Renting a car in Greece to explore the beauty of its mainland and islands is undoubtedly the best way to enjoy your holidays in Greece, but driving in Greece can be risky for you until you do not know how to drive safely on road. Because driving in Greece is not as easy as it is in your country. This however doesn’t mean that the people in Greece do not know driving, or there are not any traffic rules in Greece.
There are traffic rules in Greece also, but most of the Greek people do not follow these rules seriously and aware of the appropriate driving habits, and therefore the chances are more that you might meet an accident, due to a little mistake. It would not be wrong to say that there might be lots of people who even could not clear the driving test conducted by the local traffic authorities, but still, there are driving on road.
Well, before you hire any of the car rental services in Paxos or on any of the island in Greece there are certain ways by which you can protect yourself from being a victim of an accident. Some of these rules for your reference are mentioned below:
- As referred above there are lots of Greek people who could not even clear the road test if they are asked to do so, and therefore driving in between such people is not less than inviting an accident to hit yourself. To avoid the happening of an accident make sure to follow the traffic rules strictly without expecting from others to follow them. Keep all the rear and side-view mirrors in an appropriate position to ensure you enjoy the clear view of the road and the people moving around you.
- If you notice that the green traffic light has turned orange and you think to stay on the spot, make sure that the person behind you has also slowed his speed following the indication of your taillight, otherwise, there are chances that you might get hit by him. However, for this, you need not have to fasten the speed of your vehicle to cross the orange light before it turns to red. Think in advance the step you need to take before reaching the stop so that you enough time to execute your action, and protect yourself from an accident.
- There are traffic lines on the road to let you know your land, but most of them are either blurred or almost disappeared at various places, and therefore it is recommended to follow the vehicle in front of view you with full precautions. You need to be more cautious during the night. There is zebra crossing at the traffic signals, but you will find lots of people crossing across it at the same time while you are moving in your car.
- Always be ready for unexpected behavior from the people. You will find people coming out of their car without taking care of the traffic moving close to them. This sometimes may be a reason for an accident, even when you are driving with full precautions.
- Bike riders in Greece do not like to obey the traffic rules, and therefore do not expect any type of safe riding practice from them. If you or an island, you will find lots of tourists riding bikes without any riding skills. Moreover, most of them are drunk, and therefore the cases of the accident because of bikes is certainly more.
- Traffic signals on roads are either in Greek or English, but it is not sure whether you will find them displayed on all the roads or not.
- As most of the roads in Greece move across the mountains and rural areas, there are chances that you will find lots of narrow roads and blind curves, that if you are a little bit careless than you might fall in the valley that is 1000 feet deep. Along with this, you will also find the vehicles parked improperly on-road and crossings. To avoid any unfortunate incident you need to sensitive and alert while driving through such terrains.
- Do not forget to use a seatbelt while driving, also if toddlers are accompanying you then ask the car renting agency for a child seat. In case if they do not have, then get it from the market. Children below the age of 10 years should sit on the rear seat.
- For renting a car in Greece do carry an international driving license with you to avoid any trouble. In the absence of such a license, the car renting agency will not rent you the car. Moving ahead, if you are found without an international license, you will be required to pay a high penalty for this.
Apart from keeping the above-mentioned factors, there are lots of other things like avoiding late-night driving, not carry the rented car in a ferry, etc, that you should keep in concern while renting a car in Greece.