Why are so many people scared of driving while abroad?

[Anonymous]

I recently took trains and ferries all around Italy. I agree that you automatically meet friendly and helpful people. It really enhanced my journey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from a trip in LATAM where we rented a car. We always drive and have, like other posters, done so on 6 continents. That said, DH and I were commenting in the car on our trip that it makes sense that many Americans don't drive in any country but US or Canada. Traffic rules and customs are incredibly different and many Americans aren't able to function in traffic that is akin to orderly chaos. Americans like rules and lines, and knowing what their lane is. So I can see how driving in MENA or LATAM may be daunting. Plus, you have to be relaxed enough to not be bothered by the chaos and just roll with it. Most Americans (particularly VA drivers) cannot handle that, and like to tell other drivers what to do. In sum, it's a good thing that most Americans don't drive while abroad.

You're acting like it is advanced calculus. It is not hard to get a feel for the customs while driving. We drove pretty much the entire country of Portugal, no problem. Including very, veerrry narrow streets in medieval towns like Obidos. We just got back from England and drove probably 1000 miles all over the country side and other bigger cities like Bath. It was completely on the opposite side with circles everywhere. No big deal. We've driven all over Thailand many, maaaaaany times, which is again on the opposite side and there are far less rules than England. Traffic is chaotic in Bangkok when you need to get out of it or onto the edges of the city, but it is no big deal. You just have to put you Americanism away and realize that people don't get pissed off when they get cut off or merged in front of like they do in the US. There's chaos but no road rage. And driving all over Belgium, France (including super small roads on Alsace etc), Germany, the entire country of Croatia (which included needing to cross immigration in Bosnia) was so easy.

It does not take genius level intellect to get a feel on the pulse of how people or nation drives. Americans are just scared of the world too much. Omg, what if I run into a corrupt cop? Omg, what if I take the wrong turn !!?? Omg, what if I make a mistake?

Who cares? If you make a mistake while driving. You just stop and brush it off while not panicking. Honestly, it's much scarier driving in the US where everyone seems to have road rage and there are 300,000,000+ guns in circulation, many of which people bring while driving. Taking a wrong turn in Baltimore is 1000x scarier in Baltimore than doing it.in Hungary or Bosnia, lol. I've done both, too.

How many posters have to explain that they are not too scared to drive overseas. Rather, it is not what they like to do on vacation.

No one is impressed by your tales of what you seem to think is courage or resilience?? Not a one of us. But it is nice that you are proud of that…feat.

Totally agree. So many of these judgy humblebrag posts lately as well as criticizing Americans in general. It must be incomprehensible to some posters that people like to do things differently.

[Anonymous]

It's not just insurance claims one has to worry about.

The laws regarding accidents and liability are very different in every country. If you are in an accident with significant property damage and/or a person(s) is injured, you are in a whole different pot of hot water.

Who wants to have to deal with getting a lawyer, getting a translator, going to foreign court (which may automatically be biased towards locals) and possibly being charged criminally?

Not to mention that in Europe, the other party may be from another country other than the one you are in. Imagine being in an accident in a small town in Italy, with a Hungarian who has no insurance, and no one (including the police) speaks English.

All that risk so you can have supposed freedom of movement and get off the beaten path while on vacation?!

So much of the world is already over-touristed. Adding more cars will only make things much, much worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've driven on multiple continents and numerous countries over the years with car rentals. Yes, we've even had breakdowns before which requires having to navigate a car mechanic with locals, no big deal, we survived. But overall, we've seen soooooooo much more of the countries that we've been too by being able to stop in smaller towns, smaller sites, and random local spots where trains and busses simply never would go to or would take horrendous amounts of time that makes mass transport less viable in harder to get to areas. If you speak to many travelers, they have some kind irrational [/b[b]]fear of driving while abroad, why is this? Who gives a crap about language barriers? Modern GPS works basically everywhere. Left side, right side, it doesn't matter, you get used to it in about 5 minutes. We have basically never, ever had a problem and would recommend international driving to everyone in order to see much more of countries you're traveling to besides big cities.

Your post is screams ableist. Not everyone is you. I'm sure there are some things you won't do that other people say "what's the big deal?" So just because some people are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country driving does not make them worthy of your scorn.

