I have decided that it is time to bite the bullet and learn to drive on the other side of the road. My gymnastics coaching job in the evenings is a quick 20-minute drive or an hour-long bus ride from home. So driving is much more convenient! However, thinking about it makes my palms sweaty. Sean had a fair bit of practise driving on the right when we were on holiday in the USA in 2017, and is a complete natural!
Firstly, the Volvo is a beast. My driving life thus far has been spent in small Japanese cars, in which I can pretty much see where bonnet starts and the boot ends from the driver's seat. In comparison, the Volvo feels like a bus. It is long. It is wide. It is high off the ground. And being European, all of the bits (indicators, windscreen wipers, parking brake etc.) are in different places! It is going to take some getting used to.
My next challenge has been working out where to position myself on the road. With the bulk of the car to my right, it requires my conscious, continuous effort to stay within the lines. I'm getting better though. And Sean, is starting to look a little more relaxed in the passenger seat. He is back to fiddling with the buttons and settings - which I am taking as a good sign.
Another struggle has been learning the different road rules, particularly at traffic light controlled intersections. Left turn arrows (across the intersection) are only used on main roads, while all other intersections you have to just find the gap in traffic to turn. Cars turning left slowly nudge out into the middle of the intersection, and inevitably the 'gap' you are waiting for never materialises. So, as the traffic lights turn orange, you just have to boot it and hope that the oncoming cars stop at the orange light. Meanwhile, cars from the opposite direction, are doing the same dangerous dance in front of you! AHHHHH!
If you are turning right at an intersection, you are allowed to turn on the red light. These can be tricky because you have to give way to traffic speeding towards you from your left, and pedestrians crossing on your right. Head turning
Which brings me to pedestrians; pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, even when they don't. On busy roads, cars stop for pedestrians rather than letting them wait for the next gap in traffic. On quiet suburban roads, where there are more 'gaps' than there are cars on the road, cars still stop. As a pedestrian it annoys me to see roads come to a halt for one person to cross - it's so inefficient. And as a driver, it scares me! Note to self: always check for pedestrians.
In spite of my uneasiness with traffic lights and pedestrians, I think four-way stop intersections are great! The person who gets to the intersection first gets to go first. Everyone stops, and everyone waits their turn. Easy!
I am making progress; today I ventured out for a drive on my own, and survived to write about it! Thank goodness, as Sean and I are in the midst of planning a 5000km+ road trip from Vancouver to Toronto. We will need to share the responsibility of driving that far.