Last Sunday, I drove in Ireland for the first time! I wanted to take my sister and niece out to Galway and John had to work so it was up to me to drive. My sister rented an automatic since she doesn't know how to drive a manual transmission and I'm not very good at it. We got a compact car since we didn't think a subcompact would be comfortable/big enough for the three of us with luggage. I think it was a good decision but there were definately times that I wish we had the smaller car.
Anyway, we took the bus up to the airport and to the car rental place. We got our car and put our stuff in it. I put the key in the ignition and it didn't turn. We looked around the consule and couldn't see any reason why the key wouldn't turn. We tried again. And again. Then R, my sister, went to get help. A guy came, turned the steering wheel a bit, and then started the car right up! Since it has been 2 years since I've driven, I had forgotten that the steering wheels of cars can lock when they are left in certain positions. I felt really dumb but we were then on our way.
So, R was navigator and I was driver. We had figured out our route ahead of time and we were on the M50 looking for the highway to Galway. We somehow passed it (it wasn't marked well in the construction on the M50) and ended up near Tallaght! When I realized how far south we were, we turned around and just before the toll bridge, was our turn off. So, we got on the new motorway and drove. Happily drove 120 km/hour. I liked it. It made me happy to have 2 lanes in my direction. Then the motorway ended. And the narrow roads began. And the little towns appeared. In one town, there was a narrowing in the road and a truck coming at me. Cars were parked on the side of the road. I moved over a bit and a parked car's mirrors rubbed against our windows. Oops. I pulled over and we looked at our car. No scratches other than the mark on the window so the other car was also fine.
With both of us nervous, I pulled over and slowed down for every bigger vehicle we saw the rest of the trip. And there were lots of narrow roads and semi-trucks (lorries) and tour busses. There were also lots of people going really fast (ok, probably the speed limit) and crossing onto my side of the road. While on the country roads, we couldn't get over the speed limits. These roads were barely 2 lanes wide and the posted speed limit was often 100 km/hour! That is the same speed as some motorways!! How can that be safe? Needless to say, I didn't not drive that fast on those roads. For the first time in my life, I happily drove a bit over half the posted speed limit! 
On a lot of the roads, there were signs saying how many people had died on the roads in the county in the last 4 years. People in Dublin talk a lot about the number of foreign nationals driving as a reason for the increased deaths in road accidents. Some also sugget drunk driving as the reason for the increase. I think it is people driving 100 km/hour on roads that are really 1 1/2 lanes wide! That is just not safe. You cannot go around the corners at that speed and not cross into the other lane. Hell, some roads aren't even wide enough to have lane markers and they still have speed limits of 80 km/hour! As the ads say, speed kills.
3 comments:
Your post brought back vivid memories of driving in Ireland. The travel guides all said to hire the smallest car possible. We did but when we arrived the agent said we would have to wait an hour for one to be returned. I said it was fine for us to wait but then the agent said he had a bit larger car for free upgrade. We decided to take it. Also the extra insurance. In Galway, I hit mirrors with a parked car (though it was leaving it's spot so I don't think it was only my fault). Anyway, my side mirror glass went to pieces and the other guys just popped out and he promptly popped it back in. Later in the trip as my wife drove along the Ring of Dingle, a tour bus approached on a smaller road. She moved far enough over but was a bit frightened as the bus drove past. Our left tires went off the road into the ditch promptly hitting a large stone which broke the sidewall of the tire. Luckily the spare was full-sized and we continued on our way. Having the extra insurance was very nice indeed upon return of the rental. Once the agent saw we had the insurance the car was accepted without question and no extra charges for mirror or tire.
i read that ireland's road death toll is so high because the country is only recently prosperous. in the old days, people drove like they were the only person on the road because they were. now, everyone has a car. not fair to blame tourists! most of the driving deaths do not involve tourists.
i remember during a trip pulling into the b&b and someone was busily scrubbing the gorse scratches off of their rental car. the landlady said small tins of paint were quite popular in the shops, to cover up dings and scratches.
They aren't blaming tourists, they are blaming foreign nationals. Foreign nationals live here but may be used to driving on the other side of the road. That is an intersting thought on the recent prosperity. I still think it is mostly the width of the road and the posted speed limits. But if you are used to being the only one on the road, you do tend to drive differently, eh?
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