left hand drive vs right hand drive

sillybilly

hi all,

Looking to make a purchase of a camper. It will be mostly be for weekends around ireland. Perhaps at some stage I'll venture to Europe.

Do you think I should consider a LHD? How hard are they to drive? Do you need a co-pilot to help or could you go it alone?

Thanks

holyhutzpa

Somebody in this thread yesterday said that they now preffered LHD - it lets you guage how close you are to parked cars / the hedge more easily:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=86208345&postcount=28

I have it in a small vw size camper and I find it fine - the only difficulties are overtaking (which aren't a concern for me and my 1.6d engine) and the blind spot (which is huge, but that's what a co-pilot is for)

Aidan_M_M

I prefer Lhd, overtaking trucks is the only minor annoyance.

Macy0161

sillybilly wrote: »

Do you think I should consider a LHD? How hard are they to drive? Do you need a co-pilot to help or could you go it alone?

It's all personal I guess, but I've never had an issue driving a LHD van. We started off with a LHD T2 and are now on a LHD Motorhome. Overtaking is occasionally a bit harder, and I find I have to watch that I go straight up to junctions (rather than start the turn) if you are taking a left turn at a T junction to make sure you can see out of the right window if you're on your own. In a car or the t2 the natural thing is to start the turn and be at an angle at the stop/ giveway line, but you're able to see out of a rear window.

Not sure LHD would be my preference, but I wouldn't be willing to pay a premium for a RHD either!

runner2011

I have a LHD and honestly prefer it..sometimes pulling out onto a road can be easier with a co-pilot. if I was changing i would probably go LHD again.

kelbal

Majority of the time its fine, and like the others said it is great for judging how close you are to hedgerows etc. You do have to be careful how you position yourself at junctions sometimes though, especially sliproads - if you have the vehicle angled to the left, it can be difficult to see whats coming from the right. But if you have someone with you its grand. IMO, its not something to deter you though, you're very much limiting yourself by going RHD only

Martin_D

No sign of a RH only preference - as a leftie I'd go LHD again if changing. At home the LHD does assist in keeping to the left and the right side looks after itself. Co-pilot is undisturbed by the oncoming traffic when I expected that to be an issue. On continent the LHD means driving on the other side is intuitive and given that that is the unfamiliar part having the LHD makes it easier. The warnings about turning left at T junction in Ireland with a blind spot to the right should be noted. Ensure any blinds on your right side are down to maximise your view.
In summary left is right

niloc1951

I drive a LHD A Class which is probably the most difficult, except it's not difficult at all.

As has been said already many times, when at home just get into of the habit of approaching junctions and roundabouts so that you are positioned to see to your right through the passenger side window. It does require a good fast turn of the steering wheel and a fuller lock of the wheels as you move off as you are missing the bit of pre-turn we are all used to as we come to the junction when driving a RHD vehicle, for roundabouts it's just a matter of stopping a little further back from where you would with a RHD vehicle.

When in Europe the LHD becomes natural and is way better than RHD.

IMHO, LHD is way safer in Europe as the unconscious tendency to head for the wrong side of the road when exiting junctions, car-parks, service stations, etc. seems not to exist.
I do know from experience that when in Europe with a RHD vehicle it did require more concentration to avoid heading off down the wrong side and TBH it nearly did happen a few times :eek:, but never once in over 70K kms with a LHD

nailer8

I have a RHD camper and spent a long time looking for one because most were LHD. If you drive on the left your vehicle should be RHD end of story.

If being able to judge the ditch on the LHS was an advantage then why don't HGV owners buy LHD. They don't, you will almost never see an irish reg HGV in left hand drive. Any driver of a large vehicle should be able to judge the ditch/parked cars etc while sitting on the right, it's a basic skill of driving. We sit on the right in our cars/trucks/busses because thats the safest place to sit with the best visibility of the other road users around you.

Obviously if you do the majority of your driving in Europe then LHD is better, but other than that i think RHD is the only way i would go.

Irishgoatman

I'm in complete agreement with nailer8.
If most of your driving is going to be in a country where the left hand side of the road is the correct side then why go for a LHD ?.

Once you've driven the camper for a while you should be fully aware of its size and be quite capable of judging where the edge of the road is!
I drove coaches, in the U.K., for a few years and very quickly got used to jumping from a car to a coach without having to do much thinking about the width/length of the vehicle.

I was going to add that when in Rome etc, but anyone who's driven in Italy knows that to follow the Italians idea of driving is maybe not such a good idea.:D

kelbal

Irishgoatman wrote: »

If most of your driving is going to be in a country where the left hand side of the road is the correct side then why go for a LHD ?