Do you remember Matthew Broderick? He killed two women in Northern Ireland and he had been driving on the wrong side. I think they have a home there so I'm certain he would have told you that he was "quite used to it" And yet two innocent women were killed.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/jennifer-grey-matthew-brodericks-tragic-car-crash-what-theyve-said/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from a trip in LATAM where we rented a car. We always drive and have, like other posters, done so on 6 continents. That said, DH and I were commenting in the car on our trip that it makes sense that many Americans don't drive in any country but US or Canada. Traffic rules and customs are incredibly different and many Americans aren't able to function in traffic that is akin to orderly chaos. Americans like rules and lines, and knowing what their lane is. So I can see how driving in MENA or LATAM may be daunting. Plus, you have to be relaxed enough to not be bothered by the chaos and just roll with it. Most Americans (particularly VA drivers) cannot handle that, and like to tell other drivers what to do. In sum, it's a good thing that most Americans don't drive while abroad.

You're acting like it is advanced calculus. It is not hard to get a feel for the customs while driving. We drove pretty much the entire country of Portugal, no problem. Including very, veerrry narrow streets in medieval towns like Obidos. We just got back from England and drove probably 1000 miles all over the country side and other bigger cities like Bath. It was completely on the opposite side with circles everywhere. No big deal. We've driven all over Thailand many, maaaaaany times, which is again on the opposite side and there are far less rules than England. Traffic is chaotic in Bangkok when you need to get out of it or onto the edges of the city, but it is no big deal. You just have to put you Americanism away and realize that people don't get pissed off when they get cut off or merged in front of like they do in the US. There's chaos but no road rage. And driving all over Belgium, France (including super small roads on Alsace etc), Germany, the entire country of Croatia (which included needing to cross immigration in Bosnia) was so easy.

It does not take genius level intellect to get a feel on the pulse of how people or nation drives. Americans are just scared of the world too much. Omg, what if I run into a corrupt cop? Omg, what if I take the wrong turn !!?? Omg, what if I make a mistake?

Who cares? If you make a mistake while driving. You just stop and brush it off while not panicking. Honestly, it's much scarier driving in the US where everyone seems to have road rage and there are 300,000,000+ guns in circulation, many of which people bring while driving. Taking a wrong turn in Baltimore is 1000x scarier in Baltimore than doing it.in Hungary or Bosnia, lol. I've done both, too.

You missed the point entirely. Unfortunately, it is incredibly hard for most Americans do adapt to other cultures/customs because they are just incredibly bad at it. They don't adapt, refuse to do it, and. have never been asked to conform to another way of life in their lives. They expect other cultures to bend to them. This is unlikely to change so they shouldn't drive. Honestly, they're doing the locals a solid by staying off the roads.

Many people in large European cities, Singapore, New York etc don't have a car. By taking public transportation, visitors are adapting to local norms.

No one is expecting tourists to have a car in NYC, Singapore, London or similar. That's silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from a trip in LATAM where we rented a car. We always drive and have, like other posters, done so on 6 continents. That said, DH and I were commenting in the car on our trip that it makes sense that many Americans don't drive in any country but US or Canada. Traffic rules and customs are incredibly different and many Americans aren't able to function in traffic that is akin to orderly chaos. Americans like rules and lines, and knowing what their lane is. So I can see how driving in MENA or LATAM may be daunting. Plus, you have to be relaxed enough to not be bothered by the chaos and just roll with it. Most Americans (particularly VA drivers) cannot handle that, and like to tell other drivers what to do. In sum, it's a good thing that most Americans don't drive while abroad.

You're acting like it is advanced calculus. It is not hard to get a feel for the customs while driving. We drove pretty much the entire country of Portugal, no problem. Including very, veerrry narrow streets in medieval towns like Obidos. We just got back from England and drove probably 1000 miles all over the country side and other bigger cities like Bath. It was completely on the opposite side with circles everywhere. No big deal. We've driven all over Thailand many, maaaaaany times, which is again on the opposite side and there are far less rules than England. Traffic is chaotic in Bangkok when you need to get out of it or onto the edges of the city, but it is no big deal. You just have to put you Americanism away and realize that people don't get pissed off when they get cut off or merged in front of like they do in the US. There's chaos but no road rage. And driving all over Belgium, France (including super small roads on Alsace etc), Germany, the entire country of Croatia (which included needing to cross immigration in Bosnia) was so easy.

