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We've been back in Kentucky for 2 1/2 years after living on STX for more than 8 years. Yesterday I was at the back of the Kroger parking lot, headed toward the store when the car coming directly at me reminded me that here we drive on the RIGHT. Unfortunately, this was not my first time on the wrong side of the road. Or maybe I'm just getting senile.
when i go back to the states i get confused on which way to look. one time after picking up the rental at bwi, i was driving down the wrong side of the road for about a half mile before i noticed. it was easy to miss because it was about midnight and not a lot of cars on the road.
i was lucky that night. i think i saw another vehicle coming at me and it was easy to get in the correct lane
The worst/most dangerous is any time I've traveled to somewhere unfamiliar, that looks tropical. If it's got palm trees etc., my mind automatically seems to think I'm in the VI..so it's happened in Phoenix, and southern California, and Florida too. Scary at times. Parking lots anywhere are an issue though too, where I often have to think and remind myself where I am.
Years ago, we were back and forth all the time, and my kids wanted to learn how to drive and get a license in stx, since they figured they could then use the license to drive in the states for months afterward, when they were actually too young to get a license in the states. We refused though, for this reason among others. I figured if they learned how to drive on the 'wrong side' it would be their automatic revert-to position in any driving emergency.
If I ever move to the states, I'd probably have to take driving lessons just to get used to driving on the right and the higher speed limits.
I'd been here for several years before driving again stateside and went a few miles down a two-lane road on the left before an oncoming vehicle (my first thought was, "what's this ass doing on the wrong side of the road") jolted me. When I looked in my rearview mirror there were a few cars behind me staying WAY back ...
On the few occasions I get over 40MPH here I get a weird rush and the mere thought of being on a stateside highway again going 60+ is a terrifying one.
I rented a car in Tampa once to drive down to a friend's wedding in Crystal River.
It was terrifying. Haven't driven stateside since. At least now they have GPS's in cars
but trying to read a map, stay on the right, pass other cars at high speeds and figure out which lane you need to be in to make a turn and making the turn at an intersection on the proper side of the road was quite dauntiing and scary. I am a very good driver here in the islands but I'd be a menace, stateside.
