Whose driven on the left side of road? Any timely tips?

[Carter Turk]

Made it to Queenstown after 15 hours of flying.
Got the rental car, probably drove about 25 miles so far, & hit the windshield wipers 3 times instead of the turn signal.
Otherwise, driving on the left is fine. Seen some Indian Baggers, BMW GS's, V-Stroms, 1 92 CBR 900RR & others.
Had to pay a huge duty for my chewing tobacco habit. Oh well, I already purchased & packed it & it flew 5000 miles, couldn't just throw it away. Ha ha!
The crosswalks are a bit weird, so have to watch out for pedestrians in this touristy town.

Just missed the Burt Munro festival by a couple days, but noticed the 2nd round of the NZ Superbike series is stopping at Levels Raceway.

20250211_155638 by Carter Turk, on Flickr

[argonsagas]

Everyone knows Americans drive on the right side of the road, but it does not happen in all parts of America.

In the coagulated states it does, but if you journey south to the US Virgin Islands you will find you drive on the left side of the roads.....but that comes with another twist, as all the rental vehicles, as well as those owned by locals, are left-hand drive.

And....they do have some sharp corners and your driving position means you have to enter them almost blindly.

[Pantera Mike]

Driving a manual shift car, my right hand was practically black and blue from smashing the door panel reaching for the shift knob which of course was on the other side….

[argonsagas]

The main thing is to keep your body in the center of the road. . If you're flying by mailboxes and parked cars up close and personal you are on the wrong side. When in traffic you can follow others and feed off the cues. But out in the country, it can be tricky - you pull out of some side road and onto the main highway, and everything seems OK, but it could be disastrous.

That is quite true. and a second part is what to do when you are a pedestrian.
This is what can happen, when you do not adjust to local conditions.

I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with death a few years ago when the wife of a diplomat from Pakistan was visiting Canada with her husband and family.
She wanted to cross a main street in downtown Toronto and, as per her usual habit in Pakistan, she looked to the right for oncoming traffic There was no traffic, so she stepped onto the road....directly in front of a passing bus..

[Carter Turk]

Well...survived driving on the left for 2 weeks in a Toyota Highlander on the South Is. & a Ford Everest Diesel on the North Is.
Hit the windshield wiper under 10 times, instead of turn signal. Had 1 Toyota Camry try to merge into me after two lane round-about.
The Everest had only 900 kms on the clock when we rented it.
Petrol stations have the opposite color nozzle for gas n diesel. Never have I filled up diesel in a personal vehicle, except for a forklift in Alaska.

Also, all the beeping, automated steering, reverse cameras (with more beeping), were super annoying, seeing the newest vehicle I drive is from 2002.
The Highlander has hologram speedometer, floating outside of the windshield at night. What? I fake beep my manual non key fob 91 vanagon when I have to turn the key in the slot to get in.
Imagine that.

When I got to the airport back home to pick up our car, I hit the wipers instead of the turn signal. Aha!

My son survived the NST (Natural Selection Tour), only 10 of 17 men competed & 4 of 10 women competed due to course injury, broken femur, shoulder dislocation etc.

Saw this cool truck too. What an amazing country!

IMG_20250225_184646 by Carter Turk, on Flickr

20250215_133843 by Carter Turk, on Flickr