In the UK you are not allowed, anywhere, to turn left on red! Where there is more than one lane, and the left/straight-on lanes can continue, there will be a separate light for them. Either there will be a completely separate light, or there will be multiple green lights with arrows in them to indicate which lane is allowed to go.

The traffic light sequence goes "red, red-and-amber, green", unlike the US where it goes straight from red to green without warning. Use the red-and-amber to get the handbrake off and get in gear, else the guys behind (especially in cities) will start blowing their horns a nanosecond after the lights go green!

There's no 4-way stops in the UK. Where they do occur (mostly on side-roads due to bad planning), priority is not specified, so it's a case of "do you feel lucky?" :-)

In the UK, directions are often printed on the road surface, instead of being on signposts. This is especially the case for lane directions, for example, indicating which lane to be in at a roundabout, or on the occasional junction where the left-hand lane is only for turning left, and you must use the right-hand lane to go straight on. Make sure you keep an eye out for these - as my driving instructor said, "They don't just put them on the road for decoration." :-)

Unlike in the US, roads between towns are mostly extremely well signposted, even on country roads. In the US, you're on your own for navigation once you're off the Interstate, but Britain has signposts everywhere to tell you where you're going. The exception is in towns, where signposts to useful places like carparks may be few and far between.

Passing on the inside _is_ allowed, but only in the case that someone is already occupying the outside line and going at the same speed as the person in the middle lane. It's not good practice though, as it annoys and alarms ppl when you do it. It's best used as a way of indicating to a middle-lane hog that they should get back into the inside lane.

At least in MI, ppl drive very close together. This is not recommended in Britain - if you can read the numberplate of the person in front, chances are you're too close. Roads are often wet and slippery, and most Brits don't buy new cars so ABS is taking some time to become widespread. If you do tailgate someone, they may flash their foglights at you, or worst case (I know some ppl who do this) may deliberately slam on the brakes so that you come close to hitting them!

If you're waiting to turn right at a junction, ppl may flash their headlights at you. This means that they're stopping to let you turn. It's polite to wave to say thanks.

Just a few points to remember...

Graham.