[hondadriver]

Originally Posted by efgritesh

As someone who has done it couple of times, I think I have first hand experience to comment on it.

It is not difficult, just first few minutes it needs for your mind to realign to right side driving.

Having said that, its easier to forget it often and if you are not careful specially on an empty road, you might end up on wrong side of the road.

Just to add some context, I never had any prior experience about dirving on right side of the road and was scared of doing it untill I did. I was able to hire them on my indian driving license for couple of road trips and covered most of them uneventful. This is another bit that is often very confusing, as we dont exactly know if we are allowed to drive on indian license or not. Some countries accept while others need you to mandatorily convert before you can start driving on road.

Only once I was honked by someone when I overlooked a temporary signal put on road due to repairs, in India these type of signals nare almost non-existant and we use common sense to avoid hitting each other .

I did extensive trips from Belgium to Swizerland and from Milan to Roam, so spent reasonably good amount of time on wheels.

I have driven in EU extensively over the last 25 years over holidays and work; and lived+driven in the US for 10+ years and learned to drive in India when I was 17 yrs old.

1) I find driving in EU to be the least stressful (even on the autobahns at ungodly speeds).

2) India is in the middle as we do what I can say is "collaborative driving". This term was coined by James May in a Top Gear episode shot in India. And since we drive in the middle of the road here mostly, it doesn't take much to move to the right when driving in EU

3) USA is most stressful because of poor driver education, rules and fines are enforced, random stressful encounters with cops, and no collaborative driving.

[LazyEngineer]

I am driving in USA for quite some time and its always recommended to learn few DIY things to troubleshoot and fix common problems in Car e.g. fixing a punctured tyre, replacing a fuse, air filter etc. otherwise it can cost you a lot to fix such basic things .

[Pontiac]

USA: Do not HONK ever, anywhere.
You might even get shot depending on which part of the country you are. You will hear people honk at you but keep the urge to yourself. Try not make eye contact with anyone who is honking and cursing you. Always remember that you are an outsider in the country.

[AKTransAM]

Originally Posted by Pontiac

USA: Do not HONK ever, anywhere.
You might even get shot depending on which part of the country you are. You will hear people honk at you but keep the urge to yourself. Try not make eye contact with anyone who is honking and cursing you. Always remember that you are an outsider in the country.

Agreed! The only time a honk is heard is if there's an imminent collision or someone is trying to avoid one. Also, Pontiac, great name and Avatar. I'm obviously biased.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by GTO

- Get the maximum possible insurance coverage. If you cannot afford the insurance premium, you cannot afford the car rental. I always choose the 0 deductible, full coverage. Repairs are obscenely expensive in foreign countries.

- As a petrolhead, rent some awesome cars . The options you get abroad are plentiful, with powerful cars coming for relatively cheap money.

Just an add-on to the above point. As GTO mentioned, zero-deductible is an absolute must when you rent a car. You can buy third-party insurance by your travel insurance provider or agencies like RentalCover.com, it could be slightly cheaper, but getting the coverage directly as a part of your rental agreement ensures peace of mind, and hassle-free experience when it comes to paperwork and follow-ups. But many rental companies will have some minimum amount as deductibles when it comes to cars in higher segments (sports/luxury). For example, see the screenshots below. The first one is for a BMW X3, and the second is for BMW X3M. If you notice, the first one, have smart protection with zero deductible, and for the second one, the same protection package have a deductible of SGD 2170, and costs much higher (more than double) than the regular X3. Which means you have higher upfront cost for protection add-on, and also you need to pay a minimum amount in case of unforeseen situations.





So a good option** will be to book a car from the minimum class/segment which you want to drive, based on your preferences (say comfort vs sportiness, space, luggage capacity etc.). With the above example, book the regular X3 with zero-deductible protection, and ask for upgrade options at the counter. In most cases you will be able to upgrade to a higher segment based on availability (say to the X3 M) with an add-on fee, and all the terms and conditions (including add-ons) of your original booking will stay applicable. This means you will get the X3 M with zero-deductible, which was not a possibility if you had booked that model directly upfront. And the total fees to upgrade will be normally cheaper compared to what you pay with upfront booking of the same model.

