BERLIN: Left-hand traffic is used in more than 50 countries worldwide, including Britain, Ireland, Australia, Japan and South Africa. For many who enjoy using a car on their holidays, that means coming to terms with a completely foreign way of driving.
If you want to drive a rental car in a country with left-hand traffic during your holidays, it can help to first practise in a car park.
In the beginning, drivers should just move along with the traffic and to not overtake, vehicle inspection company Dekra advises. Novices have to be especially careful when turning right to avoid driving into oncoming traffic.
To avoid pulling too far to the left side of the road, drivers should use the centre strip as a visual guide. An arrow pointing to it, stuck to the bottom of the windscreen, can provide optical support.
Pedestrians who are used to looking to the left first when crossing the road also have to adjust, because with left-hand traffic, the first source of danger is incoming traffic from the right. That's why pedestrians should ideally always look both ways before crossing the road.
