Left-side driving for beginners

Do the boring setup before the engine starts. Move the seat so your left foot has a rest and your right foot reaches the pedals comfortably, set both mirrors, and work out where the indicator and wiper stalks are. In a left-side car the indicator stalk is usually on the right of the column, which is the opposite of many right-side cars, so you will signal with the wipers at least once. Everyone does.

Then take the car somewhere empty: an industrial estate, a retail park after closing, a quiet coastal road. Drive a loop with left and right turns, and deliberately talk yourself through each one. When you turn left, you cross the oncoming lane and join the near lane; when you turn right, you swing wide around the centre. The geometry is the mirror of what you know, and saying it out loud stops the hands from doing the old thing.

Position matters more than speed. Sit slightly left of the lane centre so you are not hugging the kerb, and use the centre line as your reference. On a two-lane road, the lane nearest the kerb on your left is yours. If you find yourself drifting towards the middle of the road, you are probably still driving the right-side line in your head.

Roundabouts are the single biggest difference for a visitor. In left-side countries you go around clockwise, which means you give way to traffic coming from your right and you join the flow by turning left into the circle. In right-side countries you go anticlockwise and give way to the left. The rule is the same idea, mirrored, and the mistake is looking the wrong way at the give-way line.

At ordinary junctions, the habit to break is the glance. When you pull out, look right, then left, then right again, and only move when both are clear. A driver running on right-side habit looks left first, sees nothing, and pulls into a car arriving from the right. This is why the first junction after a stop is the highest-risk moment of the whole trip.

Two more repeat offenders. One is the car park: you reverse out, your brain switches to autopilot, and you exit into the wrong lane. The other is the empty road, where there is no traffic to copy and you drift to the side you know. Both are solved by the same habit: before you move, name the side out loud.

Most visitors can drive on a valid home licence for a limited period, often three to twelve months, and some countries also require an International Driving Permit (IDP). An IDP is a translation document, not a licence: it only works alongside your original. Rules differ by country and by the age of the driver, so check the transport authority for your destination before you travel, and carry your licence, passport and rental paperwork together.

Insurance is the part people get wrong. Many travel insurance policies exclude driving or cover only a narrow set of situations, and rental companies sell their own cover with its own excess. Read what you already have before you buy a second product at the counter. If you plan to drive, a policy that explicitly covers driving, or a rental excess policy, is usually worth the small extra cost.

Before you sign for the car, walk around it and photograph every panel, the wheels, the windscreen and the fuel gauge. Note the fuel type, because diesel and petrol pumps sit side by side and misfuelling is an expensive first-day mistake. Check whether the rental includes a second driver, cross-border permission and roadside assistance, and confirm what happens if you return the car after hours.

A few situations break the simple rule. Some countries have changed sides within living memory, and older drivers may still carry habits from the other system; Sweden switched in 1967 and Iceland in 1968, and both are now right-side countries, so the switch is not something you will meet on the road today. What you will meet is a border: drive from Thailand into Laos and the side changes at the crossing, usually with a lane change and a sign.

One-way systems in old city centres can put you on the wrong side of your mental map for a few hundred metres, because the geometry of the street no longer matches the direction of travel. Follow the lane markings and the car in front rather than your instinct. Trams are another edge case: in cities such as Melbourne, Hong Kong and Dublin, you must not overtake a stopped tram that has its doors open, and you should pass trams on the side the local rules specify.

Finally, there is the question of when not to drive at all. In London, central congestion charging and parking costs often make public transport cheaper and faster than a rental. In Japan, India and Thailand, a car in a major city is frequently slower than the train or metro. If your trip is city-based, take the train and rent a car only for the rural days.

Work through the list in order and most of the risk disappears before you leave home. Confirm the side of the road for every country on your route, check whether an IDP is required, read your insurance for driving cover, and book an automatic if you are not confident with a manual. Then plan the first day so that it does not include a long drive after a long flight.

Pack the small things that make a difference: a phone mount, a charging cable, a copy of your licence and passport, and any medication you need. Learn the local road signs for stop, give way and speed limits, because shapes and colours differ from home. If you are driving in a country where you do not speak the language, save the address of your accommodation in the local script so you can show it to someone if the satnav fails.

On the day, take the first drive slowly and deliberately. The goal is not to cover distance; it is to build the habit that keeps the centre line on your right. Once that feels normal, usually within an hour or two, left-side driving stops being a task and becomes ordinary driving again.