For those that drive European cars, does having the indicator stalk on the left feel absurd or is it something you get accustomed to very quickly?
Had no idea that some cars had the stalk on the left until recently, and I've only ever driven cars where the indicators are on the right.
Yep… but what you cannot get used to is having the stupid headlamp controls on the dash instead of the steering wheel.
You get used to whatever you drive for a while. Most of the cars I had driven recently are european, and then I couldnt find how to turn the light off from a Subaru… Forgot it was on the stick
i drove a euro van for half a day and stil got used to it
You definitely do get used to it.
And besides, if you buy a newish European car it will have Auto headlights (unless you bought a real POS)
You only get used to it, if you only drive that car.
If you swap between other cars then it's a pain in the ass.
Yep we had one car of each type, and the wipers were coming on every damn time you come to an intersection lol. Now we have both cars the same and peace is restored.
I have one of each and I only occasionaly make the mistake and even then it will only be the first time in that trip. You probably have worse things to worry about.
This
But if this stalk issue is a deal breaker for you if you buy a car, then you remove quite a range of interesting cars from consideration. Virtually all European and all American, leaving Japanese and some other Asian left to pick from.
In years past had many escort cars that had the blinkers and windscreen wipers around the wrong way, took a few days to get used to it then unless i drove an aussie car I never had a problem.
Same as when I toured Europe in the late 80's drove both left hand drive and right hand drive cars in Germany and UK you adjust pretty quickly
My first 3 cars were Mk2 Escorts and a Capri, it was the Aussie cars the odd ones out. Doesn't take long though.
You toured Europe in the 80s? I thought your career really only kicked off in 2003
You adapt pretty quickly.
The few times I’ve forgotten is usually when I’m switching between cars very frequently. (Multiple times a day)
99% of the time not an issue. I struggle more with the radio volume control and locating that between the cars.
I have cars with both sides. You get used to it very quickly.
Occasional stuff ups when in a hurry or distracted. 1 wipe is right. 2 wipes left
Simple way to fix the problem, don't use indicators at all! :D
Get a BMW.
It's part of the BMW owners way of life. brand-new indicators when they sell of their car. :)
But it's high yield
I'm a BMW driver. Can confirm that this is true.
I believe they must be an expensive option
Oh that's common here in Sydney.
OP is in Melbourne. Should move to Sydney! :D
yes that's the answer, just drive a BMW no one will worry about you :)
At first, you'll get the wipers or indicators!
But, you'll adapt pretty easily.
I may feel the indicator stalk before driving off, to get brain to adapt the side with the indicator. YMMV.
2 out of my 4 cars have been on the left. No long term issues. (Current car only has 1, left, stalk)
Swapping into my wife's car I'll often make a mistake but it's not a big deal.
It didn't take long to adapt to my car having the indicator stalk and wiper stalks on the wrong side. What I had trouble with is when I have to occasionally drive cars that have them on the correct side.
(I did have a crash in the racing kart when an emergency situation occurred. It has the brake on the left, and requires you to use your left foot. But I have no trouble with that if I'm deciding to brake, not my reflexes.)
Errr brakes are always on the left….you should probably learn to left foot brake anyway.
Most of our cars brake pedals are in the middle
.
Lol… A rarity nowadays.
Not wise if you drive a manual.
You should not left foot brake ever.
Unless you are in a race car
Heel toe.
I always did in automatics.
@Wardy: It's really bad form.
You should only ever be accelerating, braking, or doing nothing.
Left foot braking means you are likely to break and accelerate at the same time which is bad when just driving on the street.
Spot on, or you become one of those idiots who either drive around with their brake lights on, or put their car through a shopfront.
i adapted very fast, I pointed my 1st index finder out (on my LH obviously) as a reminder it's on that side and it never was an issue. OTOH as I got use to it, it'd be a nuisance jumping into another vehicle with it on the right and on some occasions back and forth multiple times on the same day would catch me out once at least.
"Mate, I was changing lanes… didn't you see my wipers on??"
Have 2 cars at home, work car and fun car. Outlander is on the right, Fiat is on the left. Muscle memory takes over and I flip the wipers on in the Outlander and the wipers in the Fiat. Every. Single. Time.
695 Abarth?
Had a loan car for a day while my car was being serviced - it had the wipers and indicators reversed. No-one knew where I was going but at least my windscreen was clean.
I recently had to drive my loan car (Non-Euro) -> my own car (Euro) -> loan car(Non-Euro) -> my own car over 3 weeks and found myself having moments when I was just like, is it left stick or the right stick?
I think I had picked the wrong one probably 4 times out of the 3 weeks, it happens more often when you have to switch between the two regularly but I reckon you should be used to in within 1 month.
rented a few euro cars, only happens the first few times. Easier if your're not regularly switching between euro/non euro cars.
to avoid the issue buy a BMW/Audi…….from real world evidence they don't use them at all.
