ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Small things that make you chuckle

My boat just rolled 1776 on the hour meter. We slowed, manned the rail and rendered a sharp hand salute to my neighbor's flag pole.
(American flag over the USMC colors) Ooo Rah!

No, only had this one since last year, but it's a U.S. model, of course (built in Louisville Ky.). The Bronco / Bronco II have never been sold in U.K. versions.

I don't find it a problem at all, but then I've had American vehicles here for years (since before I ever went to the States). In fact I may well have driven more miles here in LHD than in RHD!
At one point I think I went about 8 years without driving any sort of RHD car at all.

You do get used to things though. I drove a neighbor back home in his Land Rover a while ago. Started off fine, very conscious of being in a different car with controls on the opposite side, but a little way down the road I did try to change gear with the door handle -- Much to the amusement of my friend, naturally!

I occasionally have a "senior moment". I get into the car, shut the door and then find there's no steering wheel!

Where the controls are is not even standard here. I have two Fords amd a Honda. The wiper switch is either on the dash, right steering stalk or left steering stalk depending on which I am in.

I did that once too a few years ago. First time I'd driven a RHD car for ages, parked in the street, went about my business, then came back and quite happily jumped in the left hand side only to find...... Oops! No steering wheel. You then have two options (bearing in mind this was a busy High St. with lots of people around). Do you get out and walk around to the other side so everyone knows you goofed, or do you sit there for a moment and pretend to be sorting out papers in the glovebox?

I like the wiper switch on the dash where it is on almost all older models, but on my Bronco II it's on the left of the steering column, behind the turn-signal switch.

The latter varies form car to car here these days. In the "old days" British RHD cars had the turn-signal switch on the right of the steering column. Now it seems that all of the British/European models put it on the left of the column, even though it's a RHD car. Japanese models, on the other hand, seem to keep it on the right.

My guess is that because RHD cars are the norm in Japan that they've kept their preferred location for domestic sales and thus use the same switch arrangement for exports to the U.K.

European models, on the other hand, are really only sold in small quantities for the U.K./Irish market, and they can probably save a few pennies by just using the same left-hand switch arrangement even on RHD models.