due to be changing to a left ■■■■■■. I was just wondering if any of you who have done the same have had any difficulties or is it a relatively straight forward change.
Tommytoes:
due to be changing to a left ■■■■■■. I was just wondering if any of you who have done the same have had any difficulties or is it a relatively straight forward change.
The first two days I didn’t turn the radio on. Keep your left knee on the white line and see where you are in both mirrors. Forget how you treat roundabouts now and pull up short, you need to keep an eye out for pricks who sit near your front wheels
cheers mate. bet reversing takes some getting used to like.
Tommytoes:
cheers mate. bet reversing takes some getting used to like.
I didn’t find reversing a problem, everyone will tell you to leave a spare pair of gloves in the passenger footwell [emoji12]
Funny things happen too, stupid shunters and security guards will bang on your passenger door, ignore them, it’s funny when they see you laughing at them!
Exactly as Weelnut says, and reversing is no problem, just, as I hope you always do, don’t try to be a hero and reverse on your (new) blindside, just because you can.
Getting used to the nearside kerb (or right hand side in EU) is the biggest problem. For ages it seemed I kept hitting the great big concrete cabin protectors at peages and my wife, who used to travel with me in those days, got really fed up with being shot out of her seat.
This is funny, but wandering onto the hard shoulder where there may be stationary vehicles, is not.
In a new to me vehicle, wherever I sit in it, my first job is always to note where the limits are on the left and the right by some point on the dash or wiper boss, for example, which lines up with those limits. When I learned to drive a car, 55 years ago when there were few with wing mirrors, I was expected to reverse round a corner keeping equal distance from the kerb by looking over my shoulder with both hands still on the wheel. Not easy, but the instructor forced a matchstick into the rear window surround lined up with the kerb to help. Not suggesting you do that, but the same principle applies.
If you are operating in UK, especially if you are in a foreign vehicle, you will get treated with more consideration. At least that is what I found. A Sainsbury rdc for instance with a one way system allowed me to do a Uie in order to easier back onto a dock.
Oh, and yes, the spare gloves inside the right hand door. Even now, after 19 years on this side of the Channel, I still wander round to the right hand side occasionally, and then surreptitiously glance round to see if anyone is watching. 
cheers for the tips ill chuck a pair gloves down that side haha.im only 5ft nothing so its hard seeing where I am at the best of times 
, doing a bit of eu but only fra,holl,germany I think. sure itll be fine after a day or two like.
I drove in France for a couple of years, the instructor on my FIMO told me to keep my left hand on the steering wheel at all times, automatically keeping me out of the gutter and nearer to the centre white line…that was 5 minutes into my first drive in a LHD truck and first time offroad!!
Tommytoes:
cheers for the tips ill chuck a pair gloves down that side haha.im only 5ft nothing so its hard seeing where I am at the best of times
MrsG drove in the Uk for the first time only a few months back and shes only a little over 5ft as well. She sits quite low in the seat to reach the pedals and although i worried myself sick she did just fine
As you say, give it a day or two and you wont think anything of it, keep those gloves handy though… 
AndrewG:
Tommytoes:
cheers for the tips ill chuck a pair gloves down that side haha.im only 5ft nothing so its hard seeing where I am at the best of timesMrsG drove in the Uk for the first time only a few months back and shes only a little over 5ft as well. She sits quite low in the seat to reach the pedals and although i worried myself sick she did just fine
As you say, give it a day or two and you wont think anything of it, keep those gloves handy though…
Back in the 60s etc many if not most lorry drivers were not that tall, I myself at 5 and a half feet was not out of line with most of my mates. And I think the cabs must have been built accordingly, I well remember always looking through the top half of the screen in Fodens, Atkis, Invincibles etc. And the wheel horizontal, not like today from my observations, and tucked well into my lap for extra leverage. The term ‘Armstrong Steering’ was very apt.
It took me about a week to get used to driving a left ■■■■■■.
If doing Euro work you won’t know yourself in the left ■■■■■■ but be really careful with her in UK if you are anything like me. If you have already done Euro in a RHD then it’s the the same problems but over here now instead of over there.
Even when well used of the left ■■■■■■, when there is no traffic about it is real easy to pull out onto the wrong side of the road some day out of the blue only to cop on after thinking the guy coming against me was the idiot.
