[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Bryson True: The Automatic-only licence is for people who exchange their licence because they've become residents of the UK. You are allowed to drive a manual on a US licence if you're just a visitor. (But if you get into an accident and admit that you had no experience of a manual vehicle, you're likely to have insurance problems.)

Well, I spent years driving a manual, but not for some time. I imagine my shifting skills would perk right up again. But I'd rather get an automatic if I could. However, I think someone mentioned once that there aren't all that many automatic-transmission cars in the UK to begin with. Is that true?

Which company are you using? We used to use Enterprise a lot, and they definitely allow you to specify automatic. If the company you're using doesn't allow for it on the website, do call the customer service number and be 100% sure.

I was trying to put together an online vacation package through British Airways, to go along with a great deal on a ticket that they had offered. If you book the rental car and hotels along with booking the ticket, you can get really good deals, according to their promotional claims.

So, it was the car-booking-section on the British Airways vacation planning site, and that's why it didn't offer much in the way of needed information (compared to a purely car rental company site). A shame really, because every American would have this concern about automatic vs. manual cars, I would imagine.

Enterprise used to do automatics in every class from B upwards.

Are you speaking of Enterprise in the UK, or in North America?

I suspect you'll adapt really quickly. In my experience, North America has a higher number of crazy drivers...but the UK has an antiquated road system - basically it's no worse, just different. My girlfriend (a Canadian) was perfectly fine after a couple of days.

Yeah, but there could be some harrowing moments in those first few days. Well, maybe I *am* expecting the rude and crazy drivers that I encounter here. The thing is, *here* one's reactions have to be lightning quick just to survive around all these wacko drivers. If I had to take a second to think about shifting, I'd be dead around here. So, naturally I'm expecting that there would be rude, impatient drivers over there too, who would hate someone in their way who might be fumbling around, or not knowing how to manage a roundabout.

Having said that, when my husband and I drove through Mexico City, he refused to drive, and handed the job over to me, because I had no fear. BUT... if I changed the direction of the roads, and the side of the car, and to the other hand, hmmm... a lot of change to contend with.

Many roads will be too narrow for stuff like that - but there are occasional parts where they widen as stopping places. All of the Motorways (Freeways) have a hard shoulder the entire way along.

I see these movies set in the English countryside, with cars driving fast down these roads that look like one-lane roads (I mean, one lane 'total', not one lane in each direction), with lots of curves and bends, and who knows when a car will be coming from the other direction. But maybe that's just in the movies.

Well, we have the original AA, and the RAC. But you should have breakdown coverage included in your car rental, if it's a reputable company.

Oh, okay. I have rented cars here in the States for three weeks at a time, but knew that my AAA would take care of me if problems occurred. (But AAA can give you no help in Mexico. You're just out of luck down there. )

Originally Posted by *Joe* In answer to Windswept, we have the AA (automobile association) and the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) Both of which will attend breakdowns, tyre changes etc... When you rent, the rental agency should give you a contact number for their Roadside Assistance service.

Okay, thank you both. I'll have to do some more homework to check all this out in detail.

Back to road rage:

There was an incident on the news a few weeks back showing a clip of two guys on foot, struggling on a jam-packed freeway. One of the guys was trying to throw himself under a car to commit suicide, and the other was trying to keep him from doing it. I tried to find the clip on youtube, with no success. Does anyone remember seeing that incident?