Driving in Scotland can be a challenge in other ways besides the obvious difference of driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Fortunately Aimee has an incredible road atlas put out by AA, the UK's equivalent of AAA in the US. It literally shows each and every road in the country, as well as the location of all the roundabouts. It was easy to navigate (IF you kept track of where you were and realized that each little lane was on that map...I didn't always do well). There are basically 4 types of roadways: (1) major freeways (blue in the atlas), such as the M8, M80, etc.; (2) "dual carriageways" (red) like the A9, A93, etc. These roads are well maintained 2 lane divided highways with occasional "crawler lanes" which allowed faster traffic to pass slower vehicles and passing places on the side of the road to pull off the roadway; (3) 2-lane highways (yellow) which are narrower with fewer crawler lanes and not divided; and (4) narrow single-track lanes (white) where there is not enough room for 2 cars to pass. When 2 cars approach from opposite directions, the first car that reaches a passing place must pull over and stop to allow the other car to pass. 
Our trip took us on all 4 types of roadways, but we seemed to travel mostly on the dual carriageways. Most of the roads in the Highlands were very narrow and VERY twisty and turny. It was necessary to always be alert to see if you were meeting other cars and be prepared to pull over.
Here are some examples of now narrow some of the streets could be. Some of the most gorgeous scenery was along the smaller roads. Driving through forests that came right to the edge of the road or farms and field with sheep and cows grazing right next to us was phenomenal, very beautiful and incredibly peaceful and idyllic.
Many bridges are only wide enough for 1 car so the streets were often painted with white lines (think cross walks) indicating who had to "give way" and who had the right of way. In some places, particularly when going under low, narrow bridges, there would be lights indicating who had the right of way.
Roundabouts are tricky until you understand how they work. For anyone not knowing what a roundabout is, it's a central island where vehicles travel around it in one direction. I'm not sure they would ever work well in the US with our rude drivers, road rage, impatience, etc. A driver must yield to cars already in the roundabout because they have priority. Then, you have to know what leg (street) you want to take off the roundabout in order to determine where you want to be in the roundabout, i.e., outer edge, inner edge, etc. If you are taking the first leg, you want to be in the outer edge; if you are taking the third leg, you want to be in the inner portion of the roundabout. I actually think they work well and traffic flows nicely.
Our trip took us on all 4 types of roadways, but we seemed to travel mostly on the dual carriageways. Most of the roads in the Highlands were very narrow and VERY twisty and turny. It was necessary to always be alert to see if you were meeting other cars and be prepared to pull over.
Here are some examples of now narrow some of the streets could be. Some of the most gorgeous scenery was along the smaller roads. Driving through forests that came right to the edge of the road or farms and field with sheep and cows grazing right next to us was phenomenal, very beautiful and incredibly peaceful and idyllic.
Many bridges are only wide enough for 1 car so the streets were often painted with white lines (think cross walks) indicating who had to "give way" and who had the right of way. In some places, particularly when going under low, narrow bridges, there would be lights indicating who had the right of way.
Roundabouts are tricky until you understand how they work. For anyone not knowing what a roundabout is, it's a central island where vehicles travel around it in one direction. I'm not sure they would ever work well in the US with our rude drivers, road rage, impatience, etc. A driver must yield to cars already in the roundabout because they have priority. Then, you have to know what leg (street) you want to take off the roundabout in order to determine where you want to be in the roundabout, i.e., outer edge, inner edge, etc. If you are taking the first leg, you want to be in the outer edge; if you are taking the third leg, you want to be in the inner portion of the roundabout. I actually think they work well and traffic flows nicely. 
1 comment:
I grew up and learned to drive on the east coast. We used to have what we called traffic circles, a.k.a. roundabouts, but they have since been phased out. I kind of miss them but they could be a bit hair-raising with our style of driving!
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