Does your head in when you own 2 cars that are one on right and one on left and regularly drive either. Constantly select the wrong side and basically need to think each time I indicate 🤯 🙄
to avoid the issue buy a BMW/Audi…….from real world evidence they don't use them at all.
It’s one of those things. You kinda get used to it, but every now and then you’ll put the wipers on to turn, even after driving only one vehicle for ages. Just one of those little brain snaps.
My wife used to only ever have trouble driving my car which was ‘normal’ but didn’t mess up driving her parents car with indicators on the left. Her car was on the right too. She didn’t drive my car very often and only seemed to mess it up after driving her parents car, quite often a week or more before.
I learned to drive in the UK then came to Aus 5 years later so I went from driving a manual with the indicator on the left to an auto with the indicator on the right. Took about 30 mins to get used to the differences, you'll be fine.
It seems harder on modern european cars than old ones, because of the the design trend to make the left & right stalks feel the same (i.e. same height, same rotating switch on the end for wiper or lights). Older cars, like the Escort, had a square horn button on one stalk. After a while, your fingers feel the different shape of the stalk/button.
Having left indicator on a manual transmission car is a lot easier to adapt to. Coming up to a corner? Indicate, then change down, with the same hand. It is the lane changes on freeway/motorway that throws me!
P.S. When we replaced our stolen second car, I bought a European one so that it was the same left side.
Am I the only one here who has almost exclusively driven cars with the stick on the left?
Only car I'd driven with any regularity was the missus Barina quite a few years back which had the indicator on the right; and yeah, it took a little adjusting, especially if I was swapping cars on the reg.
Apart from that all cars I've driven have been indicator on the left, so I haven't really had the issue.
You’ll get used to your new stalk pretty quick
If this is your biggest problem right now I am certain you will have a fantastic Christmas. Lucky you 🙃
I have both and I do hit the wrong stalk every now and then but it happens far less often than you would think. I don’t really rate it as an issue and it most certainly would not sway my decision purchase on a car.
Yeah having both is a bit frustrating. Depends how often you swap cars I suppose
it's fine unless he have 2 cars and one is euro and one is Japanese.
or be a BMW driver and don't use them
or the wipers
or lights
lol
I've driven a Ssangyong, which had indicator on the left.
Not as much a problem as switching from automatic to manual, where you either stall as you coast down to a red light, or scare the crap out of the guy behind you when you hit the clutch pedal that isn't there to change down.
We have one manual, one auto. On a couple of occasions I’ve jammed on the brake in the auto when absent mindedly going for the clutch.
We have a euro and a Japanese.
Sometimes I hop in the VW multiple times over the weekend.
At the start it took a few cycles of using the indicator for it to stick. Now subconsciously if I hop into the euro I don't even think about it the indicators are on the left and the wiper stalk notches up instead of down.
It doesn't take long at all to acclimate.
After the first time each drive you'll get it right most of the time.
It drove me Nutz. I couldn't relax & I will never buy another like it!
Been driving European cars exclusively for the past 15 years after a few Japanese cars.
You'd adapt within a couple of minutes, just as you'll probably drive on the wrong side of the petrol bowser the first couple of times.
European manual car is slightly trickier, just gotta remember to indicate before you downshift.
It takes me a couple of goes to adapt back when driving a Japanese car.
I wish I was as ambidextrous at playing sports as I am indicating lol.
Will never get used to it ! So many times I've activated the wipers by mistake when turning.
Used to have left indicator stalk on manual car.
Annoyance would occur when I was holding food in my left hand, holding wheel with my right and wanted to indicate to lane change.
Yes, I know I shouldn't be eating and driving at the same time.
I also had left indicator stalk on manual car.
Food or drink was annoying. haha
I'm not condoning it but I'm sure someone would have mastered ciggie, food, shoulder to prop up mobile phone (before bluetooth), indicating and shifting.
Annoyance would be that I didn't want to have food stains or grease on my steering wheel, or it knocked food onto the floor. Hehehe
remind me of my uni days. use to skip gears to make it easier LOL.
I've often had to deal with it on hire cars, get used to it pretty quickly, to the point where I recently hired a Nissan Xtrail in Tasmania, and kept using windscreen wiper instead of indicator because it actually has the indicator on the right, the same as my own cars, but I was automatically using the other side because I was in a hire car - can't win.
Five years and still "wiping" when indicating right. Often but not always.
Not sure why is taking sooooo long to sink in.
Interestingly never ever confused when a left turn indicator is needed.
Perhaps the "natural" turning right movement mimics reaching the wipers and doing the wrong thing instead.
Not happy, for sure.
But no drama either.
Get used to it pretty quick, my previous car had it on the right, that was actually far more frustrating as my wife's car was on the left so I was constantly screwing it up in both cars.
