What are the getting at? Harry Dunn: Car seen on wrong side of road at RAF

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Harry Dunn: Car seen on wrong side of road at RAF basewww.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-51510531

Recent footage apparently. What are they getting at? Dangerous road markings? Espionage?

They are suggesting that it happens a lot around there because drivers from abroad aren't being careful.

I suspect they drive on the right on the base so when driving off it, people make the mistake of not driving on the left.

I don't think they're getting at anything. Other than, maybe, more than one driver has come out of that base and driven on the wrong side of the road.

No they are saying the USA staff are still driving on the wrong side of the road, just like the woman who killed Harry and then fucked off back to the USA

Clearly it’s a habit that international visitors at that base are struggling to break while over here

Ah I see. I've not followed this case closely so wanst sure what the relevance was. Thanks for clearing it up, it makes more sense now that it's saying "lessons haven't been learnt" and "this is evidence of peUS nationals driving on the wrong side of the road regularly"

I live near a US Airbase it happens all the time. They have been banned (by base command) from overtaking after one poor woman lost control and killed herself and her children a few years back. They often ship their cars over as well, so probably makes it extra easy to forget what side they should be on. You just have to be super careful and look for them if you are anywhere near the base.

I really rush they would put up more signs when they know this is a problem the area. They have drive on the left at ferry ports and airports etc so put them on the entrances and exits of these based too before any one else dues tragically!

Similar when I lived on a UK base in Germany - people kept on leaving the base and driving on the left because that was what they were used to. And yes, British people often shipped their cars over, so they were sitting on the right while driving on the right.

It would be far more sensible for the military / intelligence bases, whether US or UK,
to keep to the same side of the road inside their bases as in the country they are based in

That would avoid the constant switching back & forth, which always brings a high risk of error.

@BigChocFrenzy I didn't know they did that! No wonder, it's a stupid thing to do and causing so many accidents!

Well, the squaddie I knew said in her UK base they drove on the left and she had to remember to switch, so I assumed it was the same at all foreign bases

She was a bit dippy, so could have been confused !

I grew up near USAF base, my parents still live there. It’s not quite as bad now as many of the families live on base rather than off, but there was always issues with personnel driving on the wrong side of the road off base and cars in ditches. It’s not much fun meeting a huge American pick up on the wrong side of the road with an 8ft drop beside you!

At this base they are already driving on the left as they exit.

It's ridiculous that they don't put up big signs to remind them - as a PP says, they have them at ferry ports.

This also happens regularly in Scotland with foreign tourists who forget they should be driving on the left, without the volumes of traffic to remind them.

@WowFudge No not how that works. US serviceman and their families have to drive on the left on the bases. We have to follow all of your driving laws even on base except for the only 4 way stop in the UK at RAF Lakenheath But it is a huge problem and it’s been a huge problem forever. I blame the single afternoon class we have to take on base to get our international drivers license

Okay - I stand corrected @Leaannb. It's just shit driving then caused by a lack of concentration/attention. There's no test for a UK qualified driver to get an international driver's permit. What's the standard US driving test?

They should put hard barriers, slip-roads and extra signs at the T-junction where the base joins the road to force people onto the right side of the road as they leave.

I've read that when people are driving on a different side of the road than they are used to, turning a corner is when they most often select the wrong side of the road.

That despite a woman from their base killing Harry Dunn due to driving on the wrong side of the road, some drivers are still driving on the wrong side of the road!

New Zealand also has a problem with this due to lots of tourist drivers (although the Kiwis kill each other on the road at a high rate too).

this base is a 'sensitive installation' (says Private Eye) so no-one wants to rock the boat, but there is clearly also a strong air of 'so what' among the staff given that one of them has killed someone recently.

just because the weapon was a car and it wasn't deliberate doesn't make it any less than manslaughter.

I blame the single afternoon class we have to take on base to get our international drivers license

I blame it on shit driving and a lack of concentration.

Maybe it's because of the chronic rule-breakers and / or people who forgot or never learned the rules

• one afternoon is not enough to teach some

My friend's DD who claimed she drove on the left in British bases also claimed drug-taking was rife there and that she was just doing what the others did
She's the type who doesn't think of consequences