Driving in Europe: It’s not that tough

About 10 years ago, I saw a pedestrian struck by a car and killed in Chongqing, China, which made me grateful I was traveling by bus. I’d never drive there.

But I rarely quail from touring by car in Europe, where fatality rates are lower than in China and I can generally figure out the road signs and the logic of the highways. This summer alone, I’ve driven little economy-class rental cars in Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. More and more, it seems as familiar as driving on the Santa Monica Freeway, with well-marked refueling and rest stops, multilane super-highways, big rigs to beware of, the same jokers who go around you only to slow down and sophisticated electric traffic alert signs. Driving the A-1 highway into Paris from Brussels last week, I saw one that warned about errant animals on the road. I wondered what kind.

“For a first trip to Europe, mass transit takes care of you fine,” said Justin McNaull, a spokesman for AAA. “But if you want independence and a feel for the countryside, it often involves taking the plunge into a car.”

My octogenarian friend Margaret Fleetwood of Montecito blissfully cruises Germany’s autobahns in a rented Mercedes-Benz, never forgetting snacks, prescriptions and Michelin Red Guide.

These days, driving Europe isn’t difficult, especially since the European Union has brought no-hassle border crossings, a unified currency to 12 of its member nations and a safety program aimed at halving Europe’s 40,000 annual road deaths by 2010. This is but a fraction of the 1.17 million annual road accident deaths worldwide, most taking the lives of pedestrians in developing countries, according to the U.S. State Department.

Still, auto tourists should be aware that since the EU expanded in May, its ranks include nations with inconsistent road safety records, places such as Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic. Nor has the EU standardized rules of the road, the maximum-allowed blood-alcohol level or speed limits.

Thus you’ll find left-lane driving in Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Britain; yield-to-traffic-on-the-right in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Zero blood-alcohol content is permitted for drivers in Hungary and the Czech Republic; .02% in Norway and Sweden; .08% in Britain, Italy and Luxembourg.

Fifty kilometers per hour (31 mph) is common in developed areas of the EU, 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph) on most highways -- except in Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Germany, where there are no general speed limits. Most Germans, thankfully, seem to me accomplished drivers. They go around you in a Deutsch dust devil, then tuck back in, reserving the left lane for passing.

It is tempting to see evidence of national character on European roads in the speed and mastery of the Germans, the aggressiveness of the Belgians, the cavalier opportunism of the French. Real savoir-vivre is required to drive around the Etoile in Paris, a gigantic Right Bank rotary where a dozen boulevards converge. And what can be said of driving on the Italian autostradi, except that you shouldn’t if you’re subject to road rage, as my sister-in-law Susan Klein observed on a recent family trip to the Amalfi Coast.

Susan has also driven frequently in England, where she rises to the challenge of left-lane orientation. “It makes you a better driver because you have to be attentive all the time,” she said. “You’re shocked awake by the time you leave the parking lot.”

AAA’s McNaull said novice drivers in Europe should drive on uncrowded roads first, instead of making a beeline for the highway.

Margaret Fleetwood’s best bit of advice is to rent a car in Europe like the one you drive at home to minimize unfamiliarity.

A chart comparing U.S. and European rental cars, class by class, and specially designed “Personally Yours” driving itineraries are available free to Avis renters, said Mariana Field Hoppin, a spokeswoman for Avis. She counsels American drivers to reserve wheels while they are still in the U.S. (It’s as much as 40% cheaper than on-the-spot rentals in Europe.) It’s also wise, Hoppin said, to figure out where you’re going before you set out, take maps purchased in the U.S. and plan itineraries covering no more than 100 miles a day. And never, never rent a car with a manual transmission if you don’t know how to use it, she said.

I always make sure I know how my rental car works before I leave the parking lot to avoid such stresses as being unable to find the window-wiper switch when it starts to rain.

Most of the differences of driving in Europe are just plain intriguing: big, hot lunches served at rest stops; fewer billboards; direction signs that give destinations, not route numbers.

I’m not convinced that driving styles can be closely associated with country of origin, but I do know that Europeans aren’t karmic drivers. They don’t give you a break and let you merge in front of them on highways, as I found fairly common in Southern California, where it seems understood that what comes around goes around. Which means, I imagine, some European drivers better be careful or they might come back as errant animals.

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Getting it in gear

Road conditions in Europe can be found through the U.S. State Department Consular Information Sheets, www.state.gov; the European Union, www.europa.eu.int/index_en.htm; and the Assn. for Safe International Road Travel, www.asirt.org.

Contact Avis at (800) 698-5674, www.avis.com.