A quick overview of UK rules

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of London driving, there are some UK specific rules that need a mention. We’ve put together a whole post on driving in the UK for the first time where we go into much more detail, but here’s a quick overview: 

1. Drive on the left

There are, however, three exceptions to this rule in London. You must drive on the right if you in Hammersmith bus station, Savoy court, and Eccleston Bridge.

2. Seatbelts must be worn

Unlike India, New Hampshire, and cars before 1964, you have to wear a seatbelt in the UK. If you don’t you could find yourself with a £500 fine.

3. You must stop at red traffic lights and stop signs

This has to be a complete stop and not a ‘rolling stop’ where you slow down to the line but don’t come to a halt.

4. Speed limits are limits

Remember, these are in miles per hour and are a maximum, not a recommendation.

5. Mobile Phones can’t be used

The UK recently changed legislation to mean you can get 6 points and a £200 fine if caught using your phone.

So, now that we have covered the basics for what you need to know about driving in the UK, it's time to dive into the capital. Let's take a look at the trials and tribulations of driving in London. 

Charges

Thought you could drive into the capital for free? Wrong. There are two main charges for driving through London. These are the Congestion charge and the more recent ULEZ (check out our article here). You will need to pay both if you enter both zones. These are constantly changing and evolving so here is the latest: 

Congestion charge

The congestion charge was brought in as a direct response to the amount of traffic in central London. As of August 2020, it is a £15 charge for anyone driving through the zone between 7am and 10pm and this now runs every day of the week. There are some exceptions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. NHS staff who work in the zone, NHS patients who have to visit hospitals in the zone and ambulance staff can now be reimbursed for trips. 

ULEZ

The Ultra-Low Emission Zone is in operation 24 hours a day, 7days a week. If your car does not meet the eligibility criteria then you will need to pay £12.50 a day. You can check the eligibility of your vehicle here. Currently, the ULEZ zone tracks the same as the Congestion zone. However, there are plans to expand this to the north and south circular by October 2021. 

The good news

And there is good news - if you rent a Virtuo all our vehicles are new! This means that all our cars are ULEZ compliant so no need to pay anything!

Parking

As you probably already know, we keep all our cars in car parks across London. But don’t take that to mean that parking in London is easy. Especially in central London, parking is naaat easy. The best way to know if you can or cannot parking somewhere is by looking at the signs. These will specify whether it is permit holders only or restricted parking. Most are restricted between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm Monday to Saturday. Get this one right otherwise you could end up with a fine between £80 - £130. Be sure to check out our toolbox at the bottom of the page for a way to guarantee you never get fined for parking.

Yellow boxes

Across the whole country there are yellow boxes that are aimed at preventing people from stopping in them. The difference in London is that if you get caught in one, you get fined! How much I hear you ask? £130! There is one exception to the rule, if you are turning right and you get stopped by oncoming traffic or a car also turning right is stopped in front of you then you won’t get fine. But, more often than not you find yourself stuck in a yellow box due to pressure from other drivers. In the words of David Bowie, pressure splits a family in two, it puts people on the streets and it gives you a massive dent in your wallet. Only go when it is clear and obvious that you can clear the box without stopping.

Bus lanes

The wheels on the bus go round and round, you must not go in the bus lanes or you’ll be charged a lot of pounds. Excuse the bad rhyme, the point is: Bus lanes are everywhere, you can't go in them when they are in operation or you will get fiiiiiiined. Operational hours are shown via a blue sign. A tip I learnt from personal experience is don’t follow what others are doing, often taxis and motorcyclists are allowed to use the lanes and you aren’t!

Red Routes

Did you know: Red routes make up 5% of all London roads. Doesn’t seem that many right? Well, they also carry 30% of London traffic so what are they? Red routes are zones where you cannot stop. They are there to try and keep London moving and in doing so reduce delays. There will be blue circular signs with a red cross, these are what you need to look out for to find out whether you can or can’t stop. Virtuo’s top recommendation: never stop on a red route!

Our toolbox for London

We are an app based service and so we like to think we know a few things about good apps! We wanted to help you by putting a toolbox of our top 4 apps you should use for travelling round London. 

1. Waze

Waze is the number one choice for all uber drivers in London and there's a reason. Waze takes into consideration traffic, construction, police, crashes and more to give you real-time updates on the best route to take.

2. Citymapper

Often you’ll park up and then need to get around town. Well, Citymapper collates all the various different public transport options in London into one quick look. So you can easily see at a glance the quickest (or cheapest!) route to take

3. Lime

Lime is quickly establishing itself as the hub of all things electric. Whether electric bikes or scooters if you want a green, fun and healthy way to see the city these are your guys.

4. Appyparking

Remember about 2 minutes ago when I said parking was hard? Well, these guys are tackling that head-on. With appy parking you can filter down to free parking/ paid/ location etc. and find out the best place to park to your destination. You can then book and pay for it all through the app

Some help for a pub quiz..

We couldn’t do a post about London without putting some fun trivia for you to get your teeth into. So here you go: 

The A1 is 410 miles long and links London to Edinburgh

The Romans constructed great roads in London. However, these roads were widely neglected after they left. The Royal Mail played a big role in having these roads fixed

Leigh Hunt Street is London's shortest thoroughfare. It's just 11 metres long before it gets cut off by a park. 

Hopefully this guide means you can now feel confident when driving through London. Whether you’re picking up one of our cars in central or driving through it to escape the city, keep these simple guidelines in place and you will go far!