Driving tips

About to hit the road? Here are some quirks about driving in the UK you should know, first.

Miles and Kilometres

Weirdly, although they use the metric system most of the time, Brits still use miles on the road. Roughly convert miles to kilometres in your head by adding half the distance, then another 10%. For instance, if something is 60 miles away, it’s 60 + 30 + 6 = 96 km.

Generally, this is the speed limit for cars, unless you see a sign that says otherwise:

Some of the major roads have variable speed limits, which change depending on how busy the road is. These speed limits are shown clearly on electronic traffic signs.

Luckily, most cars will show both mph and km/h on the speedometre.

Understanding road signs

Before you get onto the road, take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with their weird road signs. Many of them are not particularly intuitive.

This sign, for example, a red circle with a red car on the right. What does it mean? Only red cars allowed in the right lane?? NOPE: turns out it means ‘no overtaking’. In general, red circle signs mean whatever inside is ‘not allowed’, so a red circle with a bicycle inside means ‘no cycling here’.

This sign below means ‘the previous special speed limit sign no longer applies, the speed limit reverts back to the default for this kind of road’.

I strongly suggest going over the whole list of road signs before you drive. It is also helpful to check what specific road markings mean.

You can find the whole highway code here, outlining all of the rules of the road.

Watch out for bus lanes and pedestrians

Watch out for bus lanes – most of them have cameras, and you’ll get fined for driving in them. Especially watch out for pedestrians waiting to cross the road at crossings. Pedestrians in the UK are fearless! They know they have right of way, and they will step out into the road without looking, and it’s your responsibility to stop. I can’t tell you how many British pedestrians I’ve nearly accidentally murdered at zebra crossings (conversely, on my visits home, I have had many brushes with death stepping into the street when the green crossing man appears, just assuming taxis will stop for me, ha).

Roundabouts

One of the most bewildering things about UK roads are their huge multilane roundabouts, sometimes chained together like a nightmare funfair of death. There are no consistent rules for which lane to be in; you just need to read the signs. Most multilane roundabouts spiral out so if you’re taking the final exit, you start in the innermost lane and the roundabout will force you one lane out after each exit, and sometimes there are traffic lights involved. With two-lane roundabouts, you can usually go left or straight from the left lane, right from the right lane.

I highly recommend watching a video explaining how roundabouts work before you try to drive in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koK_a4KYs-E

Pumping your own petrol

You'll find petrol stations outside many big grocery shops, and as standalone petrol stations dotted along major roads. Signs indicating petrol stations are usually marked as "Services".

If you come from a country where there are usually petrol station attendants, here's a video explaining how to pump your own petrol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlbFdQKuNWE