UK roads/drivers
 

Just spent a week in the Dublin/Cork region of Ireland. Fantastic.
Coming from the US, the right side drive and driving on the left side of the road took some real getting used to.
Saw a ton of nice BMWs and MBs and all other manner of exotic foreign cars and brand names I am unfamiliar with. All were nice cosmetically which I don’t understand. The roads are very narrow, not a lot of maneuvering space in parking lots, streets and areas around businesses (pubs) and parking lot spaces are striped so narrow, it’s really hard getting in and out of the car. Yet, no nicks, dings or scratches to be noticed. Happy to say I dropped off the rental car after putting on almost 500 km, exactly as I received it.

The first time I rented a car there I took the full insurance add-on just in case. When I turned it in at the end of the trip, they claimed the hubcaps had scratches on them, but not to worry about it because I had the full insurance package. I think they were just waiting for someone to rent that car and take the insurance package to suddenly discover scratched hubcaps and replace them. We've rented cars there twice since that trip and had no issues.

On YouTube there are British driving lesson videos where a driver's license examiner is driving around with a teenager. There are 6 or 7 vids that cover just about every scenario you'd face. Before our trips over there, I watch those videos over and over. I even copy them to my laptop so I can watch them on the plane. It helps my brain become accustomed to the left-side driving.

The narrow roads and super tight parking lots/garages are definitely a challenge. And their GPS (SatNav) system is a bit screwy. It'll take you on tiny farm paths instead of more substantial roads because the farm path is the most direct route. And one time the nav system insisted we drive across a pedestrians-only bridge. Wifey is very adept at reading a map, so we always have one handy for a backup reference.

... and shifting with the left hand takes some getting used to...

Car park dings and dents are so common. I'm glad you didn't get any, and surprised you didn't see any on other cars. Happens more in towns/cities where people are less careful or in more of a hurry or are arseholes...not sure which.

Just a heads-up - Dublin and Cork are in Ireland...the part which is in the EU, not the UK.

My experience here is the same. I relocated (temporarily) to the UK for 1-year, back in early Feb) due to a work requirement. Took me a month or two to find a used car, that hopefully won't be a worthless POS in a few years due to very strict emissions laws and evolving standards. I got a 2014 Audi A3 with 40k miles - 6-speed.

I learnt to drive on the wrong side, so right-hand drive is second nature. Issue is, roads are narrow (A and B roads especially), parking spots are narrow, drive into an old parking garage and you will see that North American roads and infrastructure is very generous.

The thing which pisses me off the most here, are very strict road laws. Photo radar on almost every road. Do 34 in a 30, and you will get called into a speeding class. Park on the side of a road (not blocking anyone) with a red line, and it's a £60 - £90 ticket (or PCN). Tail or nose is sticking in an intersection with a Keep Clear sign, and automatic £60 or so fine.

Drive through a congestion zone because Google lady navigated you down some random street (a street marked with a round C sign), and it's £15 if you pay voluntarily within a 2-day timeframe. Ignore that and you have a £90 fine, which can keep on going up.

Oh, and finding parking is also a challenge. Many places have little to no parking. People rent out their personal parking spots on apps like JustPark for £6 - £10 an hour or close to £100 per month.

Drive to London and pay £30 or more for parking. With all the street parking, wheels are curbed, and doors have dings.

Yeah. The UK is not the place for cars...or public transport.

I have a question for you @[Tambohamilton](contact:425899) . I often hear the terms "near side" and "off side" when watching some of the UK motorway cop shows. Is near side the curb, sorry kerb, side? Or have I got it backwards?

Before the trip I contacted my auto insurance company to confirm the rental car rider coverage would work in Ireland - it wouldn’t. We bought rental car insurance for Ireland through AAA, which is also the travel agency we used for the trip. It was about $35 for full coverage for the three days we had the car so I did not buy the added coverage from Hertz.
The Hertz guy did give me a bit of a hard time for not buying the insurance and since we did not take their insurance, they put a $5,000 hold on our credit card to cover any potential damage. AAA did not tell us this would happen. Not a big deal for us but it would have been nice to know.

Yep, you're right; it's the sides of the car as observed by a passer-by. NS is passenger side (driver's left), and OS is driver side. It's weird. To me just left or right would be simpler!

Car rental companies are always crappy. Best to have your own insurance - IIRC they'll charge about 5x what a 3rd party would.

They penalize drivers as an obvious revenue stream. But rail strikes and rail ticket costs are another joke. Rail tickets for my wife, son and I from Reading to London (day trip on the weekend - off-peak) is £45. A single day trip regular cost during business hours is £60!! That's pretty steep for a daily commute.

EuroStar tickets from London to Paris in August for 2 adults and 1 child was over £700.

Thanx. It's nice to have a definitive answer. The way those shows are edited makes it difficult to work out, at least for me.

To be honest, I'm all for drivers being taxed; we pollute more and clog up roads etc etc... but they have to offer a practical alternative, which they certainly don't!

Car rental rates, UK vs EU:
- In April, I hired a Seat Leon from Enterprise (Berkshire) at £64/day with unlimited miles
- In August, I rented a Citroen C3 from Europcar (Brussels) at €23/day with unlimited kms

Both are compact. One was much nicer to drive, and one was a goofy / fugly mini-SUV. I got ~500 miles to the tank in the Leon, and close to a 1000km per tank of diesel in the C3.

I paid an extra £25/day for extended insurance from Enterprise, not to haggle on curbage or scrapes at time of return.

I had signed up for extra protection on Booking.com but this was lost in translation at the Europcar counter in BRU when picking up the C3. They had put a €500 hold on my Canadian Visa, and did not accept my Monzo debit card as a payment card.