Please Be Aware if coming to Portugal... (1 Viewer)

[JJ]

Good day to you all,

I have just returned from a trip to Lisbon airport and back.

This is a round trip of about 300 kms and 80 of these are on a non motorway road.

I experienced 3 very near misses, one of which could have been fatal (the truck involved was Spanish...) on this trip.

There was only one crash (non fatal.)

The general standard of driving in this beautiful country is truly, truly DREADFUL

Everyone tail gates to within a metre or two... the gap you leave between you and the car in front for saftey is a "window of opportunity" to the locals and no one minds making some one else brake hard as long as they get out into the road and the indicators might as well have not been fitted to cars here.

My advice is to be very, very defensive when driving around here...

JJ

 

[Mixter]

You want to try sitting in one of their taxis on the way to the airport!

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

glad they were only near misses and that you are okay xxxxxx

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[Ant&Debs]

Good day to you all,

I have just returned from a trip to Lisbon airport and back.

This is a round trip of about 300 kms and 80 of these are on a non motorway road.

I experienced 3 very near misses, one of which could have been fatal (the truck involved was Spanish...) on this trip.

There was only one crash (non fatal.)

The general standard of driving in this beautiful country is truly, truly DREADFUL

Everyone tail gates to within a metre or two... the gap you leave between you and the car in front for saftey is a "window of opportunity" to the locals and no one minds making some one else brake hard as long as they get out into the road and the indicators might as well have not been fitted to cars here.

My advice is to be very, very defensive when driving around here...

JJ

Hi JJ

Hope you are well, When we were in Portugal in Sept we had a few near misses, when we were driving from Penela to Ansiao to complete on our little piece of Portugal.

Ant & Debs

 

[Road Runner]

Good day to you all,

I have just returned from a trip to Lisbon airport and back.

This is a round trip of about 300 kms and 80 of these are on a non motorway road.

I experienced 3 very near misses, one of which could have been fatal (the truck involved was Spanish...) on this trip.

There was only one crash (non fatal.)

The general standard of driving in this beautiful country is truly, truly DREADFUL

Everyone tail gates to within a metre or two... the gap you leave between you and the car in front for saftey is a "window of opportunity" to the locals and no one minds making some one else brake hard as long as they get out into the road and the indicators might as well have not been fitted to cars here.

My advice is to be very, very defensive when driving around here...

JJ

JJ look after the black beast and in doing that yourself mate

 

[jhorsf]

Glad your ok JJ lets be careful out there

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[GJH]

Maybe you could get Mancini to run some driving courses - then the misses wouldn't be such near ones

Sorry, couldn't resist that one. Be safe.

Graham

 

[Jim]

Hasn't Portugal got one of the worst roads for fatalities in the EU The dodgem tracks called IP5 and the N125. That said, I'm sure I read somewhere that they had halved road deaths in Portugal, but I suppose even then the death rate is pretty high

 

[JJ]

That said, I'm sure I read somewhere that they had halved road deaths in Portugal, but I suppose even then the death rate is pretty high

They haven't halved the death rates... airbags have!

My sources tell me that there are just as many crashes as before but more people survive them...

PS. I wasn't using the Black Beast for the run... company business means usng the company car...

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[400ixl]

Drove from Lisbon down to Lagos once avoiding most of the motorways.

Was an interesting journey and many parts you would have thought you were south of the med, not north of it.

 

[slobadoberbob]

reminds me of Tunbridge Wells - why go to Portugal

After reading these posts, all I would say is come and drive in Tunbridge Wells.. just as bad as Portugal and you do not have to go so far for the experiance. But seriously, Spain is not a lot better.. the coaches and lorries just sit on you rear bumper... I remeber a few years ago we suffered this with the car when we were staying in a villa.. we got over it a bit by doing something my son in law called washing the car... the water jets on the front of the car were a little high for the car:Blush:.. so when you had a truck locked on to the bumper a qucik wash the car meant he got a his window screen wet.... often seemed to work... but they were bad drivers Spain and Portugal were very bad..France seemed better.

