Is there anybody out there like myself who is absolutely terrified of driving on the costa? I have driven in the UK for over 20 years without a hitch but, the thought of driving on the costa terrifies me! I dont know if I could ever get used to driving on the left hand side etc especially when overtaking and turning corners! Has anybody else ever felt like this but eventually got used to it? Also, are there many English speaking driving instructors over there that could take me on a few lessons?
My Husband always drives and, I almost have a heart attack sometimes when I think he has turned the wrong way at round-a-bouts etc. I hope I get over this fear because we are moving over there in the spring!
Driving
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spanish hopes
Give yourself a few weeks of being 'on the wrong side of the road' and you will wonder what you were worried about.
Driving in places like benalmadena etc can be a bit wearing but no worse than the big towns and cities in the UK.
Driving on motorways and Peages etc is much better than in the UK because there usually isn't so much traffic volume.
Once you feel a little more comfortable try driving when in with your husband on trips which are not on busy roads.
You will find it will drop into place.
The costa is much better to drive now than 10-15 years ago and the roads continue to improve. I feel safer when driving over there than I do in the UK.
Driving in places like benalmadena etc can be a bit wearing but no worse than the big towns and cities in the UK.
Driving on motorways and Peages etc is much better than in the UK because there usually isn't so much traffic volume.
Once you feel a little more comfortable try driving when in with your husband on trips which are not on busy roads.
You will find it will drop into place.
The costa is much better to drive now than 10-15 years ago and the roads continue to improve. I feel safer when driving over there than I do in the UK.
Jenny
I presume you are going to have a LHD car in Spain, that alone will overcome some of your problem. If at the moment you are used to being a passenger in a LHD you will feel "strange" at roundabout turns etc purely because you are sitting in the seat that you are used to driving from.
There are many British people advertising driving lessons and tests on the coast. I can't give any recommendations as I don't know anyone who has used them.
Until you are confident Just go out at times of the day when it is quiet i.e. siesta. Don't get stuck coming out of a town from around 1pm. And if you are coming in Spring, I would say start driving quickly or leave it until after the summer season!
I am now (after only 5 years) uncomfortable driving on the right in the UK.
You will be fine, some of it may be that you are a passenger and don't feel in control
I presume you are going to have a LHD car in Spain, that alone will overcome some of your problem. If at the moment you are used to being a passenger in a LHD you will feel "strange" at roundabout turns etc purely because you are sitting in the seat that you are used to driving from.
There are many British people advertising driving lessons and tests on the coast. I can't give any recommendations as I don't know anyone who has used them.
Until you are confident Just go out at times of the day when it is quiet i.e. siesta. Don't get stuck coming out of a town from around 1pm. And if you are coming in Spring, I would say start driving quickly or leave it until after the summer season!
I am now (after only 5 years) uncomfortable driving on the right in the UK.
You will be fine, some of it may be that you are a passenger and don't feel in control
I wear it well...........
It was more terrifying going back to the UK and being on the M11 when we left Stansted. After driving on Spains quiet roads it makes you realise what a death trap the UK roads can be with the volume of traffic.
Give it a couple of months driving here then pop back to the Uk for a weekend and it will make you appreciate these roads more
Give it a couple of months driving here then pop back to the Uk for a weekend and it will make you appreciate these roads more
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sherlock holmes
- Andalucia.com Amigo
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Sat May 07, 2005 1:02 pm
wasn't there a post on here about the old 340 being the most dangerous road in europe?After driving on Spains quiet roads it makes you realise what a death trap the UK roads can be with the volume of traffic.
I have say driving on it in August with moroccan run to the ferries scares the living daylights out of me! plus are the brits and germans the only nationality that indicates and use lane disipline?
The road from Malaga airport to Marbella is terrifying - brits on wrong side, local spanish is old unroadworthy cars/trucks driving at 30kph, tourists missing the exit are driving right accross 2 lanes of traffic........ come on!
