I have just read in Commercial Motor about a German driver who had an accident in uk ,he injured a motorist ( life change injuries ) he was on wrong side of the road and hit a car …the police arrived and he held his hands up and said he had made a mistake he was given a 10 month sentence and two and a half year ban, I think this was a very harsh sentence .Any driver when getting to 10 to 15 hours at work will be far more likely to make a mistake …
fuse:
I have just read in Commercial Motor about a German driver who had an accident in uk ,he injured a motorist ( life change injuries ) he was on wrong side of the road and hit a car …the police arrived and he held his hands up and said he had made a mistake he was given a 10 month sentence and two and a half year ban, I think this was a very harsh sentence .Any driver when getting to 10 to 15 hours at work will be far more likely to make a mistake …
Where in the article does it say he’d been driving or working for 10 to 15 hours 
I have some sympathy for the HGV driver but to suggest that working for 10 hours with proper breaks is dangerous is pushing reality a bit far in my opinion.
‘Confused’ HGV driver jailed following accident
A lorry driver who caused life-changing injuries to a motorist when he crashed into them while driving on the wrong
side of the road has been jailed. German national Vytavtas Morkynas admitted he got confused about which side of
the road to drive on as soon as the police arrived at the scene of the collision on the A1060 at Boynton Cross on 5 July
this year. His vehicle collided with a Kia Soul, causing its driver to be knocked unconscious and trapped inside the
car, requiring the fire service to cut them out. The motorist was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition
having sustained two broken kneecaps and legs, a fractured wrist, injuries to their pelvis, internal injuries, and a
serious head injury.Essex police said 44-year-old Morkynas told officers: “It’s my fault, I was on the wrong side of the road. I’m used to
driving in Europe.” He was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was later charged.
He admitted the offence at Chelmsford Crown Court and was jailed for 10 months and banned from driving for two
years and nine months.
If only he’d been an American and skipped the country eh! untouchable.
Juddian:
If only he’d been an American and skipped the country eh! untouchable.
What was that line in Lethal Weapon uttered by the smug git just before Mel Gibson shot him in the face? Oh yeah, “diplomatic immunity “.
This case sadly had fatalities in both vehicles, convicted awaiting sentencing.
I’ll put my hands up and say it’s a mistake I’ve made when in mainland Europe and when this has been discussed before on here virtually everyone else has said the same.
I’ve done the same a couple of times and in the UK too. So used to driving across the water.
Fortunately realised quickly enough without causing any harm.
Harry Monk:
I’ll put my hands up and say it’s a mistake I’ve made when in mainland Europe and when this has been discussed before on here virtually everyone else has said the same.
I’ve done the same twice over 30+ years.No harm done but I ***** myself and blushed bright purple both times.No witnesses.
Its ultimatley your responsibility to drive on the correct side and if you dont ,then you have to accept the consequences.
whisperingsmith:
I’ve done the same a couple of times and in the UK too. So used to driving across the water.
Fortunately realised quickly enough without causing any harm.
I spend more time in Europe then the UK now. Once or twice in the UK when I arrive at a T junction if there are no vehicles coming from either direction I have think about which side of the road I want when pulling out 
I can also hold my hands up to having done it a couple of times and I guess it’s just luck that I got away with it.
If I’d caused an accident and left somebody with life changing injuries, I’d probably have accepted/expected repercussions though.
So to answer the op - unfortunate, yes, but harsh - probably not.
I’ve done it twice that I can remember, both times thankfully for only a very short distance before it dawned.
Oh yeh and once on holiday in Italy on a motorbike. 
There was a case around here about 5 or 6 years ago, one of Waberers had travelled 6 or 7 mile on wrong side,.a van came over the brow of a hill, the van driver and passenger were both wiped out.
Me and the Mrs were out for a ruby one night,.we got talking by chance to this couple of a similar age in the restaurant, turned out it was their lad that was killed.
robroy:
I’ve done it twice that I can remember, both times thankfully for only a very short distance before it dawned.
Oh yeh and once on holiday in Italy on a motorbike.
Napoli? Roma?
Just the same as the locals then.
You know that one was a set up…
Franglais:
robroy:
I’ve done it twice that I can remember, both times thankfully for only a very short distance before it dawned.
Oh yeh and once on holiday in Italy on a motorbike.Napoli? Roma?
Just the same as the locals then.You know that one was a set up…
Rimini actually,… but in mitigation I was 20 years old and ■■■■■■■
Joking btw.
When living in Greece I left a pizza restaurant in my rhd Rover and went down the the road for about half a mile before the penny dropped - a blessing it was out in the sticks and very late at night