Solo vanners... driving on the wrong side of the road...

me to

delicagirl said:
Hi last year i went to France for a couple of months and drove on the wrong side of the road for the first time in decades. I knew as soon as i landed at Cherbourg that i was utterly terrified and i dont know what stopped me getting back on the ferry and going to Eire instead.. but i didn't. i set my satnav to no motorways and as i didn't have a deadline to get home for, i really enjoyed pootling about France on smaller roads. i did once accidentally end up on a motorway and could feel my heart thumping like a maniac.

what i am afraid of is joining motorways at an acute angle at a highish speed, without anohter pair of eyes to assist me.

Since last years trip i have added another rear view camera which was fitted at a very low level - but is wide angle is only really useful to see someone immediateley behind me. My habitation area and cab are fairly high (from my perspective - this is my first van) and there is definitely a significant blind spot in the middle of the cab when i am at an obtuse angle approaching a motorway.

normally i am a very confident driver and have driven the van up and some some insane roads, its just this lack of vision that causes me great fear.

i have 2 long wing mirrors one rear view mirror (i can only see lorries behind me) and 2 rear view camera screens....

i dont know how to best use them for joining a Mway...

How do other solo travellers do this ?
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Realising that you are on the wrong side of the road happens to us all, I'm sure.

I've done it twice recently, both occasions at the exact same junction in Adinkerke, 2 years apart, not connected with visibility but rather a odd road/junction layout.
Thankfully, no bad outcomes either time.

My Hymer is LHD with a serious blind spot on the r/h side, I have been planning on fitting a small camera on the underside of the r/h mirrror and feeding the cables through the sidewall and onto the dash. The Hymer mirrors are heated and electrically adjustable so there is an existing route for the additional cables.

I agree with you that these vehicle blindspots can be a nightmare, but short of stopping and getting out for a look-see - which is not realistic or practical, a camera seems to be my only option.

A travelling companion - other that my pooch, is a bit of an overkill, kind of a high price to pay over a camera and monitor.

james
 
My Hymer is also LHD so no problem in Europe at all, I have a large side window that I can see through when I pull out of a junction in the UK if the angle is wrong for the mirrors but that is very rare because it has large truck mirrors including a wide angle blind spot mirror on both sides
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It has never been a problem joining a motorway
 
thank you to the lovely julian for coming round yesterday and having the guided tour of the deli and for bringing me a mirror, and for suggesting different ways of improving my vision in other ways... there's nowt like a practical demo.... I'm having my mirror-rod-supporting arm area of the cab de-rusted in january so will then be able to revamp my visual aids.... many thanks everyone for all the ideas,
 
all the ideas and help given here and with julians visit has resulted in stage one of an improved vision....

i'd ordered a new glass for my passenger side mirror in the hope that it would be larger than the current glass which has been taped in for 3 years. !! When it arrived it was a lot smaller and no use for the wing mirror... but only about £6 so no big deal.

However .... it is almost the same size as my passenger side pull down sun vizor - so - i have taped the mirror to the inside of the vizor and when i pull it down it gives me perfect vision for my blind spot and hopefully will add another safety dimension for when i am driving in europe.... it obviously needs testing here first so will do so shortly.. but it looks like a promising heath-robinson solution !!

but in the new year when the wing mirrors fixing points are derusted there will be more progress....
 
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Yes, that 'Blind spot wide angle mirror' fitted on my new Trafic van, fixed to the passenger side sun-visor (doubles as a vanity mirror) is an unusual idea. Ideal for seeing to the left out of acute angled junctions.
 
yeoblade said:
Yes, that 'Blind spot wide angle mirror' fitted on my new Trafic van, fixed to the passenger side sun-visor (doubles as a vanity mirror) is an unusual idea. Ideal for seeing to the left out of acute angled junctions.
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and because i can angle the visor (towards the passenger door window) i can get to see a very wide area of road indeed so it will be useful in france.
 
just to finalise this.... the van went to Martock Panelcraft Ltd this week to have the rust removed and a new plate inserted to support the wing mirror support arm. The wonderful guys there also rebuilt my original passenger side plastic wing mirror, (it really was smashed and a bit was missing) and it looks brand spanking new... you could never tell it was smashed and it is no longer taped up !!!! YEA - This is a great body work shop which i would highly recommend. So vision restored.......
 
delicagirl said:
i dont quite know how to explain it any differently.

on UK roads i am absolutely fine. i have been driving for more years than i will disclose and have driven small trucks for living and my camper van is not large. in the van i have a rear view cab mirror which sees lorries behind me; i have 2 rear view camera screens on my dashboad (one camera is mounted at tarmac level and the other one on the roof) and a marvellous pavement mirror so i can see exactly underneath the front of my van for when i need to exactly fit into a parking bay for example i can see the white lines. With all these mirrors i can see behind me, in front of me, alongside me....

the question is

when i am feeding onto a french or foreign motorway at an obtuse angle.... i can see vehicles following me, or overtaking me on the slip road, but i cannot see traffic in the slow lane of the motorway (which i am feeding into) BECAUSE OF THE ANGLE
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I know exactly what you mean, and like others on here my husband says it the mirrors not positioned right, I dont agree with him, as it is only that angle, and if he is driving he relys on me to tell him if clear.
 
