Met a tourist in a rental car on the wrong side of the road

AmberAmber

I had an accident yesterday evening , met a car on the wrong side of the road. Not alot you can do when you come around a bend and over a brow in a road and faced with a car straight in front of you.

has any one else had a similar thing happen to you ?
what can we do to make sure we all drive on the correct side of the road.

Supergurrier

That must have been a terrible experience op hope you are OK.

Make sure and get yourself checked out as said above

biko

Hope you're ok OP, sounds scary indeed. Did you get details of the other car? Did Gardai attend the scene?
Take today off and go get checked out by A/E or a GP tomorrow.

I've seen signs at ports and many major tourist attractions with a "Keep left" message in several languages and a picture.

Renegade Mechanic

AmberAmber wrote: »

I had an accident yesterday evening , met a car on the wrong side of the road. Not alot you can do when you come around a bend and over a brow in a road and faced with a car straight in front of you. I did what i could do to avoid a full on front collision with the man but I got hit on the passenger side of my car. My alloy on that side was smashed from the impact , had to pick up the bits off the road . my poor car it was not new , but it was the only car i have. I dont think its going to come out of this too well. This morning i am awake since 5am , dont feel great , body is starting to ake a bit now this morning.

has any one else had a similar thing happen to you ?
what can we do to make sure we all drive on the correct side of the road.

Sorry to hear that OP, was involved in a fair belt myself a few years back, wole car bent. I was fine till the next morning when I woke up around six. Sore back and right knee and shoulder were quite sore with some minor bruises here and there. I think its common to be sore after an accident and it should leave you after a day or two. I was fine after and hopefully you will be too.

AmberAmber

Thanks every one ,
yes i called the local Garda station to where it happened. was lucky to make call , as phone reception was so bad , but on the second call i got through. It was some moment alright , some fright . The other driver was is from France and was so sorry, he accepted he was in the wrong and had forgot drive on the other side and sure what could he do , he thought he was ok , he just pulled out on the road a few 100 meters from an evening fishing. his car got away ok , its driving anyhow. its a main road but on a popular tourist route so not many road markings except for the while line !!!
yes i will go to see a local GP in an hour or so . i am on two days off from work so was on a road trip to visit family .
I do think i would like a few days off to just gather my self from the shock and will see how i am in the next few days .

fryup

my cousin had a head on collision with some sap from the continent who was just off the boat from rosslare, he spent the best part of three months in hospital

so count your lucky stars OP

AmberAmber

oh dear i am sorry to hear about your cousin Fryup , i am thankful to be up and about alright. I guess like many things in life its not till some thing happens to us do we stop and think of what does happen out there on the roads, and how serious car accidents do have very serious consequences for those involved and family.

john kinsella

Defiantly get yourself checked out OP. I would think your GP will just refer you to a hospital for a check even to cover him/herself.

You will be sore for a few days after the adrenaline leaves your body.

Try to take a few days taking it very easy. Even if you have no lasting injuries you need to get over the shock.

Glad you and the other driver were able to get out of the cars though, consider yourself somewhat lucky.

Conmaicne Mara

My sister had something similar happen to her years ago. Americans coming around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. Wrote off her car. They weren't nice at all, neither was the prick of a hotelier who came to the Americans rescue.

Long story short, do everything by the numbers, insurance company, gardai, doctor etc. WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, including dates. Took my sister over three years to get her settlement, as she also got hurt as well as her car being written off.

Cerco

Happened to me a few months back but luckily no collision. A young couple in an Italian car. They got a right fright too.

I do have some sympathy for tourists though as I know how easy it can be to make the mistake. You would be very aware for the first few days but when you start to relax on holidays that's when the trouble can start.
Came out of a small restaurant once in rural France and drove off on the wrong side. Luckily I copped on before anything happened. In my experience it is more likely to happen when you drive your own car. In a rental car you are always reminded when you get in on the "other" side.

B00056718

Cerco wrote: »

Happened to me a few months back but luckily no collision. A young couple in an Italian car. They got a right fright too.

I do have some sympathy for tourists though as I know how easy it can be to make the mistake. You would be very aware for the first few days but when you start to relax on holidays that's when the trouble can start.
Came out of a small restaurant once in rural France and drove off on the wrong side. Luckily I copped on before anything happened. In my experience it is more likely to happen when you drive your own car. In a rental car you are always reminded when you get in on the "other" side.

I'm a Latvian living in Ireland for the past 12 years.

Every year I visit Latvia and had made same mistake few times.
Only for couple of seconds and there were no near misses or incidents but it's not a nice feeling to realize you're driving on the wrong side of the road.

