First time driving in USA, I'm very nervous!

[nursejackie]

UPDATE: Well I did it, I actually drove in the USA for the first time ever. Not only did I drive in Disney (we stayed on site) I also drove, by myself, outside the bubble to the mall and supermarket several times. I can't believe I waited so long to do it, it was easy and I worried for no reason. Here's to many more years driving in the good old US of A

 

[Gary M]

Good for you.

 

[kj2mom]

That's awesome!! So glad you did it and found it easy! Great job! Hope you had a fabulous trip!

 

[LisaS]

Well done! I hope you had a great trip.

 

[AngiTN]

Wow, you are a brave woman. I can't even bring myself to drive around Disney. Makes me a nervous wreck and I've been driving in the US for 40 years!
I mean it, I'm honestly impressed.

 

[Woodview]

Now that you have driven in USA next go & drive in Europe

Fly to Amsterdam , Brussels , Paris , best of all Munich ..... & on to Austria ( June onwards )

 

[karen1987]

The best advice we received about driving on the right-hand side, was to, as the driver, always be closest to the central reservation line. This helped tremendously when turning onto new roads and at junctions! Initially driving out of the airport was nerve-wracking as hell, but after a few hours and eventually days, driving on the right-hand side became just as normal the left-hand side.

Overall, we found drivers in the USA to be fairly conscientious, but we felt they were travelling quite above the speed limit most of the time and didn't use their indicators (blinkers) when moving lanes on the highway! Just keep your eyes peeled and keep up with the traffic and you'll be fine. If you miss the exit, so be it, just chill and exit at the next one.

Having a Sat Nav and/or Google Maps available on your phone were a massive help as signage tended to be hard to read (small writing) and too close to the turn off sometimes, which made us miss our exit!

Overall, just remember to stay closest to the central reservation line and you'll be fine!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

The best advice we received about driving on the right-hand side, was to, as the driver, always be closest to the central reservation line!

You had to drive all the way to Tampa? Where Disney's central reservation call center is located? Joke that is. Not much of one. Here, the central reservation's the "median." Two people separated by a common language.

 

[karen1987]

You had to drive all the way to Tampa? Where Disney's central reservation call center is located? Joke that is. Not much of one. Here, the central reservation's the "median." Two people separated by a common language.

Ha ha! Point taken! Thanks for that! :-D

 

[nursejackie]

The best advice we received about driving on the right-hand side, was to, as the driver, always be closest to the central reservation line. This helped tremendously when turning onto new roads and at junctions! Initially driving out of the airport was nerve-wracking as hell, but after a few hours and eventually days, driving on the right-hand side became just as normal the left-hand side.

This is exactly what I did every time I turned at the lights or at junctions, I made sure I was closest to the centre of the road.

 

[nursejackie]

Wow, you are a brave woman. I can't even bring myself to drive around Disney. Makes me a nervous wreck and I've been driving in the US for 40 years!
I mean it, I'm honestly impressed.

You may be aware we drive smaller cars over here in the UK (mainly because gas here is almost 3 times the price than in USA) so when we collected a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV I started to panic, it took until the 4th day out of a 16 day stay to have the courage to drive it. We set off from AKL at 6.30am and an hour later we returned to collect the others and I drove non-stop from that point. It took me another few days to risk going outside into the real world but managed that too. I'm driving in Spain this summer before heading back to WDW in December. This year though I have to drive from the airport so that's my next challenge.

 

[karen1987]

This is exactly what I did every time I turned at the lights or at junctions, I made sure I was closest to the centre of the road.

*Thumbs up* Well done for driving over there! It's nerve-wracking first off, but now the USA is your oyster! :-D

 

[floozy]

Well done! This is reassuring! We are driving for the first time in the US too next week.. We are staying offsite and have young kids so needed the flexibility..

 

[nursejackie]

Well done! This is reassuring! We are driving for the first time in the US too next week.. We are staying offsite and have young kids so needed the flexibility..

Only just checked thread and noticed your comment. How did you get on with your driving? I hope you were as comfortable as I was after the initial nerves.