AXA, in its annual holiday driving survey, estimates around seven million of us are likely to be driving abroad this summer but research among European neighbours suggests that only one in five Europeans think Brits drive carefully when abroad. And only one in four think Brits who drive in their country actually understand local driving laws.
The biggest area of complaint is confusion at roundabouts and junctions, followed by a tendency to drive too slowly, confusion over which side of the road to use and driving too fast. Data from the insurer shows that two million British motorists have had an accident while driving abroad.
Overall Brits were ranked by their neighbours as seventh best drivers out of 11 European nationalities. Germans were rated the best (with nearly three times more votes than anyone else) and Greeks the worst.
Research among British motorists backs up the suggestion that we don't know our gauche from our droite when it comes to negotiating foreign road rules. When it comes to the most basic requirements of driving abroad, there seems to be a lot of confusion with 27 per cent admitting they don't know whether a GB sticker is needed and a further 21 per cent wrongly say it isn’t.
One in three heading off abroad didn't know whether their insurance would cover them, with two thirds of these making the potentially disastrous assumption that it does.
When asked the meaning of six different European road signs, the average number of correct answers was just 28 per cent. For some signs, such as a Spanish sign indicating overtaking is allowed, the number was as low as 15 per cent.
Additionally, general road rules were not well known, with 40 per cent unaware of the need to carry a reflective jacket and red triangle in France and over half (51 per cent) not knowing the requirement to change beams on headlights for right hand drive countries.
More amusing misunderstandings included a belief by one in four that jumping red lights in Italy was perfectly legal, and 28 per cent thinking beeping a horn on Sunday was illegal in Spain.
Amanda Edwards at AXA says: "While the UK has one of best records for road safety in the world, it seems that when we go on holiday many of us forget to pack our road sense.
"It really is important if you are driving abroad to understand the local driving laws and stick to them, as well as making sure you drive safely at all times.
"Failure to do so could mean some potentially tragic and expensive holiday souvenirs
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