It always happens when you pull out from an living estate or car park etc and your head is occupied with something else. Habits take over. So you have to stay alert at all times.

But yes, I can also understand it can easily happen.

zenno

B00056718 wrote: »

I'm a Latvian living in Ireland for the past 12 years.

Every year I visit Latvia and had made same mistake few times.
Only for couple of seconds and there were no near misses or incidents but it's not a nice feeling to realize you're driving on the wrong side of the road.

It always happens when you pull out from an living estate or car park etc and your head is occupied with something else. Habits take over. So you have to stay alert at all times.

But yes, I can also understand it can easily happen.

I won't stand for that excuse as peoples lives are in danger with this.

I don't care what problems or things a person has on their mind, as soon as they get into a car they should be fully focused at all times, if not then don't drive, simple as that. Sick of peoples excuses. This is too dangerous and will kill folk so don't drive if your brain is not focused at all times.

Anan1

zenno wrote: »

I won't stand for that excuse as peoples lives are in danger with this.

I don't care what problems or things a person has on their mind, as soon as they get into a car they should be fully focused at all times, if not then don't drive, simple as that. Sick of peoples excuses. This is too dangerous and will kill folk so don't drive if your brain is not focused at all times.

I think that was an explanation, rather than a justification.

zenno

Anan1 wrote: »

I think that was an explanation, rather than a justification.

I know this, and that's why i said "a person" i didn't forward it directly at the poster.

No-one should drive if they are not focused, that's all i'm saying. How any person can forget to drive on the correct side of the road just boggles my mind, no matter what country they come from.

Cerco

zenno wrote: »

I know this, and that's why i said "a person" i didn't forward it directly at the poster.

No-one should drive if they are not focused, that's all i'm saying. How any person can forget to drive on the correct side of the road just boggles my mind, no matter what country they come from.

This is not an ideal world. If everybody was focused all the time there would be no accidents. But people are human and do get distracted. This is a fact of the human kind. We often work on autopilot indeed we could not survive without it. If you want more information consult a good psychology text.

zenno

Cerco wrote: »

This is not an ideal world. If everybody was focused all the time there would be no accidents. But people are human and do get distracted. This is a fact of the human kind. We often work on autopilot indeed we could not survive without it. If you want more information consult a good psychology text.

Driving on auto-pilot is insane, don't drive if you can't use the brain you were given, instead of using auto-pilot as a normal way to drive a vehicle.

This is exactly what i'm worried about, i don't want to end up dead one day because of some un-focused arsehole.

If i feel that i have a lot on my mind that could affect my driving, i will get the bus of which i have done in the past, i expect others to do the same instead of being in another dimension driving than this one.

An ideal world has nothing to do with common sense.

Cerco

zenno wrote: »

This is exactly what i'm worried about, i don't want to end up dead one day because of some un-focused arsehole.

If i feel that i have a lot on my mind that could affect my driving, i will get the bus of which i have done in the past, i expect others to do the same instead of being in another dimension driving than this one.

An ideal world has nothing to do with common sense.

You need to understand the functions of the the subconscious and how it effects our senses.

zenno

Cerco wrote: »

You need to understand the functions of the the subconscious and how it effects our senses.

If a persons subconscious and senses are affecting them then don't drive, it might save a life, get a bus.

Cerco

zenno wrote: »

If a persons subconscious and senses are affecting them then don't drive, it might save a life, get a bus.

Your subconscious is affecting every aspect of your life and actions. Indeed you could not get a bus without using your subconscious. Enough of this anyway since we are going off topic.

zenno

Cerco wrote: »

Your subconscious is affecting every aspect of your life and actions. Indeed you could not get a bus without using your subconscious. Enough of this anyway since we are going off topic.

Look all i'm saying is this, and then back on topic...

If i feel bogey on the day with pressures and a lot on my mind, i know not to drive, sure why would i endanger myself or others in this situation ? If this is the case on the day i do much rather get the bus as there is one every 15 minutes and i can then spend time on auto-pilot trying to sort out my stuff.

I always had a rule that i will never turn the ignition if i feel un-focused or have issues on my mind, it's just common sense to me, and makes sense. If more people used this common-sense scenario then the roads would be safer, but laziness and self indulgence of comfort takes the front wheel.

At least it's not as bad here as it is in Russia, but it's still a problem with folks driving on the wrong side of the road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMdLTd1l4E

CiniO

zenno wrote: »

I won't stand for that excuse as peoples lives are in danger with this.

I don't care what problems or things a person has on their mind, as soon as they get into a car they should be fully focused at all times, if not then don't drive, simple as that. Sick of peoples excuses. This is too dangerous and will kill folk so don't drive if your brain is not focused at all times.

