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Matchbox No.38 Jeep

Thanks. Now a larger question. What happened in England when a multitude of North American vehicles of different sizes driven by American military personnel shewn up before the mainland Europe invasion? Were there many vehicular accidents? I myself never drove on the "other" side and probably would crash in London.
 
a-left-hand-drive-jeep.jpg

Other drivers were warned by a warning painted on the cars or trucks to stay far away enough of them !


Yoda
 
Thanks. Now a larger question. What happened in England when a multitude of North American vehicles of different sizes driven by American military personnel shewn up before the mainland Europe invasion? Were there many vehicular accidents? I myself never drove on the "other" side and probably would crash in London.

Wartime vehicular accidents are not something that I’ve read about or heard off. They could just as easily have happened to British drivers not used to operating left hand drive US lend lease vehicles.

Having driven a modern right hand drive car in mainland Europe, and a wartime left hand drive Ford GPW in the UK, neither was much of a problem being on the wrong side of the road. The main issue I found with driving a wartime left hand drive vehicle in the UK is not having a turn signal when turning right.
 
Thanks. Now a larger question. What happened in England when a multitude of North American vehicles of different sizes driven by American military personnel shewn up before the mainland Europe invasion? Were there many vehicular accidents? I myself never drove on the "other" side and probably would crash in London.

It's a good question. Most accidents were caused by the night time black out where all house lights were covered and street lights turned off to make navigation harder for German aircraft. Most vehicles had bumpers (fenders) painted white, headlights were shrouded so about 20% of the light actually got onto the road. If German aircraft were about drivers often stopped and let the raid pass over before starting their journey again.

You also have to consider that private car ownership in the UK at that time was far rarer than in the USA. Maybe 5% (my estimate) of people had cars and most people used public transport to get around. People were must less mobile, petrol (gas) was strictly rationed, even for people in the forces. Buses often ran with hydrogen gas balloons on the roof instead of using standard fuel.

The UK was probably a big shock for the US troops over here for the invasion.

John
 
Strangely enough , the highest number of RTA deaths pa in the UK , 9000 , occurred before US troops arrived . The year was 1941 & when you consider there were only about a couple of million vehicles & most weren't being used a lot , is a horrendous figure . RTA deaths now average less than 2000 pa with infinitely more vehicles covering vastly greater distances . At least some aspects of modern times are an improvement !
 
Strangely enough , the highest number of RTA deaths pa in the UK , 9000 , occurred before US troops arrived . The year was 1941 & when you consider there were only about a couple of million vehicles & most weren't being used a lot , is a horrendous figure . RTA deaths now average less than 2000 pa with infinitely more vehicles covering vastly greater distances . At least some aspects of modern times are an improvement !

The scariest place I've ever been for road safety was India. Even on a ride of less than 120 miles from Mumbai to Pune we saw crashes every few miles. Last year they had over 230,000 road deaths. Makes 1941 look safe.

I think in 1941 the major problem was the lack of lighting on the roads. Collisions with trees seems to have been a problem (tree trunks were painted white in towns) and cars regularly ran into ditches. Seatbelts didn't exist and even minor accidents (by today's standards) could be fatal. Saying that my father drove a bren gun carrier through a shop window in Belfast in 1941. Cause - wet cobbles. The bren gun carrier, my father and two passengers survived, the shop didn't.
 
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I want to add a driving war story even though it does not relate to my original question. Just to preserve it for posterity.

My best friend's father was either 16 or 17 years old and was a lorry driver during the blockade of Leningrad in WWII. The lorry convoys moved over the frozen lake Ladoga to deliver food to Leningrad and came back with sick people. The drivers worked 24 hour shift and if a driver fell asleep from exhaustion, he would be shot in the head by a military officer, the body dumped and a new driver put inside. He fell asleep and the officer, seeing his young age, pistol whipped his head instead of killing him. He woke up from pain and was forever grateful to that officer for sparing his life. He told me this story himself. His name was Vladimir Krasilshikov.
 
Great story. The original Ice Road Truckers. Good to know there was some humanity in the Soviet forces at that time (though not much).

John
 
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