Ha, turned out a lot of ozb is not using camry or corolla 😁
I bought a VW 15 years ago after driving a nissan for the previous 10 years, still, once a year or so, will hit the wipers instead. It will be the first intersection after getting in the car in the morning, and shows I was actually focused on something or someone else at the time.
Yes.
I've got a Kia and a euro. In all but stressful situations it's easy to.switch. If I have to react quickly in the euro then it's messy….
Usually after like 5 minutes of driving.
Yes. A few mins in and it feels like home.
Yes, it's a total non-issue. For a long while I would switch between a Euro and non-Euro car on a daily basis, and it made no difference at all. I think in 10 years there was probably two occasions when I went for the wrong side. And then it was only an attempt to high-beam some dip-s__t that resulted in cleaning my windscreen instead.
It is absurd that car manufacturers who produce for LHD and RHD markets chose not to produce market specific stalks.
But anyway we're human and adapt, just txt using your right hand.
would depend on the person …
id say generally takes 2-5 mins for most to learn that using the right would move their wiper blade/not to do it again
Ho Ho Ho
I have two cars. One euro, one Japanese. Left and right, no problems. Both manual
Look at this big guy 😂
Yeah nah
You get used to it
Sometimes you hit the wrong stick. No biggie if you head check before you turn. More of a problem if you indicate then kamikaze
I have both systems, and it takes about two seconds after hitting the wipers to reprogram my brain for the rest of the trip. Prefer indicators on the right, and maybe in future cars will allow a preference? I wonder whether a personal settings option is available in Tesla's or other "smart cars"?
Moved from a Honda to a Tesla. Easy adjustment.
Easy to get used to. The only problem is when i drive my wifes car often, i still engage wipers when turning occasionally.
I find the indicators are the easy bit, you might get them wrong occasionally but for the most part its pretty easy to adapt. The windscreen wipers on the other hand I get wrong more often than not with how infrequently you use them. I go between a Jeep and Mitsubishi semi-regularly.
Since 2007 I've had a Ford Fiesta, Fiat Panda and now a Renault Clio. At this stage it'd be massively disruptive and weird for me if the indicator stalk was on the right hand side..! I guess you get used to it .
You'll get used to it pretty quickly.
But I must say having indicator stalk on the right is quite handy. You can drive with one hand and use your fingers to operate the stalk (for right handed ppl)…
Yeah, that's why it's on that side - so you can use your left hand to change gears and still be able to operate the indicators.
European carmakers just got lazy/cheap with their RHD conversions, especially since most cars are auto now
About 5 to 15 minutes depending how many turns you make in that time
Unless you're consistently swapping cars, you'll get used to it.
It didn't help that the car I used for my driving test back in the day was a Daewoo Nubira, and that had the indicators on the left. It's a nerve-racking time trying to get it all right, without having to remember not to turn the wipers on!
We have a Discovery with LH indicator and a WildTrak with RH indicator. It is fine for the most part, however from time to time the wipers are definitely getting activated.
I’m used to the indicators, but I’ll still occasionally hit the wipers instead of the high beam…
One of each. Very occasionally I'll get it wrong. There's no reason why Euro cars can't have the indicators on the right except for penny pinching, plus idiots who think it is an exclusive thing they love. In a manual it makes it less convenient. I read an article in Wheels or Motor years ago by a motoring journalist who got caught out coming around a bend and instead of dipping his lights he sprayed his windshield instead making it even worse. He said it should be mandated here that indicators are on the right.
doesn't take long to get used to
more scary is driving on the other side of the road in the dark on an unlit unmarked curved road
first night from Australia with a rental car in New Orleans, I drove out of our hotel (which was just off a freeway four-leaf clover intersection) at night with my eyes adjusting to night vision, onto an tight curve which I was surprised to find was totally unlit and pitch black with no centre-line, and all I could see were headlights coming towards me around the curve, and couldn't see whether they were left or right of me (I could not see the road in the pitch dark) and I suddenly had a giant panic of OMG which side of those headlights should I aim to pass !?!?!?!
not only that, I also had half-fear that I was entirely on the wrong road and was going the wrong way up a freeway exit ramp so there'd be more coming around the bend …
that was a brown-out moment - a huge mass of fear of imminent head-on collision - until the car passed me on my left - and I was able to breathe again
It becomes second nature…. I can jump into a manual and think nothing of it
A bit frustrating but it's similar if you've driven in another country like the US. Takes about a month or so for your brain to get used to it.
How about getting used to an indicator stalk that doesn't stay up/down? (Tesla). Also it's on the left.
I had no problem transitioning to left stalk, and then back to right on my new cars. Turning on the windscreen wipers by mistake only happened a couple of times.
Better than having the gear shifter on the right
A bit frustrating at first, but you get used to it.