I have done it out of petrol stations and even our own yard after switching out of the car and also wanted to go the wrong way on a roundabout suddenly one day.
Strangely I never tried any dumb stuff in Euroland where I thought I was more likely to make an error.
I don’t like it on narrow streets or small countryside roads at home as I often think the tree branches, lamp posts and such are going to smack in the mirror if I have to keep in tight so I’m often wincing and ducking my head on these fearful of an eyeful of glass.
Of course the blind spot is a nightmare in the UK so expect a few WTF moments on roundabouts but especially when lane changing.
Check, check, and check again before switching lane and switch gently so that someone can manouver or warn you if about to go wrong.
The worst is when you are moving out to lane 2 but plonker in lane 3 who you can never see ignores your indicator and moves into lane 2 as well.
Adjust your mirrors to minimise the blind spot.
We now have the camera thingy fitted that shows blind spot on a screen when you turn on indicator.
It works well by day but I have to switch it off completely at night as it’s just a bunch of distracting bright flashes.
I would rate a Fresnel lens just as good really overall for the cost.
Best of luck with her and I think you will be well pleased with her.
Hurryup&wait:
If doing Euro work you won’t know yourself in the left ■■■■■■ but be really careful with her in UK if you are anything like me. If you have already done Euro in a RHD then it’s the the same problems but over here now instead of over there.Even when well used of the left ■■■■■■, when there is no traffic about it is real easy to pull out onto the wrong side of the road some day out of the blue only to cop on after thinking the guy coming against me was the idiot.
I have done it out of petrol stations and even our own yard after switching out of the car and also wanted to go the wrong way on a roundabout suddenly one day.
Strangely I never tried any dumb stuff in Euroland where I thought I was more likely to make an error.
I don’t like it on narrow streets or small countryside roads at home as I often think the tree branches, lamp posts and such are going to smack in the mirror if I have to keep in tight so I’m often wincing and ducking my head on these fearful of an eyeful of glass.
Of course the blind spot is a nightmare in the UK so expect a few WTF moments on roundabouts but especially when lane changing.
Check, check, and check again before switching lane and switch gently so that someone can manouver or warn you if about to go wrong.
The worst is when you are moving out to lane 2 but plonker in lane 3 who you can never see ignores your indicator and moves into lane 2 as well.Adjust your mirrors to minimise the blind spot.
We now have the camera thingy fitted that shows blind spot on a screen when you turn on indicator.
It works well by day but I have to switch it off completely at night as it’s just a bunch of distracting bright flashes.
I would rate a Fresnel lens just as good really overall for the cost.Best of luck with her and I think you will be well pleased with her.
You make more errors in the UK because you’re on ‘home’ turf, so more relaxed.
When I first ventured over the water I had a piece of card folded to just the right size so it would sit in easy view on top of my dash board.
It had a [ZB] OFF big arrow on it. I turned it over to point at whichever side of the road I was supposed to be driving on .
Even so, in my car usually, I’ve driven out of a one-way street, or a garage, or something similar and pulled out onto the wrong side of the road.
The main problem I found was nothing to do with driving in UK or France. It was to do with positioning within the lane.
This is because if you are used to driving on the right hand side of the cab you instinctively know that you must be around 7 feet or so from the left hand of the lane, be it a lane marking in France, or the kerb in UK.
Thus when you first drive in the left hand side of the cab your instinct is still to be 7 feet away from that lane marking or kerb to your left.
But that is where you are, not where the truck is, thus the truck tends to be over the edge of the road in France, and over the centre line in UK. Frightened my prospective boss in France on my check test as I bounced him along on the grass verge. 
Which is why in the very early days I was bouncing peage barriers in France and once clipped mirrors with a wagon coming the other way in England.
Turning out onto the wrong side of the road at T junctions is really more to do with forgetting which side of the road you should be, and your driving position in the cab has less to do with it.
Spardo:
The main problem I found was nothing to do with driving in UK or France. It was to do with positioning within the lane.This is because if you are used to driving on the right hand side of the cab you instinctively know that you must be around 7 feet or so from the left hand of the lane, be it a lane marking in France, or the kerb in UK.
Thus when you first drive in the left hand side of the cab your instinct is still to be 7 feet away from that lane marking or kerb to your left.
