UK Car Hire Destination Guide

Car hire is widely available throughout the UK from all the major car rental companies. The UK is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. About one quarter of this total population live in England’s prosperous South-East, with more than 7.5 million people living in the Capital, London. This means it can be quite busy!

The rest of the country is less chaotic and so travellers to the UK often fly into the South East, to popular airports like Heathrow and Gatwick, then hire a car to take them off exploring the rest of this diverse landscape.

Driving in the UK
If you’re planning to rent a car while in the UK there’s some basic information you’re going to need to get you on your way. Firstly, and quite importantly get ready to drive on the left hand side of the road. This is different to most other countries so could take some getting used to. This means that you should always overtake vehicles on the right, and give priority to traffic coming from the right at roundabouts (traffic islands).

It is now illegal to use a hand held mobile phone while driving anywhere in the UK, although you can still use hands free equipment.

If you hold a full driving licence in your own country (and have held that for a minimum of 1 year), you should be legal to drive on British roads. If you’re unsure about this, it’s worth checking with your rental provider at time of booking.

Motorways in the UK are prefixed with an ‘M’ and, once on a motorway, all the direction signs are blue. This is distinct from direction signs on minor roads which are green. Most roads in the UK are toll free although there are a few notable exceptions, those being:

The Severn Bridge (M4) from England into Wales
The Humber Bridge (A15) from North Lincolnshire to Hull
The Dartford Tunnel (M25) East of London
M6 Toll – A new section of the M6 designed to reduce congestion at peak times

All these toll roads are clearly signposted in advance so you should have plenty of time to decide whether or not you want to pay to use them or find an alternative route.

Speed Limits
Speed limits in the UK are rigorously enforced by the police. There are also a huge amount of speed cameras on all types of road. You have been warned!

The common speed limits are 30mph in built up areas, 60mph on single carriageways and 70mph on dual carriageways and motorways. Wherever there is an exception to this rule it’s signposted. Also take note that it’s MPH (Miles Per Hour) as the UK has yet to convert to the metric system of km/h (Kilometres Per Hour) used elsewhere in Europe.

Drink Driving
There isn’t a total ban on drinking and driving in the UK but the limit is quite low (currently 80mg) so it’s not worth taking any risks. It’s not recommended to drink at all when driving.

Avoiding the Rush
With such a dense population, UK roads often become congested with traffic jams, sometimes lasting hours. To avoid these try travelling outside of rush hour times (8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm), particularly in the South East.

Also, the UK is very busy in the summer months so you might want to consider coming a little earlier or later in the season when traffic is a little less busy.

Weather Conditions
The weather in the UK is highly unpredictable, even in the heart of summer, so always take that into account when planning a journey. The song “Four Seasons In One Day” could well have been written about the British weather so don’t forget your umbrella!

Related Links
• Rental Locations : A guide to destinations throughout the world
• Visit Britain : Official tourism web site for the United Kingdom
• Highways Agency: Government site about the UK transport infrastructure include traffic news