Driving while Irish

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So, I have been driving in Ireland for 4 days now. Here is a list of my lift of the good, the bad, and the ugly of driving while Irish.

The Good
-Respect for the passing lane!!!! People DON'T sit in the passing lane forever on the freeways here!
-New and well maintained roads. Apparently the EU has spent a lot of money to update the road system here, well worth it!
-Polite and confident drivers. They won't run you off the road, but they'll beep a little if they have to. (and with me in a roundabout, they had to)
-I am driving a great little Toyota Corrolla, very nice! (no AC though)

The Bad
-Shifting with my left hand. It is very difficult to be shifting with your left hand and trying to use the turn signal at the same time! Same hand! Same hand!
-Very narrow 2 lane roads with no passing area. I am beginning to hate trucks and tractors out here in the country.

The Ugly
-Ok, not only am I driving on the left side of the street while sitting on the right side of the car, but the STINKING ROAD MARKING LINES ARE REVERSED IN COLOR!!!!! So, there is a double yellow line that desinates the shoulder area, and a single while line (sometimes broken, sometimes solid, sometimes non-existent) that seperates the 2 directions of travel. UGH!
-Getting used to wide right turns, and tight left turns.....very very very weird.
-Yielding to the right when I am turning left, and yielding both ways when I am turning right.

All in all I am really enjoying driving in Ireland, I haven't hit anything yet! (knock on wood)

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Photos

Driving 1
We thought the Irish people were very pleasant drivers, but maybe they were a little more passive aggressive than we were aware!

Comments

[Travis T.]

driving while Australian
dude, I feel you. driving down under is much the same. takes a while, but you get used to it eventually. do you have the same problem I did where you keep turning the wipers on every time you go to put the blinker on?

[Grandfather & Grandmother Cook]

Those car rental agents
Hi... Your car rental experience brought back memories from our first trip to England. We had made reservations in Oxford back in 1984 for a car with an automatic. It was quite a shock to find out when we got there that the agent did not have our car and we had to settle for a subcompact with a stick shift. Our first problem was to somehow figure out how to get out of the overcrowded car park that the car was parked in. We then exited directly onto a multilane roundabout along with a zillian (sp) other cars, buses and trucks. We had to circle several times in order to figure out when and how to get off the roundabout and headed in the right direction. We finally got off, but in doing so I ended up driving over the curb and narrowly missing a street light. After a few miles I got the hang of it and we never again had any driving problems...thank God. It sounds like you two are having a great time Love.....Rick and Pat

[Team Little Kiss]

driving
Actually, the wiper and turn signal controls are normal American style, so that is nice! We have had to use the wipers a lot, it is very drizzly here. I do like driving in Ireland, except when chelsea freaks out when I am passing a car on a tiny little 2 lane road with no shoulders. hee hee!