It does not take genius level intellect to get a feel on the pulse of how people or nation drives. Americans are just scared of the world too much. Omg, what if I run into a corrupt cop? Omg, what if I take the wrong turn !!?? Omg, what if I make a mistake?

Who cares? If you make a mistake while driving. You just stop and brush it off while not panicking. Honestly, it's much scarier driving in the US where everyone seems to have road rage and there are 300,000,000+ guns in circulation, many of which people bring while driving. Taking a wrong turn in Baltimore is 1000x scarier in Baltimore than doing it.in Hungary or Bosnia, lol. I've done both, too.

You missed the point entirely. Unfortunately, it is incredibly hard for most Americans do adapt to other cultures/customs because they are just incredibly bad at it. They don't adapt, refuse to do it, and. have never been asked to conform to another way of life in their lives. They expect other cultures to bend to them. This is unlikely to change so they shouldn't drive. Honestly, they're doing the locals a solid by staying off the roads.

Many people in large European cities, Singapore, New York etc don't have a car. By taking public transportation, visitors are adapting to local norms.

No one is expecting tourists to have a car in NYC, Singapore, London or similar. That's silly.

I do find it hilarious that most of these posters assume Europe when we talk about travel. Sure, you can train it in Europe but not so much in Brazil, Arg, Mexico, Turkey, or other parts of the world. Australia and South Africa are also huge and best visited using a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate driving. Here, anywhere. So if I can avoid it, I do.

Because people in the USA suck at it? Try driving in Germany or Japan where people actually obey rules and laws. It's so easy to get around safely when people obey laws.

You do realize that as America we have people from all over the world driving? In Germany and Japan for the most part only Germans and Japanese live there so it is easier to have them know and follow the rules. Also, those two countries are very rule conscience. I mean strangers will chastise you in Germany if you cross the street against the light! In NYC you would never get across the street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always think of Matthew Broderick who killed someone driving in Ireland or Scotland.

Northern Ireland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've driven on multiple continents and numerous countries over the years with car rentals. Yes, we've even had breakdowns before which requires having to navigate a car mechanic with locals, no big deal, we survived. But overall, we've seen soooooooo much more of the countries that we've been too by being able to stop in smaller towns, smaller sites, and random local spots where trains and busses simply never would go to or would take horrendous amounts of time that makes mass transport less viable in harder to get to areas. If you speak to many travelers, they have some kind irrational [/b[b]]fear of driving while abroad, why is this? Who gives a crap about language barriers? Modern GPS works basically everywhere. Left side, right side, it doesn't matter, you get used to it in about 5 minutes. We have basically never, ever had a problem and would recommend international driving to everyone in order to see much more of countries you're traveling to besides big cities.

Your post is screams ableist. Not everyone is you. I'm sure there are some things you won't do that other people say "what's the big deal?" So just because some people are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country driving does not make them worthy of your scorn.

Do you remember Matthew Broderick? He killed two women in Northern Ireland and he had been driving on the wrong side. I think they have a home there so I'm certain he would have told you that he was "quite used to it" And yet two innocent women were killed.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/jennifer-grey-matthew-brodericks-tragic-car-crash-what-theyve-said/

And remember our very own NOVA resident and Capital One employee - Brett Reck - who drove on the wrong side of the road in NZ for ten minutes causing an accident and injuries because he couldn't be bothered to drive on the right side of the road? I believe he was also drunk.

so yes, Americans should not drive abroad because they cannot be bothered to conform to new driving customs. Or basic traffic laws.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1179663.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just insurance claims one has to worry about.

The laws regarding accidents and liability are very different in every country. If you are in an accident with significant property damage and/or a person(s) is injured, you are in a whole different pot of hot water.

Who wants to have to deal with getting a lawyer, getting a translator, going to foreign court (which may automatically be biased towards locals) and possibly being charged criminally?

