To be panicking about driving in London?

[Getyourjab]

I don’t live in a city, but agreed to help a young family member move their end of course Uni stuff out of central London.
I’ve realised I’m feeling quite panicky and CD am dreading it - I used to drive in London occasionally but I last drove into central London 3 months ago after a break of maybe 3 years (another errand) and my sat nav and phone (google maps) kept trying to send me down closed roads and I ended up driving round and round for over an hour.

There is no one available to help - any suggestions?
What is the best navigation app for London at the moment, that includes all the many roadworks and new cycle paths etc? It doesn’t seem to be google maps….

As a Londoner I find London driving the least scary option & my test was super easy as it was a 20mph residential zone.

Country lanes terrify me where people go super fast.

@ZenNudist

The problem in London is bus lanes and cameras and lots of areas you can't stop safely. I don't think I would ever do it. If you've driven in London and know what it's like and you know you'll get lost then you'd better not do it. Just apologise. There's lots of drivers who'd be OK with this. I've not got enough experience of navigation to do it.

As a side thought can your friend help navigate or is she / he clueless?

Absolutely the worst advice I’ve ever read! Don’t do something because it’s not easy - heaven forfend someone might have to expend a little energy 🙄 @Getyourjab as PPs have said, Waze is brilliant, it’s more or less real time, so very accurate. Just don’t panic, keep a cool head so you can keep your bearings, you’ll be fine.

Do watch out for bus lanes. In a lot of places they are 24 hours now, as I found out to my cost by driving down one that used to allow cars in the evening but doesn’t now. That’ll teach me to check the signs.

Even though the relative doesn't drive, I'd ask them to meet you at a tube station on the outskirts. You collect them, and they can at least help interpret the sat nav, check for lane closures, check for going into the congestion zone etc. Having 4 eyes is better than 2 which are busy negotiating everything at once!

Otherwise, tell them that B&Q hire out small vans and they can pack and drive it themselves! Or hire a person and van.

Another thing is to pick a fairly big target to aim at if you get lost. For example, if you are trying to get out to the west and you were struggling aim for Heathrow and sort it out from there. If you know nearby big landmarks like the mainline stations they are often well signposted so if you need to get near to UCL you can always follow signs to Euston or Kings Cross and you will be roughly in the right area.

Which bit of London are you going to?

London is easy to drive in, as you’re just stuck in traffic most of the time! A lot less scary than country roads. No reason to be worried

Have you thought about going at a really unsociable hour? Like 0500 in the morning? So that there is little to no traffic

Another vote for Waze. Also taking your time to plan the route (add waypoints if necessary on the satnav). It's possible to avoid many of the big junctions which are perhaps more stressful than pootling along the back roads. I used to drive from Marylebone into the city using easy back roads rather than the main roads.

Go early on a Sunday morning. you will pretty much have central london to yourself.

Watch out for bus lanes and cyclists. I'd say those are the two main dangers. Also motorbikes which hide on the edge of stationary traffic and speed up the bike lanes. You expect bikes in them but it's a bit of a shock when you're turning across and a motorbike bombs up doing 30mph in a 20 zone. Food delivery drivers all use motorbikes and never seem to take their tests (they're all 'L's) so you can't assume they know what they're doing.

Put Waze on your phone and get one of those phone holder things so you can attach to your dashboard.

Don't worry about getting lost... Waze will find you another way. Programme the car park you're going to into Waze.

The traffic does move very slowly, but you need to be careful turning in anywhere. Lots of bikes, motorbikes, scooters, pedestrians etc. about the place so oncoming traffic is only one thing to think about.

How are your parallel parking skills? Lots of roads in London are too narrow for 2 cars to pass when cars are parked both sides so you have to take turns with oncoming cars to park up and let each other past. Get stuck behind a bin lorry and you're going to be waiting a while .

Just plan your parking carefully. If your student is living on Tottenham Court Road you don't have a hope of parking on the street, so find the local NCP or similar and do the rest on foot.

London's fine - it's driving in the country I find scary! Tractors, deer dancing in the middle of the road and no street lights.
I will checkout this WAZE thing though next time I go somewhere I'm less familiar with.

Another one who thinks London is easy to drive through, although I do wish they would add general 'north', 'south' etc signs.

I made it! Waze was really good, seemed really accurate. I did cheat in the end and bribed a DC to come with me to navigate. The Rotherhithe tunnel and big junction at the end of the Vauxhall bridge were the low points. I’m hoping the ‘less than 2m wide’ rule is excluding mirrors otherwise I’ll be getting a fine.

Give me a single track road with passing places any day. I’m a great speed-reverser and have no problem meeting tractors and crop sprayers on bends.

Hopefully it will be a good while until I have to drive in London again.

"In February 2019, TfL started issuing fines to vehicles using the Rotherhithe Tunnel when they should not. TfL's own website states that:
A] "Vehicles more than 2 metres (6'6") high, 2 metres (6'6") wide or goods vehicles weighing more than 2 tonnes (gross vehicle weight) are not safe to travel through the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Drivers that do not comply could be fined up to £130."

Yet a FOI request confirms that not a single passenger vehicle (class M1) wider than 2m has ever been fined as
B] "the legislation only allows us to issue penalties for goods vehicles which breach the weight restriction"."

I don't think you'll get fined.

I often use Rotherhithe, if width including mirrors was an issue I'd be in trouble, as I'd be an inch over the limit. I have a 2014 Golf, if I can't use it, hardly anyone can.

Good for you!

I agree that driving in London is quite easy because it’s nearly all 20mph, giving you plenty of time to think.