Being in London just 2 weeks, I’ve noticed some interesting differences between the roads in the US and the UK.  While I’m sure these aren’t all of them, these 5 are the most prominent in my mind.  Feel free to comment if you’ve got some more as this is by no means a complete list.

1: Driving on the Left This is perhaps the most obvious difference. I think it’s worth mentioning for a couple of reasons however. First, a surprising 1/3 of all the world’s people drive on the left; that is much higher than I expected. I think it would be interesting to calculate how much money could be saved from R&D, engineering, and manufacturing redundancies if the whole world were driving on the same side. Second, the history behind driving on the left is somewhat interesting. Most people are right handed and thus would use their sword with their right hand in the middle ages. Having traffic on the left made sense as you could draw your sword and use it more effectively when someone nefarious approached you on the right.

2: Zig-Zag Lane Lines

If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen those zig zag lines shown on the right and always wondered what they mean. Well, they’re the British equivalent of the yellow “pedestrian crosswalk ahead” signs.  I like the zig-zag system better for one important reason: they get noticed more.  With so many signs along roads, an absent-minded driver is less likely to notice just another sign in the US.  While in the UK, this alternate way of alerting the driver is less common that regular signs.  This means the driver is more likely to notice the upcoming crosswalk.  And that’s a good thing.

3: Red + Yellow Lights

This is my favorite of all.  Right before a light turns green, it will illuminate both the red & yellow lights.  It’s like the light is saying “on your mark, get set…” just before the green gives the “go!”.  This is great because it gives drivers that crucial extra second to put their car in gear, and return their focus to driving.  Not only is it more confortable for the driver to get this tip-off from the light, it surely improves traffic by reducing the lag time – the time between when the light changes and when the first car gets moving.  This is something the US should seriously consider implementing as cities continue to get more and more congested with cars.  Because even if it only shaves a second off of an intersection, multiply that by the thousands in a city, and the hundreds of times a day each light changes.  Now that’s some savings.

4: Smaller Roads Settled by the Romans, London wasn’t exactly designed with the type of civil planning that blesses Manhattan’s perfect grid.  This invariably means the roads are smalle than what Americans are used to.  I mean smaller in two ways.  One, there are fewer lanes, and main thoroughfares like highways and freeways.  Two, the lanes themselves seem to be on a diet compared to their American counterparts.  Combined with the much higher price of gas, the cars on average look like children compared to the behemoths that curse American roads.  So while you may have to be a little more patient driving at peak times, at least you don’t have to worry about a Nissan Armada or Ford Excursion crushing you like a pancake.

5: Congestion Charge

With smaller roads comes more traffic. So the city of London has been using a “congestion charge” to combat the problem, which also helps reduce carbon emissions. Basically, anytime you drive into the heart of London, cameras automatically process your car and charge you a fee depending on the day of the week and the time. If it’s a work day and during regular working hours, you’re gonna pay. I think this is a great way to incentivize people to reduce their driving and get them on public transit while raising money that can be used to improve public transit. I expect in the next few years, cities will have to start implementing a similar system while investing heavily in new public transit systems. What should be added to this list?  Comment below and let me know!