Not to mention that in Europe, the other party may be from another country other than the one you are in. Imagine being in an accident in a small town in Italy, with a Hungarian who has no insurance, and no one (including the police) speaks English.

All that risk so you can have supposed freedom of movement and get off the beaten path while on vacation?!

So much of the world is already over-touristed. Adding more cars will only make things much, much worse.

They may not let you leave the country if you harm someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from a trip in LATAM where we rented a car. We always drive and have, like other posters, done so on 6 continents. That said, DH and I were commenting in the car on our trip that it makes sense that many Americans don't drive in any country but US or Canada. Traffic rules and customs are incredibly different and many Americans aren't able to function in traffic that is akin to orderly chaos. Americans like rules and lines, and knowing what their lane is. So I can see how driving in MENA or LATAM may be daunting. Plus, you have to be relaxed enough to not be bothered by the chaos and just roll with it. Most Americans (particularly VA drivers) cannot handle that, and like to tell other drivers what to do. In sum, it's a good thing that most Americans don't drive while abroad.

You're acting like it is advanced calculus. It is not hard to get a feel for the customs while driving. We drove pretty much the entire country of Portugal, no problem. Including very, veerrry narrow streets in medieval towns like Obidos. We just got back from England and drove probably 1000 miles all over the country side and other bigger cities like Bath. It was completely on the opposite side with circles everywhere. No big deal. We've driven all over Thailand many, maaaaaany times, which is again on the opposite side and there are far less rules than England. Traffic is chaotic in Bangkok when you need to get out of it or onto the edges of the city, but it is no big deal. You just have to put you Americanism away and realize that people don't get pissed off when they get cut off or merged in front of like they do in the US. There's chaos but no road rage. And driving all over Belgium, France (including super small roads on Alsace etc), Germany, the entire country of Croatia (which included needing to cross immigration in Bosnia) was so easy.

It does not take genius level intellect to get a feel on the pulse of how people or nation drives. Americans are just scared of the world too much. Omg, what if I run into a corrupt cop? Omg, what if I take the wrong turn !!?? Omg, what if I make a mistake?

Who cares? If you make a mistake while driving. You just stop and brush it off while not panicking. Honestly, it's much scarier driving in the US where everyone seems to have road rage and there are 300,000,000+ guns in circulation, many of which people bring while driving. Taking a wrong turn in Baltimore is 1000x scarier in Baltimore than doing it.in Hungary or Bosnia, lol. I've done both, too.

You missed the point entirely. Unfortunately, it is incredibly hard for most Americans do adapt to other cultures/customs because they are just incredibly bad at it. They don't adapt, refuse to do it, and. have never been asked to conform to another way of life in their lives. They expect other cultures to bend to them. This is unlikely to change so they shouldn't drive. Honestly, they're doing the locals a solid by staying off the roads.

Many people in large European cities, Singapore, New York etc don't have a car. By taking public transportation, visitors are adapting to local norms.

No one is expecting tourists to have a car in NYC, Singapore, London or similar. That's silly.

I do find it hilarious that most of these posters assume Europe when we talk about travel. Sure, you can train it in Europe but not so much in Brazil, Arg, Mexico, Turkey, or other parts of the world. Australia and South Africa are also huge and best visited using a car.

New York and Singapore aren't in Europe. I spent a month in Turkey, taking buses the whole way FWIW.

Australia and NZ and South Africa have large amounts of open space and poor ground transportation systems, so a car makes more sense. While Australia is pretty flat, lots of tourists get in trouble in NZ because even state highway one is windy and hilly and one lane in each direction with occasional one way bridges. My kids who learned to drive in Bethesda never had to practice the overtaking skills you need in NZ - here you can just move to another lane.

I actually got my license in a country driving on the left. Still, transitioning from a trip to Australia or the UK and driving on the right back here still takes a lot of concentration for a few days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've driven on multiple continents and numerous countries over the years with car rentals. Yes, we've even had breakdowns before which requires having to navigate a car mechanic with locals, no big deal, we survived. But overall, we've seen soooooooo much more of the countries that we've been too by being able to stop in smaller towns, smaller sites, and random local spots where trains and busses simply never would go to or would take horrendous amounts of time that makes mass transport less viable in harder to get to areas. If you speak to many travelers, they have some kind irrational [/b[b]]fear of driving while abroad, why is this? Who gives a crap about language barriers? Modern GPS works basically everywhere. Left side, right side, it doesn't matter, you get used to it in about 5 minutes. We have basically never, ever had a problem and would recommend international driving to everyone in order to see much more of countries you're traveling to besides big cities.

