Driving in England

Can anyone tell me about the roads in England? Besides driving on the left side of the road, that is ! :D

Are the roads such as M4 or M5 highways? Toll roads? Should we try to stay on those, or off?

What about the ones such as A36 ?

Thanks very much for the info - still working on the itinerary and details for the trip for my son and daughter-in-law. :) :)

Can anyone tell me about the roads in England? Besides driving on the left side of the road, that is ! :D

 

Are the roads such as M4 or M5 highways? Toll roads? Should we try to stay on those, or off?

 

 

What about the ones such as A36 ?

 

Thanks very much for the info - still working on the itinerary and details for the trip for my son and daughter-in-law. :) :)

M, for Motorway are the equivalent of Interstate Highways in the US and do not have tolls (That I know of anyway). Easy to drive on if you want to get somewhere fast, assuming it is not rush hour.

"A" Routes are the equivalent of US Routes like US 40. First class roads and easy to drive. "B" Routes are like State Routes and are usually the most scenic if sometimes very quirky and narrow.

Cheers

Can anyone tell me about the roads in England? Besides driving on the left side of the road, that is ! :D

 

Are the roads such as M4 or M5 highways? Toll roads? Should we try to stay on those, or off?

 

What about the ones such as A36 ?

 

Thanks very much for the info - still working on the itinerary and details for the trip for my son and daughter-in-law. :) :)

There's only one Toll road in the UK (as far as I'm aware) and that is the M6 Toll by Birmingham, you don't need to use it as you can stay on the normal M6. The toll is there to just ease congestion around the Birmingham area.

Most motorways are 3 lanes, but they can also be 2,4,5 lanes depending where you are.

'A' roads can be Dual carriageways (2 lanes) or just single lane roads, but normally with a 50 mph speed limit on the single lanes.

'B' roads are mostly normal roads and country lanes.

Be prepared for very narrow roads in towns, cities and the country, compared with the USA.

Also be prepared for the price of fuel, at the moment by me it's £1.01 a litre. There are stories going round that it could reach £1.20 a litre in the near future.

A good bit of advice re. refueling - don't use major petrol stations ie. Shell, BP or Texaco these are a complete rip off in most cases. Best places to fill up are at Supermarkets, most have there own petrol stations - ASDA, Tesco, Sainsburys or Morrisons can be found in virtually every town and city.

Make sure you get a car with automatic transmission. I found it a bit disconcerting to be shifting with my left hand on top of driving on the left.:o

The motorways are (with one notable toll-road exception between Birmingham and the north west) free. Motorways are like our freeways - three or more lanes in each direction. Speed restricted at 70mph.

"A" roads are generally dual-carriageways (two lanes in each direction, often with a central reservation). While they do run through cities and towns, they can generally be thought of as the connecting roads through the countryside between. They are generally restricted to a slower maximum speed than you would find on the motorway, and could have roundabouts and/or traffic signals controling the flow of traffic. But they can be faster, point-to-point, if you have an "A" road giving you a more direct route than diverting to get to or from the closest motorway.

"B" roads are generally smaller roads, with a single lane in each direction.

The road descriptions are accurate.

There are a few other differences

The use of lanes is also a little different over here. When driving on a road with more than two lanes, (M roads and some A roads), usually you stay in the nearside lane, the outer lanes are for overtaking. Don't over take on an inside lane.

NO turning a corner on a red light ever.

On give way signs you can do a rolling stop unless it is a solid rather than a dashed give way line on the road (as long as the traffic allows).

There are a couple of other toll roads, mainly for some bridges, such as on the M25 and the Severn bridge on the M4 (but to confuse you the charge is only in one direction).

Speed limits;

In town driving (where there are street lamps) 30 miles per hour, unless specified otherwise.

National speed limits is indicated by a white circular sign with a diagonal black line, and are usually out of towen areas, on a single carriage way (one lane) this is 60 miles per hour, and on duel carriage ways this is 70 miles per hour.

Some roads will have other speed limits that are shown on signs, but never more than 70 miles per hour.

 

National speed limits is indicated by a white circular sign with a diagonal black line, and are usually out of towen areas, on a single carriage way (one lane) this is 60 miles per hour, and on duel carriage ways this is 70 miles per hour.

 

Some roads will have other speed limits that are shown on signs, but never more than 70 miles per hour.

I hope you mean 'dual'; duel sounds far too dangerous!!! I'm a truck driver and can say that all the info above is correct. If you want any route advice, post here or drop me a line. A roads can often be quicker than motorways if you know where you're going!! Oh and no one has mentioned the bane of modern motoring speed and traffic light cameras. They are everywhere!, but must be painted flourescent yellow, so you should spot them. The Police camera vans are another issue entirely.

Simon

Adding to the replies to date:

Driving on the left. Your car will be right-hand drive, which is a constant reminder. Our main roads are mainly dual carriageway (divided roads?), these and town roads are pretty crowded, so in the main its natural to follow what the other traffic is doing. Approaching junctions, most major roads are signed with arrows on the road surface, as well as regular signposting. All of this makes driving on our side pretty easy.