Because there's far more choice when it comes to searching for a vehicle. We spent months looking for the right MH for us, and didn't come across any potential RHD candidates. Possibly wouldn't have one yet if that was a stipulation.

Irishgoatman

kelbal wrote: »

Because there's far more choice when it comes to searching for a vehicle. We spent months looking for the right MH for us, and didn't come across any potential RHD candidates. Possibly wouldn't have one yet if that was a stipulation.

Now that's a different thing entirely.

Sillybilly was asking the question from the point of view of driving and that's the way that both nailer and myself answered it.

stapeler

I've had both LHD and RHD, couldn't really see a huge difference, however I did manage to clip and unwind my awning twice on Irish trees while I wasn't paying attention.

here2surf

LHD all day long for me.

Macspower

I have my mind calibrated around the LHD . I've had it a good few years now and no probs for me...

and I hate tractors!!!!! grrr

RiderOnTheStorm

going for my C-class driving license (yeahh!!) and got great tip from the instructor on LHD v RHD.

He says that when you get into a LHD in this country, your first thought is always that this is different/wrong, and you will be carefull all day. Then if you bring your LHD CV to the continent, you are on the 'right' side of the road, so added bonus.
When you drive a RHD here, everything is the same (same as your car, same as every day you drive), then if you bring the RHD to the continent, you might be carefull as long as you can, but one day your mind might drift and as you are driving the same side of the CV / car as you always are, you might go to the left side of the road out of habit. Also easy do if you are the only one around, and no traffic to guide you.

dowtchaboy

I have a LHD and am quite happy with it, for all the reasons given above. Yes the copilot does get scared on occasions if I pull out with a truck coming, and I can stray out a bit if tired - we can work that out with some mutual tolerance.

There is one big disadvantage to LHD in Ireland though, especially if you have kids - the door to the living space opens out onto the traffic, not the path, assuming you park on the left. In fact if I have the choice I prefer to park on the right so the door is to the path, and because I have a clearer view when I am pulling out.

At the cheaper end of the market there is a much greater selection of LHD vans though there is a subtlety newcomers might miss - few small Continental vans have ovens, and none have grills - whereas "UK" spec vans always have grills. But then too many cheese toasties and burnt sausages are bad for you and will smell out your van. A baguette and a glass of wine is much much better!

Irishgoatman

And a baguette and 2 glasses of wine better still:).

kelbal

dowtchaboy wrote: »

the door to the living space opens out onto the traffic, not the path, assuming you park on the left.

This has never been a big deal for us at all. Most of the time you're aiming to park in a car park, I tend to avoid parking on the street. And if I do, the kids just come through the cab and out the drivers door. I don't think its enough of a reason to avoid LHD

niloc1951

kelbal wrote: »

This has never been a big deal for us at all. Most of the time you're aiming to park in a car park, I tend to avoid parking on the street. And if I do, the kids just come through the cab and out the drivers door. I don't think its enough of a reason to avoid LHD

Remember RHD vans from European manufactures usually have their habitation door on the original LHD side. It's only UK manufactured vans have their habitation door on our 'nearside'

pastense

Its LHD for me. At home its just the overtaking on a single carriageway and some T junctions. Otherwise its better.
A dealer I met in Ireland knocked LHD to devalue the trade in but as that's a rare thing nowadays its nothing to be concerned about.
As France and Germany are choc a bloc with campers, and some day it will be easier to trade there, RHD wouldn't be much good.

niloc1951

pastense wrote: »

Its LHD for me. At home its just the overtaking on a single carriageway and some T junctions. Otherwise its better.
A dealer I met in Ireland knocked LHD to devalue the trade in but as that's a rare thing nowadays its nothing to be concerned about.
As France and Germany are choc a bloc with campers, and some day it will be easier to trade there, RHD wouldn't be much good.

If you have a LHD there is no problem using it as a trade in in Europe. About five years ago I was offered a deal in Germany against a new Carthago which was going to save me the best part of €20k against doing a trade in for the same make /model here, but in the end I decided not to follow through

Animord

sillybilly wrote: »

hi all,

Looking to make a purchase of a camper. It will be mostly be for weekends around ireland. Perhaps at some stage I'll venture to Europe.

Do you think I should consider a LHD? How hard are they to drive? Do you need a co-pilot to help or could you go it alone?

Thanks

I drove my LHD from Galway to Cork the other day for the first time driving in Ireland and had no problems at all. It is like anything else, you get used to it.