Your post is screams ableist. Not everyone is you. I'm sure there are some things you won't do that other people say "what's the big deal?" So just because some people are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country driving does not make them worthy of your scorn.

Do you remember Matthew Broderick? He killed two women in Northern Ireland and he had been driving on the wrong side. I think they have a home there so I'm certain he would have told you that he was "quite used to it" And yet two innocent women were killed.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/jennifer-grey-matthew-brodericks-tragic-car-crash-what-theyve-said/

So don’t drive on the wrong side of the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've driven on multiple continents and numerous countries over the years with car rentals. Yes, we've even had breakdowns before which requires having to navigate a car mechanic with locals, no big deal, we survived. But overall, we've seen soooooooo much more of the countries that we've been too by being able to stop in smaller towns, smaller sites, and random local spots where trains and busses simply never would go to or would take horrendous amounts of time that makes mass transport less viable in harder to get to areas. If you speak to many travelers, they have some kind irrational [/b[b]]fear of driving while abroad, why is this? Who gives a crap about language barriers? Modern GPS works basically everywhere. Left side, right side, it doesn't matter, you get used to it in about 5 minutes. We have basically never, ever had a problem and would recommend international driving to everyone in order to see much more of countries you're traveling to besides big cities.

Your post is screams ableist. Not everyone is you. I'm sure there are some things you won't do that other people say "what's the big deal?" So just because some people are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country driving does not make them worthy of your scorn.

Do you remember Matthew Broderick? He killed two women in Northern Ireland and he had been driving on the wrong side. I think they have a home there so I'm certain he would have told you that he was "quite used to it" And yet two innocent women were killed.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/jennifer-grey-matthew-brodericks-tragic-car-crash-what-theyve-said/

So don’t drive on the wrong side of the road.

It's pretty easy to have a brain fart when you're not following another car. And in an emergency you tend to revert to your training, which is based on driving on the right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the reasoning behind this post.

OK, so OP loves to drive overseas. Good for them. Why make such an issue if others do not? Why is it even an issue? I agree it sounds like more of a brag than a legitimate question.

I do agree that anyone (American or otherwise) should NOT drive in a foreign country if they are not comfortable with it. Why take the risk? Not to mention expense and challenges like accidents, where to park, theft, damage to rental vehicle, etc.

We've found we can get to just about anywhere we want to go overseas by either train, bus or taxi/car. Including some rather remote areas.

That's one of the benefits of overseas travel, and something we actually enjoy, is to use their much more comprehensive and affordable public transportation.

lol. Again, of you tried to visit UNESCO sites in a country like Japan, which has some of the best public transportation in the world, it’d still take you almost 4 hours each way to get to and from the sites and over $100 USD per person to take the trains and bus. What a colossal waste of time and money. Plus, you miss being able to stop in all of the interesting and sleepy towns between where gaijins hardly go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just insurance claims one has to worry about.

The laws regarding accidents and liability are very different in every country. If you are in an accident with significant property damage and/or a person(s) is injured, you are in a whole different pot of hot water.

Who wants to have to deal with getting a lawyer, getting a translator, going to foreign court (which may automatically be biased towards locals) and possibly being charged criminally?

Not to mention that in Europe, the other party may be from another country other than the one you are in. Imagine being in an accident in a small town in Italy, with a Hungarian who has no insurance, and no one (including the police) speaks English.

All that risk so you can have supposed freedom of movement and get off the beaten path while on vacation?!

So much of the world is already over-touristed. Adding more cars will only make things much, much worse.

Omg, what if you get into a bar fight while traveling abroad too and hurt someone? You can be sued out the wazoo and lose your home if you hurt someone while traveling in the U.S. by car. Big whoop. I bet you’re scared of your own shadow too.