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stellastaff
- Andalucia.com Amigo
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2004 7:45 pm
- Location: Essex
I was petrified when I knew i'd be driving to Spain from the UK-on my own in the car with two kids and two dogs-while I followed the lorry with my husband and dad in.
I had never driven abroad!!
To top it all, on the ferry the car and lorry got seperated, and coming off the other end...I lost them. We were first off and they were nearly last. 8pm at night, and dark, and driving on the wrong side of the road!!!!
Anyway, my point is, once in Spain I drove everywhere, at all times of the day, and my confidence (along with my blood pressure!) soon shot up!!
It's not that bad, and, as my husband goes to work on his motorbike, when he gets in the car with me, he says I drive like the Spanish!! Scary compliment if you ask me!
I had never driven abroad!!
To top it all, on the ferry the car and lorry got seperated, and coming off the other end...I lost them. We were first off and they were nearly last. 8pm at night, and dark, and driving on the wrong side of the road!!!!
Anyway, my point is, once in Spain I drove everywhere, at all times of the day, and my confidence (along with my blood pressure!) soon shot up!!
It's not that bad, and, as my husband goes to work on his motorbike, when he gets in the car with me, he says I drive like the Spanish!! Scary compliment if you ask me!
Donna
N340
Driving in Spanish roads in most places is not a problem, including in towns, once one has got used to it - doesn't take long to suss out what the 'modus operandi' is.
But the dreaded N340 . . .
Of course it's not the 340 any more, it's the A7. Nevertheless after a number of previous visits and one complete year using it, I still hate driving on the Carretera. Worst road, worst drivers, I've ever experienced. The cutting in and out with millimetres to spare, at high speed, is awful. Some lorries, JCBs and tractors go very slowly, other lorries travel at BMW speeds, inches off one's back bumper. Very aggressive, not to mention stupid. We see accidents or the results of them nearly every day. Early in the year a lorry left the road at the La Cala chicane and killed people sitting on the beach below. Construction of road junctions is half-witted and dangerous - does Spain not employ highways engineers?
[we are not granny drivers either]
What about these recently announnced planned sections of new carretera by-pass road, halfway between the coast road and the motorway? Is this real? How on earth will they fit them in?
But the dreaded N340 . . .
Of course it's not the 340 any more, it's the A7. Nevertheless after a number of previous visits and one complete year using it, I still hate driving on the Carretera. Worst road, worst drivers, I've ever experienced. The cutting in and out with millimetres to spare, at high speed, is awful. Some lorries, JCBs and tractors go very slowly, other lorries travel at BMW speeds, inches off one's back bumper. Very aggressive, not to mention stupid. We see accidents or the results of them nearly every day. Early in the year a lorry left the road at the La Cala chicane and killed people sitting on the beach below. Construction of road junctions is half-witted and dangerous - does Spain not employ highways engineers?
[we are not granny drivers either]
What about these recently announnced planned sections of new carretera by-pass road, halfway between the coast road and the motorway? Is this real? How on earth will they fit them in?
Going back twelve years or so, I remember the old N340 in both directions from Malaga Airport. Towards Gibraltar and around Marbella etc. it was the lack of slip roads (I reckon) that caused as many accidents as anything else. The UK driver, little experience of driving on the right, driving straight across the carriageway having suddenly seen their holiday destination. Deadly.
Towards Nerja the road as I remember was a long straight road (now signposted n340a costa) with sugar cane fields on one side and often directly by the side of the beach - thus got narrower when summer came. People in a rush to overtake. Also deadly.
Much better now there is a motorway. And better still when it gets completed!
Dave
Towards Nerja the road as I remember was a long straight road (now signposted n340a costa) with sugar cane fields on one side and often directly by the side of the beach - thus got narrower when summer came. People in a rush to overtake. Also deadly.
Much better now there is a motorway. And better still when it gets completed!
Dave
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