Left Hand Drive

[RickyC]

Just a curiosity.

I've heard that some manufacturers are selling only LHD models also in UK. 

Is it legal to register a brand new car that is not designed for the drive side used in UK ? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Yes.

[Cyker]

I did find that bizarre - I would have thought a basic requirement for homologation was the controls should be on the correct side of the vehicle for the road layout, but Tesla have shown this is not the case!

I really really hope this doesn't start a trend of manufacturers only selling LHD vehicles here to cut production costs...

 

[Mojo1010]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I did find that bizarre - I would have thought a basic requirement for homologation was the controls should be on the correct side of the vehicle for the road layout, but Tesla have shown this is not the case!

I really really hope this doesn't start a trend of manufacturers only selling LHD vehicles here to cut production costs...

 

They wouldn't, very minimal of people here would buy LHD, for those that have done it, they quickly revert back to buying normal RHD vehicles. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

A couple of Tesla models are now LHD only, and low volume makes such as Alpine historically have been LHD as well.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Used to work with a chap who had a LHD Citroen Ami 6 (425cc). When he overtook anything was a bit of a (slow) nightmare .....

[Haliotis]

From my own experience of driving my car in France, I certainly would not buy a LHD car for permanently driving in the UK.  For starters, overtaking would be much more hazardous on two-way carriageways..  Front passenger would have to get into/out of car in the face of live traffic. If parked on correct side of road, pulling out of a line of stationary vehicles would also be risky - the passenger-side door mirror, being further away from the driver, is less trustworthy than that closest to the driver because the blind spot has a greasier area. When turning onto a main road, in certain conditions observing traffic approaching from one’s right could be difficult to spot early enough for safety.

Short-term whilst on holiday is a lot different to daily use when in one’s own country.

[Roy124]

When Sweden switched to driving on the right, many Swedes professed to preferring RHD cars ostensibly as they could drive closer to the edge.

Of course it might have been the old stock Swedish domestic RHD was less expensive. 

I  bought a RHD SAAB99 in 1971 and the headlights dipped to the right.  The SAAB Chief Engineer,  on holiday in Cyprus, didn't believe me until I showed him.

[Aygolite]

5 hours ago, Haliotis said:

From my own experience of driving my car in France, I certainly would not buy a LHD car for permanently driving in the UK.  For starters, overtaking would be much more hazardous on two-way carriageways.  Front passenger would have to get into/out of car in the face of live traffic. If parked on correct side of road, pulling out of a line of stationary vehicles would also be risky - the passenger-side door mirror, being further away from the driver, is less trustworthy than that closest to the driver because the blind spot has a greasier area. When turning onto a main road, in certain conditions observing traffic approaching from one’s right could be difficult to spot early enough for safety.

Short-term whilst on holiday is a lot different to daily use when in one’s own country.

If you are driving along a single carriageway and your visibility is not sufficient to overtake safely at that point, you simply don't overtake at that point. It may be that you are driving too close to the vehicle in front.

Multi-drop delivery vehicles in the US, will often drive RHD vehicles even though they drive on the other side to the UK. This makes it quicker for them to do their rounds because they don't have to keep waiting for a break in the traffic when entering and exiting the vehicle.

Bad drivers have lots of accidents regardless of RHD/LHD. Good drivers can safely drive either vehicle on UK roads.

[RickyC]

21 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

A couple of Tesla models are now LHD only, and low volume makes such as Alpine historically have been LHD as well.

I can understand historic cars or low number cars could have a special permission, but I find strange that a brand new car regulally distibuted in UK could be offered only as LHD.  

By the way I think Tesla is not selling just a hundreth of cars but some K every month.

[FROSTYBALLS]

3 minutes ago, RickyC said:

By the way I think Tesla is not selling just a hundreth of cars but some K every month

 I didn't say that Tesla was a low volume producer.

[RickyC]

4 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

 I didn't say that Tesla was a low volume producer.

I agree. 

So it could be worrying if a producer like Tesla decides to sell only LHD cars in UK and nevertless has a good commecial success. Other manufacturers could quicky follow the way opened by Tesla. 

[Haliotis]

20 hours ago, Aygolite said:

(1)If you are driving along a single carriageway and your visibility is not sufficient to overtake safely at that point, you simply don't overtake at that point. It may be that you are driving too close to the vehicle in front.