To be honest find me a single person who switches driving sides regularly (left and right) and has never made such mistake.

zenno

CiniO wrote: »

To be honest find me a single person who switches driving sides regularly (left and right) and has never made such mistake.

Thinking of the effect off such a mistake is enough to make sure you are driving on the correct side of the road, and anyone that is not aware of which side of the road to drive on should not be driving a vehicle full stop.

Also, when a driver is driving on the wrong side of the road, how the heck they don't realise this is crazy because they can see other road traffic users on the correct side, surely that is an eye-opener for the driver of which is on the wrong side of the road.

Any person that drives on the wrong side of the road and caught should have their license removed permanently for lack of observation of the basic kind.

All the excuses that were said can, and have been fatal to other road users because of a stupid lack of visual knowledge of left/right. How a person can drive on the wrong side of the road thinking they are in their own homeland is just crazy, they should know quite well what country they are in and the correct side to be on.

The Original Poster here could have been killed because of such idiots. Take their license away and that will at least stop this person doing it again to someone else with fatal consequences.

CiniO

zenno wrote: »

Thinking of the effect off such a mistake is enough to make sure you are driving on the correct side of the road, and anyone that is not aware of which side of the road to drive on should not be driving a vehicle full stop.

Also, when a driver is driving on the wrong side of the road, how the heck they don't realise this is crazy because they can see other road traffic users on the correct side, surely that is an eye-opener for the driver of which is on the wrong side of the road.

Any person that drives on the wrong side of the road and caught should have their license removed permanently for lack of observation of the basic kind.

All the excuses that were said can, and have been fatal to other road users because of a stupid lack of visual knowledge of left/right. How a person can drive on the wrong side of the road thinking they are in their own homeland is just crazy, they should know quite well what country they are in and the correct side to be on.

Your arguments make sense. It is dangerous indeed.

But all what I said was that people who often switch between left and right hand traffic, sooner or later will make a mistake like that. Well - I did. And I don't know anyone who didn't.

Every single driver makes stupid mistakes from time to time, and we can't help it.

zenno

CiniO wrote: »

Your arguments make sense. It is dangerous indeed.

But all what I said was that people who often switch between left and right hand traffic, sooner or later will make a mistake like that. Well - I did. And I don't know anyone who didn't.

Every single driver makes stupid mistakes from time to time, and we can't help it.

Fair enough, but none of us want to have lapse of concentration as it is far too dangerous to do so, it could cost a person/persons to lose their life.

I understand that one lapse in concentration can be the end of it all, that's why i harp on so much about it. Focus on driving from point A to point B 100% and then when you get to point B destination, then relax and ponder about other important things. The only thing anyone should be thinking of while driving is getting to your destination safely with 100% observation imo.

mb1725

These arrows are used a lot in the UK especially before bends for this very problem:

Dempsey

zenno wrote: »

Driving on auto-pilot is insane, don't drive if you can't use the brain you were given, instead of using auto-pilot as a normal way to drive a vehicle.

This is exactly what i'm worried about, i don't want to end up dead one day because of some un-focused arsehole.

If i feel that i have a lot on my mind that could affect my driving, i will get the bus of which i have done in the past, i expect others to do the same instead of being in another dimension driving than this one.

An ideal world has nothing to do with common sense.

id say you'd pull in to change a radio station.

not everyone has access to decent public transport either

CreepingDeath

I'd some muppet driving on the wrong side of the road towards me in Lucan a year or two ago. Caught on dashcam here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr-1UHRrGpo

Also had some dozy middle aged woman driving on the wrong side of the road in the "fast lane" of the Tallaght dual carriageway/bypass towards me a couple of years ago.
I imagine she exited the garage on the dual carriageway and thought it was a two way road :rolleyes:
Had it on dashcam, but lost it
There were two cars before me in the right hand lane, so it wasn't that close an accident.

B00056718

zenno wrote: »

If a persons subconscious and senses are affecting them then don't drive, it might save a life, get a bus.

You will be surprised how distracted even aircraft pilots become never mind the drivers on the road.
That is one of reasons why there is at least two of them in the cockpit.

We are human and there is nothing we can do about it. Well the whole aviation business has made everything poka yoke (mistake proof) or automated and computer assisted the tasks humans are performing.
That's why one aircraft is carrying more computer power than a large modern office.

I never said it is ok to drive on the wrong side of the road but it happened to me before i knew it so I can understand it happens.

An average person will go trough 65000 thoughts a day. They cannot be all about the road in fron of you.

