Who Put the Steering Wheel Over Here?

Have  you ever been kind of zoned out and gotten in on the wrong side of your car? No?  If you ever live in Japan, I guarantee you will.  Our school provides us with a little Mazda to drive.  Our first driving lesson was a kick in the pants. 

First, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. D'oh.

Second, the gearshift and pedals are laid out the exact same was as in our car, so first is up and away, reverse is back and close.  Left foot: still the clutch.  The blinker and windshield wipers, those are flipped.

Third, the roads are narrow.  Two lane highways are about one and a half of our lanes.  Other two way roads are about one to one-and-half lanes.

And last but not least, our car had a loose hose (we found out this week) that made it underpowered and jerk incessantly in first and second gear.

It's okay.  No one died.  A turn or two might have been made into the oncoming lane.  More than a few turns were indicated with nothing more than a cheerful wave from the windshield wipers.

The biggest saving grace with learning to drive was that the top speed limit is 50kph.  That equates to 31 miles an hour.  I finally figured out why Japan's government didn't want to question the president of Toyota.  Over here stuck gas pedals only led to a few medium speed collisions.

The only place the speed limit is higher than 50 kph is on toll-roads.  There it can be up to 100 kph.  Do the math and that adds up to 62 miles an hour.  Wheeeee.  We're flying now. 

Honestly, my fear of being pulled over in a foreign country where I don't speak the language is already being pressured by the desire to get where I'm going while the sun is still up.  Going 10 kph over is only 7 miles an hour.  Oh well.  I'll buckle down and drive safe.

I better sign off.  I need to putter off to the grocery store.