And if some mishap happen (by your mistake, or by a third party), always make sure to call the local police hotline to report. There may not be any police action, but it is a requirement and non-compliance could result in the cancellation of zero-deductible clause in your rental agreement.

**Disclaimers:

• This was not something I researched, but found out from the official at the rental counter when I upgraded to a higher segment (BMW 1-series to an X2 M35i) during my recent holiday in Europe.
• It is possible that the terms & conditions on deductibles or upgrade could be different across different rental companies. So to avoid any surprises, please read through in detail before commencing the rental.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

2) Take all the coverage, with minimum deductible. Also check the policy on fuel: whether you have to top up the tank, or can return as-is, at the end of your journey

A small tip: Most of car rentals from US airports have pre pay fuel option. Better to get this as the rates they offer are competitive and you dont have to fuel brim the car when you return it.

"Enterprise: You may opt to pre-pay for fuel -- Pre-pay gives you two conveniences:

You can avoid the hassle of having to fuel up the vehicle before returning.
Pre-pay fuel option is calculated at the local rate of gas minus a per gallon discount.
Note: Prepaid fuel is only sold in full tanks at the discounted price per gallon. Local fuel rates will vary by the area you are renting a vehicle."


Most people who forget this, have to do a whole circus to find the nearest gas station to tank up on the way to airport. In case you cannot refuel since you have a flight to catch, the gas rate for refueling will be 3 to 4 times the actual price .

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Pontiac

USA: Do not HONK ever, anywhere.
You might even get shot depending on which part of the country you are. You will hear people honk at you but keep the urge to yourself. Try not make eye contact with anyone who is honking and cursing you. Always remember that you are an outsider in the country.

You make it sound like its the wild west out there! But your point about not making eye contact is valid for de-escalating road rage. Couple of cases though do come to mind where it is ok to honk:
1. Light has turned green but the driver ahead of you is busy looking at their phone.
2. You are driving down a 4 lane highway and someone is veering onto your lane.

Apart from this, a few minor points:
1. Always make sure everyone in your car is wearing a seat belt, even the ones at the back. While this may not be mandatory, it will still save lives and reduce medical bills if you ever get into an unfortunate incident.
2. Right turns! Many intersections have different rules for right turns. Some say right turn after a stop, some have a light to tell you when you can make the right turn on red, and some that will have a red arrow. You should not make a right turn on a red arrow, even though you may get honked at. If you do get honked at, follow Pontiac's suggestion.
3. Parking: Parking rules in US are sometimes more confusing than driving rules, so pay close attention to where you park, and how! I once got a parking ticket because my rear wheel was more than 4 feet from the curb. I was going into a shop for only a few minutes but the town parking police was very efficient.
4. Blind spots: Always check your blind spots when changing lanes by moving your head. Lanes are quite wide and you may not notice a smaller vehicle in the lane you're trying to move to
5. Dutch Reach: Practice this specially in big cities when getting out of your car. It means you use the hand farther from the door to open it. It forces you to look back and make sure that you are not opening your door into oncoming traffic.

Cheers

[G20Rider]

Common mistake fellow Indians make while driving in Netherlands

This means NO U-Turn. We are used to seeing a crossed out U Turn sign and most make the mistake of thinking below means U-Turn allowed.
As a thumb rule anything inside a red circle means a prohibited action. 100 inside a red circle? Don’t go above 100.


Easiest way to crash in Netherlands is to be ignorant about priority rules. In non-priority roads (usually in 30kmph roads), vehicle coming from right has priority and those going straight has to stop and yield. And this is followed in practice. People do merge from right without a care and you can cause a crash if you are not aware of this system.

Below are the common priority signs.

[hondatoyotafan]

Originally Posted by Pontiac

USA: Do not HONK ever, anywhere.

One more thing i need to add is the Indian habit of Flashing your lights when passing heavy vehicles. The first time on the freeway i was doing it with the big rigs and after some time a big rig started following me and started doing the same thing. So no need to flash except if you are in a 4 way stop and need to signal them to go ahead