Learning to Drive in America When Everything Is on the Wrong Side

The road is on the other side. The steering wheel is on the other side. Even the seat belt feels wrong.

Six months after moving to America, I walked up to our car, opened the right-hand door and prepared to get into the driver’s seat. Except there was no steering wheel.

So I closed the door, walked around the car and pretended nobody had seen anything.

Muscle memory is very real

South Africans drive on the left. Our steering wheels are on the right. After years of driving one way, switching everything around is surprisingly disorienting. Even now I’ll sometimes reach for my seat belt with the wrong hand.

We didn’t buy a car immediately

For the first few weeks we used public transportation. It helped, but everyday family life took a long time that way. Eventually we bought our first American car and got serious about driver’s licenses.

The knowledge test introduced us to American English

I passed the knowledge test on my first attempt. Eben needed several tries. In our experience, terminology was part of the problem. After one attempt he came out and asked, “What does yield mean?”

We understood the concept of giving way, but “yield” wasn’t the road terminology he was accustomed to. Eventually he passed—and then passed the practical driving test on his first attempt. So did I.

The freeway was another story

The freeway terrified me at first. Everything felt wrong: sitting on the other side of the car, driving on the other side of the road, cars merging from unfamiliar directions.

But you drive. Then you drive again. Eventually your brain adjusts.

Now it’s normal. Mostly.