is it weird and difficult to get used to a steering wheel on the right?

[vash]

"asking for a friend".

auto transmission, at least. daily stuff, like driving around in the USA with the steering wheel on the right. awkward? jumping between left and right?

[LWJ]

I drove in NZ. It was odd. Worst part? I kept signalling a turn with my windshield wipers. Not kidding.

[speeder]

Yes.

[IROC]

One of the issues of a right hand drive in the US is visibility. Really hard to see traffic, etc. in some instances.

I had a left hand drive rental car in the Bahamas last December and had the same issues...

[vash]

yea. my question is more about getting it to work here in the States.

working the controls with odd hand i can live with.

[masraum]

I would think it would be something that you'd need to get used to, and some folks adapt to different situations more readily than other folks.

If you can drive a left hand drive car in the middle of a lane, then you should be able to drive a right hand car in the middle of a lane, but I suspect you'll want to do some driving in low traffic areas (after hours mall parking lot, industrial areas, etc...) in the beginning to pop your cherry before you start mixing it up in rush hour traffic at 60mph.

You can do it!

[GH85Carrera]

The hard part for me would be using a shifter with my left hand. I guess most rentals are automatics now days.

Making a turn for stop signs is hard for many people from what I hear.

Back in the days of being a kid, I rode with my new buddy's mom to the hobby shop to buy more model airplanes. She pulled out onto the road and was on the wrong side of the road. I had been raised to never correct adults, especially adults that I did not really know. I finally had to say something, and she immediately came to the right side of the road, and she thanked me. She had been living in Great Brittan for many years, and was still getting used to US roads.

[908/930]

As IROC mentioned, seeing approaching traffic while turning left if there is a truck approaching you also turning left. My 1971 BMW 2002 had the turn signal located on the right side of the steering wheel, it was strange driving other cars.

[911 Rod]

It felt comfortable in England for me because you drove in the left lane. Had to keep your wits about you when turning at an intersection.
I wouldn't want to drive it here in the right lane as you would have to be forever thinking about it.

[Bill Douglas]

It doesn't seem to worry me. I don't know why.

[ckissick]

I lived in London for a year, without a car. But I rode my bike a lot. Then I had to drive a Sherpa van to Wales for geology field work. I was used to driving on the other side of the road, but I had to be careful not to take out things on the left side of the car. Normally, we have less than a foot of car on our left. In England, I had about 5 feet of car on my left. Imagine how easy it would be to take out a row of mailboxes.

[Zeke]

I had a RHD '36 MG that I bought crashed because the driver, a USC student from the Middle East, folded up the left side to the point of turning the rear axle. I think that's when he stopped.

This was in the late 60's. I did repair it and sold it to a guy in the MG Club.

[p911dad]

I've only driven right-hand cars in the British Isles, not really a problem once you get the hang of it. My closest calls were in in small, rural village 4-way intersections where that little part of the back of my brain decided after stopping for the sign I should revert to USA style driving-not a good reaction by the locals!

[gacook]

"Over there" (Australia), it was very easy to adjust. The vehicle I was driving was a manual and even that wasn't really much to deal with. Driving on the wrong side of the road was a little more mind-bending but that was also not long to overcome.

Over here, I don't think the wheel being on the wrong side would be much cause for thought.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gacook

"Over there" (Australia), it was very easy to adjust. The vehicle I was driving was a manual and even that wasn't really much to deal with. Driving on the wrong side of the road was a little more mind-bending but that was also not long to overcome.

Over here, I don't think the wheel being on the wrong side would be much cause for thought.

The first car that my dad ever tried to teach me to drive was a manual trans car in Japan, so RHD, left hand shift. I don't remember any other details of the vehicle (which side of the wheel the turn signal was on, etc...).

I do seem to remember that no matter what the gas is always on the right and clutch is always on the left, at least.

[oldE]

You may find the relative position of the rear view mirrors a challenge for a while.

[unclebilly]

The best way to make this work is to get a large dog and make him wear goggles. The dog must ride every where with you in the front passenger seat.

Ideally you can find a way to make the dog wear a fedora hat too.

[Bill Douglas]

[herr_oberst]

Passing big trucks on the highway will be a thrill ride every single time!!

[herr_oberst]

(Tons of RHD JDM cars here in PDX, most of them are KEI sized, so highway passes in the mountains would actually never be an issue, but I have seen some RHD Land Cruisers and Motorhomes; I'd be pretty anxious on the open road in something like that.)