Try to avoid parking on the opposite side of the road, or pulling into filling stations on that side - when you depart, you are more likely to forget to return to the correct side. Its a whole lot easier than years ago, when traffic was thin & dual carriageways a rarity.

Major differences:

Where there is more than one lane, keep to the slow (left-hand) lane, overtake only on the right. No "under-taking" - except, its ok in slow heavy traffic if the line of traffic in the left lane moves along quicker than the lane outside it. You'll catch-on very quickly.

No "turn out if the road is clear" at a red light. Red always means stop

Roundabouts (traffic islands?). We love roundabouts, we've got thousands. Unless signs say differently, give way to traffic already on the roundabout.

Most expensive places for fuel are the motorway service areas.

The A36 (Southampton to Bath) is one of the slower A roads, nearly all single carriageway, you can get stuck behind Mydnite or one of his pals. Its almost as quick to go via A34 & M4 - two sides of the triangle, but nearly all dual carriageway.

Most hire cars have sat-nav, or it can be added as an option. Useful for plotting (usually) the best route, which may not be the obvious one.

John Bull

Another tip is to try and stay as close to the center line of the road as much as you possibly can, or you will be almost certain to catch the kerb with your nearside wheels at least once during your visit. Most drivers inexperienced in RHD do.

And watch out for roundabouts! Some roundabouts have traffic lights... so you simply wait for a green light and then go... but the majority are "Give Way" (yeild), so basically anything already on the roundabout, or is on your right has right of way and you must wait for them to clear.

Watch out for pedestrian traffic lights close to roundabouts, we put them there to catch people out, in case they didn't already have enough to do keeping to their lane and finding the right exit!!

What the previous poster said about speed limits is correct. However in a built up area (well any area with street light) the speed limit is 30 mph unless there's a sign telling you otherwise.

On Motorways watch for "average speed check" cameras at road works. The limit through road works in generally 50mph and your speed is averaged through-out the whole section by the yellow cameras above the road. Motorways have an official 70 mph speed limit, but you will find this is generally ignored by most and you are safe to around 80mph.

Oh and driving in busy cities, watch for bus lanes, box junction (yellow diagonal lines painted on the road, which means you can't stop there [by that I mean come to halt, even in a queue of traffic] unless waiting to turn right (and your exit is clear!)), one way systems and parking restrictions. There's a million and 1 cameras watching you and any offences will be passed to you by your hire company, plus a fee for administration!!

The wearing of safety belts is compulsary (for everyone in the car) and it is a serious offence to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

However, driving is generally safe, easy to do and our road signs and directional information is probably some of the best and clearest in the world.

And watch out for roundabouts! Some roundabouts have traffic lights... so you simply wait for a green light and then go... but the majority are "Give Way" (yeild), so basically anything already on the roundabout, or is on your right has right of way and you must wait for them to clear.

 

Watch out for pedestrian traffic lights close to roundabouts, we put them there to catch people out, in case they didn't already have enough to do keeping to their lane and finding the right exit!!

 

What the previous poster said about speed limits is correct. However in a built up area (well any area with street light) the speed limit is 30 mph unless there's a sign telling you otherwise.

 

On Motorways watch for "average speed check" cameras at road works. The limit through road works in generally 50mph and your speed is averaged through-out the whole section by the yellow cameras above the road. Motorways have an official 70 mph speed limit, but you will find this is generally ignored by most and you are safe to around 80mph.

 

Oh and driving in busy cities, watch for bus lanes, box junction (yellow diagonal lines painted on the road, which means you can't stop there [by that I mean come to halt, even in a queue of traffic] unless waiting to turn right (and your exit is clear!)), one way systems and parking restrictions. There's a million and 1 cameras watching you and any offences will be passed to you by your hire company, plus a fee for administration!!

 

The wearing of safety belts is compulsary (for everyone in the car) and it is a serious offence to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

 

However, driving is generally safe, easy to do and our road signs and directional information is probably some of the best and clearest in the world.

I think, you've either totally confused them or put them off driving here forever. I've been driving for nearly 20 yrs and I got confused halfway through.

Thank you for making the decision an easy one to make. The thought of renting a car was indeed a fleeting one!

Can anyone tell me about the roads in England? Besides driving on the left side of the road, that is ! :D

 

Are the roads such as M4 or M5 highways? Toll roads? Should we try to stay on those, or off?

 

What about the ones such as A36 ?

 

:) :)

The Highway Code (link below) is published by the UK Government and lays out most of the rules for driving in Great Britain and Norther Ireland.

It's not law in itself, but the composite parts are incorporated into various pieces of legislation relating to driving.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070190

Enjoy!

The real reason to think twice about driving in the UK is the aggression of the drivers. Not that we're up to (some) European levels, but in my view we're much more aggressive than drivers in the US. I've driven there several times, including wandering all over the road trying to find my way around Boston during the Big Dig, and I always encountered the greatest courtesy & consideration from american drivers. I shudder to think what would have happened in a British city.

Of course, out of the cities america roads are absolutely empty. Cruise control is actually useable in rural USA; I remember driving in Mississippi on a US Highway (not an interstate) and not encountering another vehicle for about 30 minutes. Not so in the UK, I fear.....