I didn't mean to start a fight in here.Just expressing my opinion and experience.

nice_guy80

WHY????

don't they put a sticker on the steering wheel and dash to remind visitors that we drive on the proper side of the road???

should be mandatory for all cars being rented.

B00056718

nice_guy80 wrote: »

WHY????

don't they put a sticker on the steering wheel and dash to remind visitors that we drive on the proper side of the road???

should be mandatory for all cars being rented.

Or be even more innovative and develop a device that will constantly measure the distance to the roadside from both sides of the car and give warning if something is out of standard.

A production model shouldn't even be that expensive with todays technologies.

For people coming to Ireland and UK make it mandatory to rent such a device with your rental car. And vice versa for people from Ireland and UK going to continent.

I mean enforce it in the whole territory of EU for example.

Or you could use a sticker to begin with.

View

AmberAmber wrote: »

what can we do to make sure we all drive on the correct side of the road.

Well, we could do as Sweden did in 1967 or '68 and switch from driving on the "wrong" side of the road to the "correct" side - i.e. the one that almost everyone else on the planet uses.

zenno

Dempsey wrote: »

id say you'd pull in to change a radio station.

not everyone has access to decent public transport either

Well that would be impossible for me to do as i do not have a car stereo of any kind in my car and never did, i made this clear on boards a year ago and i still to this day have no radio in my car.

It's like the tv, bloody adverts every second, no cd player either, i love music but while driving i don't be bothered, but when i reach my, or a friends abode, i will put the radio on in the house.

I understand that some people don't have good public transport, but in saying this, drive on the correct side of the road or just give driving up and sell the car, people that feck up in this situation should be off the road, sick of saying it.

Just backing myself up here about this comment above, as i don't use a radio in my car and never did.

zenno

B00056718 wrote: »

You will be surprised how distracted even aircraft pilots become never mind the drivers on the road.
That is one of reasons why there is at least two of them in the cockpit.

We are human and there is nothing we can do about it. Well the whole aviation business has made everything poka yoke (mistake proof) or automated and computer assisted the tasks humans are performing.
That's why one aircraft is carrying more computer power than a large modern office.

I never said it is ok to drive on the wrong side of the road but it happened to me before i knew it so I can understand it happens.

An average person will go trough 65000 thoughts a day. They cannot be all about the road in fron of you.

I didn't mean to start a fight in here.Just expressing my opinion and experience.

You're opinion is noted and i am not starting a fight at all, i just cannot understand how it is possible to lose your focus and drive on the wrong side of the road ?.

I have already said this numerous times...don't drive the bloody car/van if you cannot concentrate on driving, how can i make it any clearer to you ? I don't want to be the next fatality because of some person that is driving around a bend on the wrong side of the road. What part of this do some of you not understand ? Ohh it was an accident ? or i lost concentration ? feck, that's not good enough.

B00056718

View wrote: »

Well, we could do as Sweden did in 1967 or '68 and switch from driving on the "wrong" side of the road to the "correct" side - i.e. the one that almost everyone else on the planet uses.

Costs involved would be very high.

Don't think there is spare money in the budget at the moment.

zenno

B00056718 wrote: »

Costs involved would be very high.

Don't think there is spare money in the budget at the moment.

Yeah, money is more important than life.

Anywho folks. keep on the B/right side of the road, be safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCDZzf4ragg

B00056718

zenno wrote: »

Yeah, money is more important than life.

I never said that.

But it is scarce and must be allocated wisely.

I think that more lives would be saved if that money would go in to the healthcare system than switching to other side of the road.

zenno

B00056718 wrote: »

I never said that.

But it is scarce and must be allocated wisely.

I think that more lives would be saved if that money would go in to the healthcare system than switching to other side of the road.

I know, I said it ? that's what i wanted to say.

Opinions vary, but putting any more money into the health-care system in Ireland will just be wasted as it needs an enormous overhaul indeed.

Cerco

zenno wrote: »

i just cannot understand how it is possible to lose your focus and drive on the wrong side of the road ?.

This is the problem, you do not understand the human psyche. I am not being sarcastic but this is something for you to address yourself.
It is a fact of human nature that people make mistakes and no amount of preaching will change that. It is a fact of life whether you realize it or not. I cannot see this issue resolved in this discussion.

Dravokivich

nice_guy80 wrote: »

WHY????

don't they put a sticker on the steering wheel and dash to remind visitors that we drive on the proper side of the road???

should be mandatory for all cars being rented.

And if someone isn't using a rental?

There 's a video going around recently of a couple from Canada spending some time in Ireland. They made a point of showing the sticker that was on the windscreen on their car. So it would appear that this is a common occurrence already, if not something required (I don't know the ins/outs of car rental industry).

