Driving in Scotland

Why do people in the UK drive on the left side of the road with their steering wheel on the right side of the car?

British drive on the left side on the road because of the past. Indeed, most people are right-handed , our ancestors wore their swords on the left leg for the chopping easily . When the horse became the mode of locomotion for the nobles and men of arms, the use of left-hand traffic lasted for the same reason . So when two Knights crossed their swords could not touch. What should have been clearly interpreted as a provocation duel.

Then when cars were invented, they keep this way and placed the steering wheel on the right side of the car to enable driver to take care of crossing cars.

Indeed, it would be easier if every country would have the same rules of driving, with same road sign and Highway Code. For example, if I want to rent a car, I have to learn all rules in this country. If I want to bring my car from France I also have to adapt myself to the conversion of speed. Here it’s in miles per hour while in France it’s in km/h.

Once we go out from the city of Edinburgh, we are on the highway were the speed is limited to 70 mph. Moreover, in the UK, there is 20% less people who died on road, it means that people drive maybe more carefully, the rules may be better or maybe the type of road is safer. In fact there are less people on highway than in France.

Moreover, people in the city use a lot of buses and tram to move in the city. For example, there are not private cars on Princes Street. Only Tram buses and Taxis are allowed to go there.

The signalization is not the same either, in France we don’t have road sign for elderly people and traffic light also doesn’t pass from the orange to the green. I think it is a good thing how the light moves. Because people can be prepared to start so there is not waste of time while the green light is shining. 

In France, I am a membership of Enactus, an entrepreneurship association and my project is about road safety, that’s why I also chose this subject. The project consists of launching an application on smartphones to teach to young people good manners, like how to cross the street.

Pubs

Indeed, in France we don’t have pubs, we only have bars.

What are the main differences between pubs and bars? First of all, you are not allowed to enter in a pub if you aren’t 18, that’s why there is often a security guard at the entrance of famous pubs. Whereas in France you can enter in a bar but are not allowed to drink alcohol.

Then inside, in France, the main thing that you can do while savouring your drink is to play lottery or stuff like this. Here, in Scotland, you can listen local groups playing music, in a friendly atmosphere. As a consequence you stay longer inside and drink more thanks to the affordable price with student card. Moreover, in Edinburgh, there are a lot of local beers, like innis gunn or Deuchard.

Grassmarket

I remember when I went in my first pub in Scotland, it was after the first day at school where I met German people. We went in a pub in George Street, the Standing Order. The atmosphere was pleasant because of a football game retransmitted on giant screens. But it was quite expensive and it was quite big inside so we moved to a smaller pub in Rose Street where people were happily playing music.

 Later in the month I discovered Grassmarket during my first pub-crawl, but I’ve still not gone to every pub in this place. I used to go to Biddy Mulligans or Finnegan’s in Victoria’s street, where people are friendly, laughing, and speaking loudly. I think these three last elements miss in bars in France and they are what make the difference between a bar and a pub. 

Kilts

I went in a big shop near the castle where we can find a lot of tartans, whisky and bagpipes. There I saw how tartans were created. It’s a complex noisy machine who weaves many cords.

The kilt is worn in Edinburgh only for international events like rugby games or in the street while someone is playing bagpipe, for example, on the Royal Mile. I heard that in the Highlands, people usually wear these, but unfortunately I haven’t gone in this part yet. I am planning to go there for a weekend at the beginning of april. So I will get the truth at this moment.

 I want to buy myself a kilt and now, since the class about tartans, I know what the color means and I’ll be able to join my kilt with the clan. I will buy a cheap kilt, because a traditional kilt is a kilt made from Scottish worsted wool, using 8 yards of heavyweight tartan cloth, hand stitched, hand pleated and it’s quite expensive.