Driving Abroad: Greece
Cars.com’s Brian Neale was in Europe recently. Here is his report on driving conditions in Greece:
The superhighway/toll road
Looks pretty much like an L.A. freeway — five or six lanes each way, but the speed limit is 120 kph (75 mph). Naturally, everyone goes about 150 kph (95 mph). I liked it, even if our underpowered 1.4-liter Kia rental didn’t. There wasn’t much traffic because you have to pay a lot to drive on it, but it got us to the airport without having to drive through Athens and clipped a couple hours off the trip.
The highway
Dangerous and scary. The speed limit is usually 80 kph, so everyone goes about 120. There’s only one lane in each direction, but a good-sized shoulder on each side. If you’re wise, you drive mostly on the shoulder because people pass anywhere and anytime they want — double lines, blind curves and hills be damned! If someone is coming at you in your lane, YOU are the one expected to get out of the way. This gets particularly hairy every so often when the shoulder unexpectedly ends because of a bridge, ditch, tree or some disabled vehicle.
In one particular scary moment, a guy in a little compact was passing a semi at the exact moment an oncoming tour bus was passing another semi. Four-wide on a two-lane road! The compact’s driver squeezed through with about two inches around the mirrors to spare. I thought we were all gonna die for sure, since this was right in front of us. Every few kilos, there’s the Greek equivalent of our roadside memorial crosses, only they are elaborate little temples, built to last decades. Each one has a candle, a photo of the deceased and a pop bottle containing oil for the candle. Maybe a saint or two for good measure. “Greek warning signs,” I started to call them. That’s one to the left.
On these roads, I noticed people don’t talk on their cell phones. They focus on driving, because you have to or you will die. At first I thought the Greeks were terrible drivers, but I quickly came to understand they are actually EXCELLENT drivers — that’s how they get away with such antics. Can you imagine driving like that in Chicago? I don’t think people would get out of the way — we’d rather have a head-on than yield to someone, it seems to me. Of course, we wouldn’t even notice the oncoming car while we’re driving and texting. No surprise, then, that the No. 1 cause of death for Americans in Greece is traffic accidents.
The mountains
Insanely small, steep, twisty roads make our mountain roads look like the Autobahn. I was in heaven. There’s practically no traffic, but LOTS of “Greek Warning Signs.” No shoulders, no guard rails, just huge dropoffs. Frequently you can’t even see terra firma beyond the edge of the road — only sky. If you’re not dodging boulders, you’re dodging goats. (That’s “katsiki” in Greek, for all you goat fans.) Like everything else in Greece, it’s survival of the fittest. A few American lawyers could spoil the fun right quick, I suspect.
