Driven to Torbay? Thinking of hiring a car? Take care to follow the rules of the road and be prepared for things to be different in the UK.

We don't want to put you off before you have even got into the car, but you should be aware that the roads in Devon can be very narrow, and parking is often difficult in towns and cities.

• What licence you need to drive in Britain
• Longer distances by bus
• Long-distance express coaches
• Travelling by train

What licence do you need?

You must have an appropriate driving licence to drive in Britain. If you come from EU or European Economic Area countries, you can drive any vehicle which is permitted by your licence AND which is shown on your licence.

If you are from any other country, your licence or permit must be valid for at least 12 months from the date you arrive in Britain. You can only drive on a foreign licence for up to 12 months, and cannot drive any vehicle with more than 8 seats.

Traffic laws

Britain's roads are governed by the Highway Code, and you should buy a copy from any bookshop, or read it online if you intend to drive in Britain. The following are important points to note:

Britain drives on the LEFT. This also means that you must only overtake on the right, and go clockwise round roundabouts.
• You MUST wear a seat belt in vehicles.
• The legal alcohol limit is 80mg alcohol in 100ml blood. If you drive while over this limit you can be sent to prison, fined £5,000 and banned from driving. That's if you don't kill yourself first. DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.
• You MUST NOT use a mobile telephone while you are driving.
• If you have an accident, you must report it to the Police and give your details to any other drivers involved in the accident.
• All road signs give distances in miles and yards and speeds in miles per hour. 1 mile = 1.6km. 1 yard is about 1m.
• You MUST stop at Zebra pedestrian crossings (which have black-and-white stripes on the road and flashing orange lamps on striped posts) if pedestrians are crossing or waiting to cross.

The National Speed Limit

This sign means that the 'National Speed Limit' applies to the road.

• 30 mph (48km/h) in towns and villages
• 60 mph (96km/h) on other single-carriage roads
• 70 mph (112 km/h) on roads with two or more lanes in BOTH directions (dual carriageways and motorways)

Parking

Britain's towns were mainly built before the car was invented, and that means that many streets are not wide enough for cars to pass parked vehicles. Throughout the country, the streets are patrolled by traffic wardens or parking attendants, whose job is to keep traffic flowing. In some parts of the country these traffic wardens are police officers; in Torbay parking attendants are controlled by the Borough Council. Either way, traffic wardens can - and will - give drivers penalties (often known as 'parking tickets') if they park where they should not.

Wherever possible, you should try to park in public car parks or in marked parking bays. These are often 'pay and display', which means that you need to buy a ticket from a machine; these 'meters' take coins (not cards or notes) and do not give change, so keep plenty of silver coins for these meters. If you buy a pay and display ticket, it must be stuck to the windscreen of your car. Some car parks issue you with a ticket automatically at a gate when you drive in; this will need to be validated at a ticket machine BEFORE you drive to the exit.

Parking on streets

If you park on a street, be careful to check for yellow lines. If there are yellow lines on the road, you must check on nearby signs to see when parking is forbidden. In general you should not park anywhere where there are two yellow lines (known as 'double yellows').

Below: 1 = 'No parking or waiting'; 2 = 'No stopping'

Back to top...

Parking in Torbay:

Information from Torbay Council about parking in Torbay. (PDF)

Devon's colour-coded signs

Road signs which give directions across the UK are colour-coded to show the fastest and high-quality roads. Motorways are shown on signs which are blue, with white writing; A-roads are shown on green signs with white writing; all other roads are shown on white signs with black writing, with the exception of brown signs for tourist attractions.

However, Devon has extra colour-coded signs, which are designed to help you avoid really difficult roads:

Back to top...