Roundabouts are the worst. Apparently they are much more efficient in terms of traffic flow than a regular intersection with lights, but boy are they tough, especially when you have to navigate a change in direction from a map and there is a forest of signs pointing in all directions.

Hedges are another bad thing--the average North American driver will drive too far to the left since they are not used to having most of the car on that side so side-swiping hedges is a real hazard on smaller roads.

And lane discipline on the M highways is very important. I get pissed off here with people who don't observe it properly, but over there, they will tailgate and honk until you move over.

I let my husband do it, and yes, we'll probably do it again next year, but we would probably take a train somewhere smaller than Heathrow first, to avoid that part.

Be very careful driving or walking in England. On my three trips there, every accident we saw had a foreigner driving.

My husband wanted to rent a car, but I told him NO!

Even crossing the street, I invariably looked the wrong way first. It is just something ingrained that we grew up with over here. We did rent a car in Germany and drove through Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium & Holland with no problems, but I wouldn't try it in England.

Good luck!

Not that we're up to (some) European levels, but in my view we're much more aggressive than drivers in the US. I've driven there several times, including wandering all over the road trying to find my way around Boston during the Big Dig, and I always encountered the greatest courtesy & consideration from american drivers. I shudder to think what would have happened in a British city.

Even crossing the street, I invariably looked the wrong way first.

Remember the advice Tufty the Squirrel used to give....."Look right; look left; look right again: and if all is clear, it's safe to cross the road".

Thank you for making the decision an easy one to make. The thought of renting a car was indeed a fleeting one!

Don't be put off, really - earlier this summer I put 926 miles on a rental in the UK with no problems whatsoever . . . I found everything very clear and driving really quite easy.

Now I do live in Manhattan so my tolerance is probably pretty high;)

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

I will pass it along to my son. I did reserve him an automatic, so he won't have to worry about shifting.

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

Again, thanks for the help.

Thanks very much everyone for all the great info ! :)

 

 

I was really surprised that you all list the speed limits in mph. I would have thought it would be in Km/hr, like in Germany. Then I checked Googlemaps for some distances between towns, and realized they also listed distances in miles. Don't you use the metric system there?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

Years ago the particular government of the time decided that we should go metric.

We got half way there and then stopped.

We automatically convert the fuel that is pumped into our vehicles into gallons although it is now sold in litres by law. (btw - the imperial gallon is a bit more in volume than the US gallon).

Then we got involved in the EC (the European Community) who said EVERYTHING must be metric. So it is illegal to sell a pound of plums as opposed to a kilogram. And a few years later this was challenged, and from this year you CAN sell a pound of plums provided the value in kilograms is also displayed.

MILES are still miles and now, hopefully ever more shall be so.

We fought long and and hard not to be "like in Germany" (I was born half way through it). And we were grateful for the (eventual) help from the USA in 1942!.

So we are stuck in the middle which makes it a bit confusing for the average US/Canadian tourist.

But we still speak English like it was our natural tongue!!! When here, just ask for help, EVERYONE will be glad to assist (in English!!).

Jump in and join us - it's almost like home after a few weeks, ask Madonna, et al. It's a bit topsy-turvy to a transatlantic person, but lots of fun in a subliminally familiar way.:o

Having lived in Tx for a few years I can comare...

Can anyone tell me about the roads in England? Besides driving on the left side of the road, that is ! :D

 

Are the roads such as M4 or M5 highways? Toll roads? Should we try to stay on those, or off?

 

What about the ones such as A36 ?

 

Thanks very much for the info - still working on the itinerary and details for the trip for my son and daughter-in-law. :) :)

M = Interstate, 2-5 lanes each way, access via onramps/exits only. 70mph speed limit

A = Highway, could be divided, maybe not. 30-70 mph depending on where it is etc etc

Remember that most rental cars are a standard transmission, and don't even consider renting something too largem British roads a LOT smaller than their US cousins. Also check what kind of fuel your car uses, 40-50% of all European cars now are diesels, you don't want to mix that up at the gas pump. Lastly, petrol is about £1/litre or for a handy conversion multiply by just over 6 (x1.6 to get $; x3.8 to get gallons) to get the price in US$/US Gallon (yes, $6.10/gallon)

Lastly, most major intersections are roundabouts. Give way to traffic already in the circle, and signal only before exiting.

Wow ! Thanks for the additional info, especially the lesson about using the metric system in England, or not. :D

Just to clarify, I did enjoy hearing how the metric system is and isn't used in England. I teach College math and when I discuss the metric system, I always say it's really amazing that the US and one other small country in the Middle East are the only ones that don't use the metric system (according to what I was taught and have read). I will have to revise my lesson, now that I have this info. Thanks ! :)

Most things are covered in the posts above, but the only thing I noticed not mentioned yet is the congestion charge for driving in London. Yes, you have to pay for the priviledge of driving through the capital. Most people would advise not to bother, as traffic is horrendous & public transport very efficient. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/ will tell you all you need to know.

Generally driving in England is pretty straight forward - certainly more straight forward than Ireland, where up until about a year ago, you didn't even have to pass a driving test to be able to drive on the road! :eek: