in the UK will have been fitted with white headlights, amber indicator lights, red brake lights and red rear fog lamps as standard. You may see cars from Europe with yellow headlights. The rear fog lamps are the same level of brightness as brake lights. It is illegal to use them except when it is foggy or visibility is severely reduced in a snow storm. You're not supposed to use them just because it is dark or raining although some people do. The direction indicator (turn signal) control is normally mounted on a stick on the steering column. Some vehicles imported from Japan have this mounted on the right (in common with older cars of UK origin) and cars manufactured within the European Union (EU) on the left. The windscreen wiper control is also mounted on the steering column. British folk who swap from one car to another can often be seen driving along in brilliant sunshine operating their windscreen wipers at junctions! The speedometer in a British hire car will be calibrated in both miles per hour and kilometres per hour, the miles being the larger and more obvious of the two sets of markings. (Speed limits are all posted in miles per hour.)

The Highway Code

The Highway Code provides a summary of UK traffic law and has pictures of all the road signs in use in Britain (many of which are also used throughout the EU). It is an official government publication and has its own website. You can buy a book version from this website, from Amazon.co.uk, and from most good bookshops.

The Road

We drive on the left side of the road throughout the UK. We drive around roundabouts (traffic circles) in a clockwise direction.

The same road traffic laws and regulations apply throughout the UK. Signs are in English throughout the UK and in both English and Welsh in Wales. You may also find the odd sign translated into French near the channel ports and on roads adjacent to international airports.

Road quality varies. Except for a few country lanes (principally private roads leading from the public highway to farms) roads will all have a hard tarmac or concrete surface.

Motorways

Motorways are the UK equivalent of US freeways and are supposedly the highest quality of road although they can be unpleasant to drive on when traffic is very heavy especially during peak periods. Motorways have two carriageways separated by a central reservation (usually a strip of grass about 4ft wide with a metal crash barrier along its full length). Typically, a motorway has a hard shoulder and three lanes in each direction. Occasionally they have only two lanes in each direction. Recently refurbished stretches of motorway (eg the M4 near Heathrow airport and the M25) have 4 lanes in each direction. A stretch of the M8 in Glasgow even has 4 lanes in one direction and 5 in the other!

The hard shoulder which is on the left-hand side of each carriageway is where you park in the event of a breakdown. You are not supposed to stop on the hard shoulder except in the event of a breakdown or other emergency. The left-hand lane (often referred to as the inside lane) is the lane that you are supposed to stick to except when overtaking (ie passing). The other two lanes are for overtaking although it is permissible to continue in the middle lane after overtaking if there is other slower moving traffic in the left-hand lane. The right-hand lane (often referred to as the outside lane) is meant to be for overtaking only. Certain types of vehicles (such as larger lorries) are not permitted in the right-hand lane at all although that doesn't mean you won't encounter them there on occasion!

Anyway, this is how things are meant to work. In practice, however, UK motorways often get busy, especially around London and other major cities. When this happens all three lanes can get quite crowded. Large volumes of slower moving lorries and trucks then build up in the inside lane so that the middle lane becomes the main lane for cars with the outside lane for faster traffic.

Another important difference between driving in the US and the UK is that overtaking on the inside (ie to the left of another vehicle) is illegal. You may only overtake (ie pass) by pulling out to the right of another vehicle and around it. However, people do sometimes break the rules and overtake on the left-hand side so be prepared for this.

Traffic already on the motorway has priority over traffic joining the motorway. When joining a motorway you are supposed to use the slip road (the UK name for the on-ramp) to gain speed so that you can ease in between the traffic which is already whizzing along at 70 mph.

The slip road (ie the off-ramp) for traffic leaving always comes before the slip road for traffic joining the motorway at junctions although some inner city ring roads have an odd system where both the traffic joining and the traffic leaving the ring road use the same slip road. Coventry is one of these. Charing Cross in Glasgow is another. This set-up can be dangerous.

The exit slip road almost invariably leads to a roundabout either underneath or over the motorway so that you have the option of turning either left or right or even rejoining the motorway if you find you've made a mistake and have left at the wrong junction.

