Eric Takabayashi  <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote:
>school anyway, to get used to right hand drive cars. At least once during trips
>home, I'll either turn on the wipers going for the turn signal, start the car
>by turning into the wrong lane (empty of course or I'd notice), or do both. The

I drove a right hand drive car this last trip to Japan.  Turned on
the wipers several times when going for the turn signal, and
couldn't get the hang of where the gear shift level was
(column-mounted) to get the car out of park.  But having to shift
a manual with my left hand would be a bit weird.

Are the gears in the same place as in left-hand drive cars (ie,
1st is left) or is 1st on the inside?

>local taxis. At the Licensing Center, I twice had to use Mitsubishi Lancers,
>which were much lighter, had way too much play on the clutch and jerked and
>lurched horribly if the shift was not almost perfect.

That's why Japan's practice of having you use their cars for the
test seems a bit weird.  Nobody drives like a genius sitting in a
different car for the first time -- it takes a couple hours
driving to really get a feel for the clutch, and the brake, and
for how much gas you need to give it, and how the steering wheel
will react.

On the other hand, it is a good test of how the person performs in
an unfamiliar car, something which I suspect that licence holders
in Japan do more often than ones in North America.

-- 
 - awh
   http://www.awh.org/