(2Bad drivers have lots of accidents regardless of RHD/LHD. Good drivers can safely drive either vehicle on UK roads.

(1) I do not make a habit of driving close to traffic in front.  Two main reasons:  First, even driving RHD cars in the UK, the more clearance from the vehicle in front, the greater your own visibility you have past that vehicle to what’s ahead.   And what about if you are following an HGV - you’ll be overtaking virtually blind no matter how far back you are from that HGV.

(2) If I have to stop suddenly because the vehicle in front has braked hard, I have time to stop more gently, giving a following vehicle time to stop before hitting my vehicle.  When stopping behind other traffic, I still leave a decent distance from the vehicle in front.  This gives me a better chance of not being shunted into that vehicle if a “bad” driver hits me, thus avoiding an insurance claim against me.

I have driven all over France, either in a motorcaravan or towing a caravan.  No matter how careful you are, in these circumstances a RHD vehicle is at a disadvantage - and this factor is mirrored by a LHD vehicle driven in the UK.

And, yes, with the necessary care, one can safely drive a LHD vehicle on UK roads, but it will never be as safe as driving a RHD vehicle.  Why else do manufacturers produce RHD or LHD vehicles dependent on which side of the road they are being exported to?

[Big_D]

3 hours ago, Haliotis said:

And, yes, with the necessary care, one can safely drive a LHD vehicle on UK roads, but it will never be as safe as driving a RHD vehicle.  Why else do manufacturers produce RHD or LHD vehicles dependent on which side of the road they are being exported to?

Some drivers can't even drive a RHD vehicle with the necessary care

[RickyC]

13 hours ago, Big_D said:

Some drivers can't even drive a RHD vehicle with the necessary care

This is obvious.  To drive a car you must be able t do it.  Else leave the car in garage and take the bus.  😉

But the matter is if could be more risky to drive a LHD car in a country like UK where you drive on the opposite side. 

[Haliotis]

14 hours ago, Big_D said:

Some drivers can't even drive a RHD vehicle with the necessary care

How true. And the most common is the practice of driving too close to the vehicle in front.  On the open road, I have been following other vehicles where we were all sensibly spaced, then one has to come so close to my rear that he/she could not possibly stop in time if I had reason to emergency brake.  And so many do it at night that I wonder if they are afraid of the dark!

We ceased caravanning at the start of Covid.  It was amazing how many times I had a car tucked in close behind my caravan; totally out of view of my extension mirrors, and only spotted when there was a bend in the road.  No wonder many HGVs have a sign at the rear stating, “If you can’t see me then I can’t see you”.

[Cyker]

I just slow down and open a bigger gap in front when people do that to me; Usually they either back off or overtake me.

[APS]

On 8/5/2023 at 3:33 PM, Roy124 said:

When Sweden switched to driving on the right, many Swedes professed to preferring RHD cars ostensibly as they could drive closer to the edge.

Of course it might have been the old stock Swedish domestic RHD was less expensive. 

I  bought a RHD SAAB99 in 1971 and the headlights dipped to the right.  The SAAB Chief Engineer,  on holiday in Cyprus, didn't believe me until I showed him.

That should have been a car destined for a different market. Sweden was a LHD country in all but practice until the switch in '68. Pretty much all cars sold in Sweden were always LHD with the exception of the odd British make. But even MGs, Rover, Austin etc. were LHD. People were just used to driving on the 'wrong' side.

[Big_D]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

I just slow down and open a bigger gap in front when people do that to me; Usually they either back off or overtake me.

Same as me. I had one behind me today in a 30 zone. I opened up the space in front of me and ultimately slowed down to 25. They realised I wasn't gong to be intimidated and eventually backed off.

[Haliotis]

Now I have a C-HR, I’ve noticed an increase in the tailgaters, and also more oncoming drivers ignoring my presence when there is a cap parked on their side of the road.   This wasn’t so much the case when I. Had my VW Caravelle - a nice, threatening tow ball at the rear, approaching drivers facing a large vehicle and not being certain I was not a van.

I miss the Caravelle but, having given up caravanning, one cannot keep on running such an expensive vehicle just for the sake of it.  Although I can’t bring myself to remove a view of the Caravelle from my iPad Home Screen. 🥲