The Open Road

We made the trip along the M62 to see Nanny and Grandad yesterday and what a pleasure the journey was. I'm guessing that most people in the UK take considerate, predictable driving by fellow road users for granted but not so those of us who've lived in Asia for the past 8 years. A flash of headlights by another motorist means 'I'm coming through!', not, 'Go ahead please...'. Any space will be jostled into and traffic lights are considered to be mere colourful distractions so it's always necessary to check, look and check again before making any sort of turn. When I first started driving in Taiwan, I was determined to maintain high standards but it very quickly became clear that if I was to be staunch in that ideal, no journey would be succesful in terms of time taken to travel and stress levels at the end of it. And so slowly the metamorphosis began and I whilst I sold my soul to the Roadrules Devil, I managed an accident free, mission accomplished Asian driving career.

The downside is of course, that when come home for our UK break, I must revert back to a more gentile and responsible manner behind the wheel which is easier said than done. I have to contend with a manual car after driving an automatic all year, resulting in many an attempted corner turn in fourth gear. I really do have to stop at red traffic lights even if I am turning left, and there are absolutely definitely no oncoming cars. I have to remember that it's considered polite in this country to actually let cars join the stream of traffic even if the cost is two seconds added to your journey. The most challenging mindset change is having to remember that when entering a roundabout, I must wait for a clear gap because the drivers already going around will not tolerate having to stop for me because I'm not prepared to wait my turn. It's all a bit of a struggle but as I'm getting used to it all again, I'm happy to declare that it is actually much less stressful to drive when the rules are being followed by all motorists, not just me. The next challenge will be getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road in Dubai, but just for now I'm enjoying a little bit of civilisation.