Bob:thumb:

 

[keith]

When we had an RV and toad in Spain & Portugal we would worry when a car pull in behind us sometimes they didn't realise we were towing & would try to push in between the RV & toad.

This created some very close calls when passing motorway slip roads as well when they would try to push in once more between the RV & toad.

It can be a very scary place to drive, be prepared. :thumbdown:

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[chatter]

Drivers are bad everywhere, I dont think that drivers in spain etc. are any worse than some of the drivers in the uk, our younger generation of drivers seem to have no concept of safe/defensive driving and will push in just the same as drivers abroad, infact i am starting to dislike driving in the uk due to the amount of ****** (impatient idiots) that now seem to be on our roads (but think this is because we are a small country so our roads appear more crowded than the roads in europe) - and im not a sunday driver having spent most of my working life behind the wheel of a vehicle. They seem to think that they are in infallible tanks that will protect them

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Drivers are bad everywhere, I dont think that drivers in spain etc. are any worse than some of the drivers in the uk, our younger generation of drivers seem to have no concept of safe/defensive driving and will push in just the same as drivers abroad, infact i am starting to dislike driving in the uk due to the amount of ****** (impatient idiots) that now seem to be on our roads (but think this is because we are a small country so our roads appear more crowded than the roads in europe)...

I used to commute across the Severn and back and I was glad when I stopped because it became more and more unpleasant due to the dangerous driving, particularly on the M4.

During my recent trundle back along the south coast, apart from the usual selfishness (and some really narrow roads) I actually didn't have too many issues. But I came back to South Wales and....aaarghhh! We must have the worst drivers in the UK.

I had a bloke in a Honda Civic almost push me out of the car park exit while leaving the services at M4 J30, and then overtake me by racing through the petrol station, in between the pumps!

 

[movan]

:Angry::Angry: Did you get his number, son? No-body treats my lad like that..:Angry:

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[grumps147]

Portugal sounds just like some bits of Birmingham I have been driving round the last couple of days. White lines are for straddling when heading towards me, white lines at junctions are for scaring me **itless on the main road, or, for crossing so the main road gives way to the minor road. Those funny red, amber and green things seem to be for some kind of lottery or betting scam, or everyone is colour blind and does not know what top/middle/bottom are. Have these people really passed a UK driving test?? Only one more day and I am back home to sanity. The only good thing so far is the car I am driving is a hire car on the firms insurance, and the car iteslf has such poor visibility I can't see half of what is happening (Seat Leon - how did it get through type approvals - its awful). After this, I am convinced I could go and drive in a certain country a long way away.

 

[JJ]

Drivers are bad everywhere, I dont think that drivers in spain etc. are any worse than some of the drivers in the uk,

I guess that I can't be doing enough driving in the Uk these days if what you say is true...

...I am not talking about the drivers in Spain... no problem with them... I am talking about the drivers in Portugal... in my experience (and after spending six months a year here for the last ten years) a completely different kettle of fish... the figures speak for themselves... the worst traffic casualty figures in the EU.

JJ :Cool:

 

[JJ]

After reading these posts, all I would say is come and drive in Tunbridge Wells.. just as bad as Portugal Bob:thumb:

No doubt you speak the truth but I do find that very hard to believe...

As a matter of interest Bob when were you last on the roads over here... things get worse and worse here imo...

JJ

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[scotjimland]

EU Road accident statistics by country..

download the pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/wcm/road_safety/erso/safetynet/fixed/WP1/2008/SafetyNet%20Annual%20Statistical%20Report%202008.pdf

 

[trevosky]

Well my self and two other campers will heading over the border to Portugal on Thursday for a 5 day break so we will be keeping oir eyes open and post my opinion on my return,Trev:thumb:

 

[JJ]

EU Road accident statistics by country..

download the pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/wcm/road_safety/erso/safetynet/fixed/WP1/2008/SafetyNet%20Annual%20Statistical%20Report%202008.pdf

Cripes Jim lad...

with those figures I could prove anything I wanted to!!!!

(don't forget Portugal has a tenth the populartion of the Uk...

JJ

PS. at a first, cursory glance it looks like it was good I never chose to settle in Poland!

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