But as other people have posted earlier, driving becomes a form of habit. There's some thing you become used to as default, such as which side to be on.

knipex

View wrote: »

Well, we could do as Sweden did in 1967 or '68 and switch from driving on the "wrong" side of the road to the "correct" side - i.e. the one that almost everyone else on the planet uses.

Not true.

Lots of countries drive on left.. Japan, Australia, NewZealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia etc Over 50 in total comprising a big chunk of the worlds population.

View

knipex wrote: »

Not true.

Lots of countries drive on left.. Japan, Australia, NewZealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia etc Over 50 in total comprising a big chunk of the worlds population.

I said almost all, not all.

As it is the question for us is which side do most people in our immediate geographical area - Europe - use? And which side do most of our non-European visitors (largely North Americans) use?

Basing our decision on what Indonesia uses is pointless if our visitor numbers from there are negligible.

ba_barabus

Dravokivich wrote: »

So it would appear that this is a common occurrence already,

I've come across several accidents caused by tourists on the wrong side, two happened outside my house. Its very common

Anan1

View wrote: »

I said almost all, not all.

As it is the question for us is which side do most people in our immediate geographical area - Europe - use? And which side do most of our non-European visitors (largely North Americans) use?

Basing our decision on what Indonesia uses is pointless if our visitor numbers from there are negligible.

According to this, around half of our visitors are from RHD countries: http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/3_Research_Insights/3_General_SurveysReports/Overseas_visitors_to_Ireland_January-March_2013.pdf

Pro Hoc Vice

zenno wrote: »

I won't stand for that excuse as peoples lives are in danger with this.

I don't care what problems or things a person has on their mind, as soon as they get into a car they should be fully focused at all times, if not then don't drive, simple as that. Sick of peoples excuses. This is too dangerous and will kill folk so don't drive if your brain is not focused at all times.

To err is human, and all that. Anybody no matter how long driving or how good, will tell you how easy it is to make this error. Its not head occupied with non driving issues its because you are concentrating. Driving from a narrow side road onto main road in a different country, watching for other cars, pedestrians etc. it can happen when you pull out its on the wrong side. I have driven in the USA, France, Spain and Italy, its fine on motorways but a very different matter on B roads, where you have to constantly remind yourself of which side of road.

gibbon75

zenno wrote: »

Well that would be impossible for me to do as i do not have a car stereo of any kind in my car and never did, i made this clear on boards a year ago and i still to this day have no radio in my car.

It's like the tv, bloody adverts every second, no cd player either, i love music but while driving i don't be bothered, but when i reach my, or a friends abode, i will put the radio on in the house.

And that's the beauty of the human race:we are all different and we do things different ways (except in North Korea...)

knipex

View wrote: »

I said almost all, not all.

As it is the question for us is which side do most people in our immediate geographical area - Europe - use? And which side do most of our non-European visitors (largely North Americans) use?

Basing our decision on what Indonesia uses is pointless if our visitor numbers from there are negligible.

Pedantic much ?

If you take the populations of the 50+ plus countries you will find that they make a huge number.. billions of people. so not quite almost all..

The largest tourist numbers to Ireland come from the UK.
Our largest trading partner is the UK.
We share a land border with Northern Ireland which also drives on the left.

Changing which side of the road on which we drive would make things worse not better...

djimi

How exactly would we even go about changing the side of the road on which we drive? Every car in the country would become obselete overnight.

Also, how exactly do they decide how and when it happens? Like at the stroke of midnight does everyone just stop and switch lanes?

Dempsey

djimi wrote: »

How exactly would we even go about changing the side of the road on which we drive? Every car in the country would become obselete overnight.

Also, how exactly do they decide how and when it happens? Like at the stroke of midnight does everyone just stop and switch lanes?

In the Africa Top Gear special they were crossing a border into another country that drove on the opposite side of the road. James May (sketch or not) wouldnt listen to the other and continued driving on the wrong side until he met a truck coming against him! So you can have countries joined that drive on opposite sides.

Sweden changed side of the road so it can be done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

Pro Hoc Vice

djimi wrote: »

How exactly would we even go about changing the side of the road on which we drive? Every car in the country would become obselete overnight.

Also, how exactly do they decide how and when it happens? Like at the stroke of midnight does everyone just stop and switch lanes?

Ask Sweeden, http://youtu.be/q52RfAiZlws

mike65

There is no need to swap sides - just to pay attention.

A reminder on the road every KM would be a big help as would every rental having an audible reminder every time you turn the key.

Anan1

mike65 wrote: »

A reminder on the road every KM would be a big help

That would be very distracting for the rest of us!