I have not read through all post but my answer, and one of the first things I fitted when I was single, was good parobolic mirrors. I was lucky the ones for Merc Sprinters had the same profile as my N+B mirrors, so just bolted on top.

One just has to get used to the fact that distance looks longer so one has to compensate.

They also give better downward vision for low vehicles alongside in one's blindspot in normal mirrors.

These are mandatory for modern trucks and in my opinion should be for MHs.

When pulling out/in I check both mirrors. Learnt this from driving trucks.

Geoff
 
nicholsong said:
I have not read through all post but my answer, and one of the first things I fitted when I was single, was good parobolic mirrors. I was lucky the ones for Merc Sprinters had the same profile as my N+B mirrors, so just bolted on top.

One just has to get used to the fact that distance looks longer so one has to compensate.

They also give better downward vision for low vehicles alongside in one's blindspot in normal mirrors.

These are mandatory for modern trucks and in my opinion should be for MHs.

When pulling out/in I check both mirrors. Learnt this from driving trucks.

Geoff
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Thanks.... my problem is not to do with the type of glass in different mirrors but Exactly what Cass has said - its the angle between the french motorway slip road and the motorway itself which is the problem when driving my RHD vehicle .... I have now got 5 different mirrors i can look in - but none of them are ideal if i dont have a passenger to look out of their window, but the mirror i have taped underneath my passenger windscreen visor can be angled as i can move the visor... so i have better line of vision. But driving on the "wrong" side of the road will always be a challenge....
 
delicagirl said:
just to finalise this.... the van went to Martock Panelcraft Ltd this week to have the rust removed and a new plate inserted to support the wing mirror support arm. The wonderful guys there also rebuilt my original passenger side plastic wing mirror, (it really was smashed and a bit was missing) and it looks brand spanking new... you could never tell it was smashed and it is no longer taped up !!!! YEA - This is a great body work shop which i would highly recommend. So vision restored.......
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God that must have been some tape i used to patch it up if lasted that long.:lol-053:
 
trevskoda said:
God that must have been some tape i used to patch it up if lasted that long.:lol-053:
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HA HA !!! Yes Trev - a great repair thank you..... i did add one or two more lengths of tape as the rain loosened a couple of bits - but basically Trev your repair lasted 2 or was it 3 years !!! it would still be there had the storms not pushed a tree branch out into the lane before christmas and i didn't see it so cracked the whole thing...
 
I get the missus to say when it's safe to pull out & overtake, haven't had a head-on......Yet!
 
I stay in the slip road

I drive more or less parallel to the main lanes and use the wing mirror.
and steer gently but positively into the 1st lane as soon as possible/safe
Only problem is if slip road is too short..
Butt remember (mainly) the other users are not going to deliberately crash into you
Busy roundabouts are a different problem !

The other problem is narrow roads and sharp bends in towns and village with big lorries coming at you..

Touch BOIS no collisions so far !
 
jagmanx said:
I drive more or less parallel to the main lanes and use the wing mirror.
and steer gently but positively into the 1st lane as soon as possible/safe
Only problem is if slip road is too short..
Butt remember (mainly) the other users are not going to deliberately crash into you
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Hopefully you indicate as well ...

In France it is worth remembering that the protocol for roundabouts is different.

Unlike the UK it is normal practice with a two-lane roundabout to use the right-hand lane when taking, for example, the third exit. Make sure you're indicating left as you enter the roundabout so other drivers know what you plan ... And of course indicate right prior to the exit you're taking.
 
POI Admin said:
Hopefully you indicate as well ...

In France it is worth remembering that the protocol for roundabouts is different.

Unlike the UK it is normal practice with a two-lane roundabout to use the right-hand lane when taking, for example, the third exit. Make sure you're indicating left as you enter the roundabout so other drivers know what you plan ... And of course indicate right prior to the exit you're taking.
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yes they do seem to go all around the roundabout in the 'outside' lane, little point in having the inner lane on most of them (but I use it :cool1:)
 
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