But that is where you are, not where the truck is, thus the truck tends to be over the edge of the road in France, and over the centre line in UK. Frightened my prospective boss in France on my check test as I bounced him along on the grass verge.
Which is why in the very early days I was bouncing peage barriers in France and once clipped mirrors with a wagon coming the other way in England.
Turning out onto the wrong side of the road at T junctions is really more to do with forgetting which side of the road you should be, and your driving position in the cab has less to do with it.
I had the same problem in reverse, when I came back to the UK after 7 years driving lhd army trucks in Germany. I bounced off the kerb several times.
The other thing, when going back into a lhd for a UK company, was driving past a lamp post or road sign on the edge of the pavement.
This was in summer so my window was down. The road noise bouncing back at you from the lamp post made me pull away from the kerb. It seemed as if it was inches away from my ear. The bouncing off the verge or being over the centre line problem only lasted a few hours, but judging just where you are for narrow automatic Italian Peages so you can take them at a reasonable speed takes quite a bit longer. Reversing a lhd artic, as accurately as you’re used to in a rhd, takes a bit of practise as well.
The biggest problem I had with driving a left ■■■■■■ was when I got back in my RHD car in this country. I used to use the gutter as a guide in the truck over here and, of course, the first 30 minutes in my car back here had me still trying to sit in the gutter when I was in a RHD. Cost me two passenger side mirrors that did lol
Simon:
You make more errors in the UK because you’re on ‘home’ turf, so more relaxed.When I first ventured over the water I had a piece of card folded to just the right size so it would sit in easy view on top of my dash board.
It had a [ZB] OFF big arrow on it. I turned it over to point at whichever side of the road I was supposed to be driving on .
Even so, in my car usually, I’ve driven out of a one-way street, or a garage, or something similar and pulled out onto the wrong side of the road.
The home turf explanation make the most sense to me and although readers may find your arrow idea a bit corny I think it is a great idea.
When I became “temporarily unsure” of what side of the road I should be on it was absolute and total confusion.
You think you are right but something isn’t adding up and you are desperately and urgently looking for clues to confirm if you are right or in the wrong.
Your arrow would be the business in this situation as every second counts or might even prevent the mistake in the first instance.
At least I find the lane positioning fine but like The Bear the first few minutes after swapping from car to wagon or vav need care. Phoning the girlfriend straight away could indeed become expensive
It does eventually become automatic. The more switching back and forth you do the quicker that happens. In one company I used to drive a RHD artic on collections in the morning and ship out with a left-■■■■■■ in the afternoon. I bought a LHD car to make it easier when arriving home from long-haul when tired, only to be given a RHD truck; and then the same happened the other way round. In the end I discovered that it no longer made any difference at all. And it stays with you! As a retired old git, when I drive my UK car to the airport and climb into a LHD fly-drive one at the other end I don’t even have to give it a thought.
As for forgetting which side to drive on: the only time that ever happened to me was in Hull. I drove a LHD wagon-and-drag off the overnight ferry from Europoort and went round the first roundabout widdershins. Tbh, it was worth it just to see all those baleful faces looking up from their car windscreens wondering where the [zb] I was going to exit!
Robert
Don’t over think it and it will be much easier, you’re going to balls it up a few times too, it happens, don’t worry about it.
Position yourself in the lane by looking in the mirrors and it will soon become second nature. Going around bends is a bit weird at first as you go up as the truck leans in a lefthand bend, rather than down and vice versa for a righthand bend.
I found the hardest part was learning to smoke with my left hand!
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ERF-NGC-European:
It does eventually become automatic.
Robert
You’re right Robert, Until my wife destroyed it by, blinded by the sun driving it into a culvert, we had the Saxo we brought from England as a 2nd car. All local journeys were made in that and I didn’t give a 2nd thought to running home in the Berlingo (LHD) from a trip and jumping straight into the Saxo to go to the shops. I even enjoyed the change and the experience of ‘sitting’ in the gutter and smiling at the thought that any white line wanderer coming the other way would spare me while demolishing the passenger seat.
Takes about a week and a half to be really comfortable with it. And reversing… you still turn the wheel the same way… I had around 11 years on left hookers, loved 'em, would happily jump back in one tomorrow.