Rental Car Chaos

Anchoress · Veteran Member

RE: Rental Car Chaos

TxDevil · Veteran Member

He was an elderly man, set in his ways I'm sure. My mom always said that I handled the guy very well. I apologized and told him that since nobody was hurt, that we should not involve the police. I'd only been in Ireland about an hour. He was actually still screaming at me when we drove away. I kept my eye on the rear view mirror for a good 10 minutes. haha.

I'm more experienced with driving, now, in rural Europe. Having driven all over England for a month back in 04. I'm prepared, I hope. haha.

Anchoress · Veteran Member

A more cheering story if I may.....Last summer we were emerging from the coast road just before Carrick when a car zoomed past - on the wrong side of that narrow winding hilly road.. we were horrified, realising it was probably Americans in a hire car, who had simply forgotten..

The danger was unthinkable; there are hills and blind bends.

So we prayed aloud for protection for t hem as we gave chase hand on the horn... their car was faster than ours so they were out of sight the whole while...a mile or more we pursued them, praying.... waiting for the crash...

A local farmer stood in one place, mouth open...

Finally a car came towards us round a bend, so we knew they were safe.
and when we reached a straight bit of road, there they were parked, shaking at their narrow escape. They had been visiting family, and , excited, had simply forgotten.

It was only the sound of our horn that alerted them that something was wrong.....

Just always takes vigilance, doesn't it?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Shawn & Anchoress,

I often think that the car rental parking lot is one of the most dangerous places to drive in Ireland!

Michele

TxDevil · Veteran Member

Michele, I found that to be quite the truth.

I remember after driving in Ireland - coming home and when I got on the road, I seriously had to rethink which side of the road Americans drive on. haha. Driving on the left side just seems more natural to me .... as with driving on the right hand side of the vehicle. But, that could also be because I deliver mail for the USPS.

I'm excited I get to drive on the "wrong" side, again.

Anchoress · Veteran Member

Thankfully, never rented a car.. but the car parks here......chaos...

Once after six weeks on the Continent, I found myself driving along very happily on the wrong side of the road.....

jedivader · Member

Just got back and had no problem with rental or driving in Ireland. After reading so much on travel forums about the dangers/chaos of driving in Ireland, I was pretty nervous. No problem at all, found the roads to be better than the ones where I live near Washington, D.C. and the other drivers to be friendly and polite.

I drove from Dublin airport up north to Ballycastle and all along the causeway coastal route (portrush all the way to Belfast). Also drove south of Dublin (Dun Laoghaire, Bary, Wicklow, Laragh). No problem!

Rented from Irish Car Rentals. The first car they tried to give us was a piece of crap (108,000+ miles on it, busted side mirrors, dents, scratches and trunk did not open). Employee gave us a new car without us having to ask. New car was in perfect condition. We did not get the super coverage.

CowboyCraic · Guru

Jedi,

Welcome Back! I am glad to hear that you had such a great driving experience. I look forward to reading your trip report.

Slan Beo,

Bit

Michele Erdvig · Host

jedivader,

Good to hear that the driving went well in Ireland. The motorways are a real boon to the Dublin area. In the old days you had no option but to drive through the city center when going north or south. (Either that or take huge countryside detours.) The M50 & M1 have really sped things up (even with roadwork).

We would love to hear more.

Michele

jedivader · Member

Only problems we had driving were getting stuck in Belfast rush hour traffic and Dublin construction.