Scooter Hire in Greece – Part 9, Traffic

This is part nine of a landmark series by Suntrap Holidays about scooter hire in Greece, and here you can read about some of the hazards caused by other traffic..

(Please take a look at the earlier parts of this series on scooter rental in Greece if you haven’t already: Scooter Hire in Greece – The Series)

Lorries

Watch out for lorries on the Greek Islands, especially big, dirty open lorries.  Many islands have only one or two main trunk roads, and all the lorries use these where they can.  The problem is that these roads are very often not as big as ‘A’ roads in the UK.  Sometimes there isn’t even a central white line.  Lorries will be ‘close to you’, and not in a Carpenters kind of way either (for the over 40s, that one).

“huge lorry clanking past “

Seriously, if a lorry is coming up behind you, first of all you need to know about it before it reaches you, and this is a great reason to use those mirrors, OK?  It seriously spooks me to have a huge lorry clanking past a couple of feet away, at speed, unexpectedly – for me it’s one of the few bad things about scooter hire in Greece.  So, know what’s coming.

Scooter Hire in Greece - Fast Girls, courtesy of flickr.com user: OBenson

There is no shame (and I do it all the time) in pulling off the road for a second or two to let the lorry pass safely if the road is narrow.  The driver will love you for it, and you will be safe.  One thing – if a lorry is sitting behind you waiting to overtake, and there are bends so he can’t see what’s coming the other way, be very careful.  Sometimes the driver will have a go anyway..

If this happens to you, and oncoming traffic suddenly comes round the bend as the lorry is alongside you, imagine what could happen next..  If you ever find yourself in this situation, with the side of a lorry alongside your scooter and closing in rapidly, you need to get AWAY from that lorry.  On a low-powered holiday scooter, accelerating out of the way is not an option, but slowing immediately to let the lorry pass and pull in very quickly, is.  Failing that, get off the road as best you can.  It’s a dire situation and one to be avoided.

The other scenario is the oncoming lorry.  These little devils are not so bad because they are more or less on the other side of the road.  However, open lorries, especially those carrying stone, gravel, that kind of thing, can be a hazard.  The wave of dust and grit can really catch you out, and if you very unlucky, one of the stones can jump off the lorry and come flying straight towards you at speed.  I got hit on the fingers by one such stone once, and I can tell you it bloody hurt!  This is one reason why eye protection is important at all times.

Coaches

Scooter hire in Greece would not be complete without a few transfer coaches thrown into the mix.  I always cringe when I am actually on one of these big, square, air-conditioned beasts, the driver palming the wheel with one hand and operating the radio with the other.  They go at such a speed along the narrow roads, and from the coach it looks as if you are passing each teetering moped just inches away.

“Mirrors, darling, mirrors!”

When you get out on the bike, though, you realise that actually, most of the coach drivers are highly competent, know the local roads well, and are well-used to novice riders on scooters.  Yes, they will pass you at speed sometimes, but they tend to drive to very high standards in my experience, and only overtake when it’s safe to do so.  Just make sure

Scooter Hire in Greece - Come In Number 36, courtesy of flickr.com user: j-e-s

that you know when one is about to whiz past, so you can keep your nerve.  Mirrors, darling, mirrors!  Oh, and if you can help them by pulling over on narrow, winding roads, please do so.

Roundabouts Jim, but not as we know ‘em

There is a great little roundabout in the north-west of Corfu with three roads coming off it.  None of the locals seem to know what a roundabout is or how to deal with it.  Some of them stop to give way to traffic.  Some of them never stop and you would be forgiven for thinking there was not even a roundabout there.  Some of them stop for everything except scooters!

“catch the driver’s eye”

The point is, roundabouts are not common in the Greek islands, so when you do scooter hire in Greece, forget everything you learned about roundabouts back at home.  Here, you have to assume that NOTHING will give way to you.  If a vehicle is approaching the roundabout when you are on it, catch the driver’s eye, really stare at him, until you are CONVINCED that he has seen you and will give way.  Always, always, be ready to avoid him if he carries on despite you.

Please follow this advice because you know, after a while, the angels will get SO bored of hearing that story about how it was YOU who had right of way down there on Earth..

Junction Attitude

Unlike roundabouts, the locals will be used to junctions.  Too used to them in some cases.  Often, when a local car driver is waiting to pull out of a side road, and sees a bike approaching, he will pull out anyway, as long as he can physically avoid the bike even if it’s only by a couple of metres.  This can take some getting used to!

Macho Man in his hired jeep

These folks are FAR worse than the locals.  Just as you are unused to your vehicle and unfamiliar with the roads, so are they.  But in their case, they have the protection of a big, ugly metal box.  I have seen some HORRENDOUS driving by this lot, especially if they are hunting in packs.  I’m sure this is what happens when the group of lads weaving around on scooters get older – they all switch to mass jeep hire.  The driving’s certainly just as bad.  This is a pain, because jeeps go faster and are harder to avoid than mopeds.

Well, that’s it for part nine.  In the next and final part of this series from Suntrap Holidays about scooter hire in Greece, after all the warnings and hazards, we end on a joyous note, looking at what a great pleasure it is to ride a scooter in the Greek Islands:

Scooter Hire in Greece – Part 10 – The Joy of Scooters