https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-51510531 I've never had a problem riding a bike in Europe. I just keep my throttle hand near the pavement. When I've hired left-hand drive cars in Europe then I've found it quite easy to drive on the right. But driving a RHD car on the right is a bigger challenge. Do US service people get to bring their cars here, or are they driving LHD cars on the right? If they are then that is inexcusable.
I was talking to someone recently who had dealings with American bases and they bring their LHD cars over and drive on the right hand side on the base. It is common for these LHD American base cars to be involved in accidents near their bases.
Inside the bases they drive on the Right I understand - no wonder they get confused if that the case...
I did most of my early driving of cars in Italy and France in a right hand drive car. Never had a problem there but when I came home to UK after 5 years I found myself driving on the wrong side a couple of times...
If Harry Dunn had been my son and if she had been driving on the wrong side of the road I’d be taking a legal action in the USA now against her, eejit cow that she is. How she can live with herself I’ve no idea.
On British bases, you drive on the side of the road that the host nation uses. It isn't rocket surgery.
I've to say i have travelled extensively throughout europe using the euro tunnel and never had any issues whatsoever over there or returning trips to the UK.this is a mindset problem as usual.but she'd return to our country & answer questions without fail.
......but surely it's a public highway and the rules are simple & easy to follow when leaving the base.
Are you leaving the base, though? Or are you just driving on another part of the wider US base? More seriously - the standard of driving, pedestrianing, cycling and just plain existing on US bases leaves much to be desired. And then they drive off-base ...
Even though they are American bases they are still under RAF ownership and law, if you google map the bases their road markings are all UK and you can see cars driving on the left.
Not really. It's down to human stupidity and a failure of management of the risk. "I have stupid people under my command. Now I could ban them from driving off-base unless they demonstrate necessary competence or ... nah". This is not exclusively an American trait, I one-hundred percent guarantee you. In theory and in law, you are correct. In practice ... you are not. Interesting. Usually, US bases on foreign soil are self-contained, self-administering bubbles. In some cases, the host nation can barely get a look-in. Does Google reveal that the entirety of RAF Croughton is DotL? Or just the UK parts of it?
If it’s true that US citizens/personnel are driving left hand drive cars on the right of the road within their bases, then it’s hardly surprising that fatal errors are made when they venture onto the UK public road network. If this is what is happening, action needs to be taken both on the base and on the nearby roads. No left hand drive cars on the base. All driving on the base to be on the left. Signs within the base to drive on the left. Signs when leaving the base to drive on the left. Signs on roads and junctions nearby to drive on the left. As Finm suggests, you see lots of reminder signs in Scotland to drive on the left and iirc, you do on the way out of Dover.
I agree with all the above except 'no left hand drive cars on the base'. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but i recall from a friend who is American and was based on a base near Oxford, albeit many many years ago, there's a perk available to the military based overseas to be able to purchase certain items on a tax free basis via the USForces equivalent of NAAFI, this included cars and motorbikes. This represented a significant saving and the resultant purchase could be shipped back home at the end of the posting. If that perk still exists I doubt anyone would champion it's removal. However, the rest of OR's post yes. Hammer home the message and, as it's UK soil, insist on driving on the left within the compound as well IMHO.