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If you do happen to get stopped for any reason don't get out your car. It really upsets the police !
Also don't flash your lights to let someone out, or when you're annoyed. They don't do that there - flashing lights is only used as a warning for either a cop or some kind of hazard.
Two things that no-one has mentioned:
1.) Instinctively reaching for the gear lever, only to find you are trying to change gears with the window winder.
2.) It takes a day or two before you stop walking up to the passenger side of the car with your keys out ready to jump in and drive.
Hehe.
What I found the most enduring mistake was looking to my left to see what was behind me (because the rear-view mirror is to my left at home). I've only just stopped driving using mainly the left wing mirror, and I've been going there for many years 🙂
I once got into the car and put my seatbelt on, only realisign I was in the passenger side when my hands clutched uselessly at thin air instead of grabbing the wheel.
My wife on this most recent trip (who is American herself) had a long discussion with me about where we were going to go getting more agitated like why the hell are you standing there talking to me and not driving, before realising she was actually sat in the drivers seat herself...
Awesome guys - cheers!
Just hired this [img] 
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BRUUUUUUUM!
I'm guessing doughnutting the rental car is frowned upon 😀
[i]I'm guessing doughnutting the rental car is frowned upon[/i]
It's positively expected.
^ what he said
Don't fanny about with atlases and missing signs. Buy a GPS from a big electronics chain store and then return it within 30/14 days (whatever their policy is). A zillion times easier than worrying about directions, takes all the hassle out of it.
Forgot the schoolbus one. You must never pass a stopped schoolbus, even if it is travelling in the opposite direction. They take this one really seriously.
This is true. I was on my bike, zipping through stopped city traffic. Didn't realise it was stopped because of a schoolbus on the other side of the road. The dirty looks I got were fearsome - I honestly thought one guy was going to jump out and thump me. The theory is sound enough - enables the kids to cross the road right by where the bus stops - but in NYS (according to the manual) it applies even on divided highways!