Service areas are adjacent to the motorway and have their own entrance and exit slip roads. You don't normally have to leave the motorway at a junction to find a petrol station although occasionally the service station will be located next to the exit roundabout. Service areas are usually about 30 miles apart except for some new stretches of motorway where they haven't all been built yet (there will be signs warning you if there is no petrol for more than 30 miles). Motorway service stations are run by a variety of companies. Some include restaurants such as Little Chef and Road Chef which are chains specialising in roadside cafe-style food where you can get breakfast at any time of day plus a variety of other dishes. Many 'A' roads have Little Chefs (these are likely to be open from about 10:00 until 23:00). When you stop at one you can get a free map showing where all the others are. Food is cheap but edible and service is usually fast. You won't find gourmet food at motorway service stations or roadside cafes.

Motorways are patrolled by unmarked police cars (with uniformed officers inside) as well as white patrol cars with red and yellow stripes down the side. The first you will know that you are being stopped by an unmarked car is when the blue lights (usually mounted under the bumpers) start to flash.

Motorways have emergency phones (which connect you to the local Police) at one mile intervals on the hard shoulder. They are mounted in orange boxes. Calls are free. The posts along the hard shoulder are marked with arrows to indicate the direction of the nearest call box. These phones are intended for use only in the event of a breakdown, accident or other emergency.

'A' Roads

'A' roads are the next highest quality and are usually marked in green on maps (motorways are marked in blue). These may have one or two lanes on either side but seldom three. Roads with more than one lane on either side are known as dual-carriageways and will usually have a barrier of some sort to separate the carriageways or a proper central reservation as found on motorways. Roads with only one lane in each direction will usually have a broken white line down the middle to indicate the position of the centre of the road. The length of the white dashes is longer on the approach to hazards such as bends. A double solid white line means that overtaking is not permitted by traffic on either side of the road. A double white line comprising a solid line and a broken line indicates that overtaking is permitted by traffic on the broken line side only. The edge of the road may have a solid white line to assist night time visibility where there is no street lighting. Solid white lines across the carriageway (ie your side of the road) at a junction (usually accompanied by a red and white stop sign) mean that you must stop before proceeding across the junction. Dotted lines across the carriageway (often accompanied by a triangular 'yield' or 'give way' sign) mean that you should slow down almost to a stop before determining whether it is safe to proceed. Bends in the road are often indicated by black and white chevrons - the more chevrons the sharper the curve.

'B' Roads

'B' roads are narrower and usually marked in orange or yellow on maps. Driving on these will be much slower than on motorways or 'A' roads. Roads with no letter or number will be of lower quality still. In places such as Devon, Cornwall, the Scottish Highlands and darkest Gloucestershire these may be single track roads with passing places. The lower quality roads are unlikely to have any markings.

Road Signs

Signposting is excellent. Signs are easy to spot and easy to follow. Three types of road signs can be found throughout the UK. Many of these are also found in Europe. The shape varies according to the purpose of the sign: circles command, triangles warn and rectangles inform. Command signs are usually red and white. Rectangular signs are green on ordinary roads and blue on motorways. You may also find brown rectangular signs providing directions to tourist attractions, particularly National Trust properties. Turnings and junctions are signposted well ahead of the time when you need to signal and then again just before the actual turning.

A comprehensive guide to UK road signs can be found on the Government's Highway Code site. It's best to look through the full list, but some of the signs you will encounter most frequently are:

Stop	No Entry	Stated Speed Limit Applies (in mph)	National Speed Limit Applies (60 mph)
No U-Turns	Give Way	No Over-Taking	One Way Street (ahead only)

Speed limits

Speed limits are posted in miles per hour throughout the UK and in kilometres per hour throughout Europe. In so-called built-up areas, ie streets with street lights at intervals of less than 200 yards, the speed limit is 30 mph unless there are signs which indicate a different limit (dual carriageways will often have a higher limit). The speed limit on motorways and dual carriageways is 70 mph unless a lower limit is stated (there are temporary signs set into the central reservation on motorways which the Police can switch on and off when they want to set a lower limit eg if there is traffic congestion ahead).

On other roads the speed limit is 60 mph unless a lower limit is stated. The black and white sign with a diagonal bar means 'national speed limit' ie 60 mph. (It used to mean no limit at all until the 60s.) Many roads, including motorways, are now fitted with cameras which detect cars exceeding the speed limit and photograph them in the act. Such cameras may be mounted in grey or yellow boxes at the side of the road or on the central reservation on dual carriageways. There will usually be road signs (black on white) with a picture of a camera to warn drivers of the existence of speed cameras. A new type of speed camera is being trialed in some areas. This type is known as SPECS and is much more discreet in appearance and is usually mounted overhead eg on a bridge over the road. However, the presence of such cameras should still be obvious from the warning signs.

On to PART 2

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Page last updated 7^th December 2004