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Driving in Portugal

(mainly for N. Americans)

Driving in Portugal, or for that matter driving in Europe, is a strange experience for those brought up on the highways of North America. Europeans have many strange customs – for example, they usually drive in the right lane on multi-lane roads (let’s ignore the UK where everything is backwards!), and just pull out to pass. And that useless little stick on the side of the steering wheel that no one in America uses? Europeans actually use it to signal turns and lane changes!

Although the Portuguese have the reputation of being the worst drivers in Europe, based on having the highest accident rate, that honour probably goes to the French, since they achieve almost as bad an accident rate on much better roads. Portuguese roads are not very good, except for some of the new super-highways. Many are narrow, winding, pot-holed, and unsafe at any speed. Visibility is usually poor. You may get a dashed line when you can hardly see 20 m ahead. Many roads are poorly and cheaply engineered – for example, some curved elevated ramps are made of a series of straight-line segments rather than continuous curves, so that you have to make a series of sharp turns instead of one gradual turn.

A major problem is the range of speeds on the roads, since many of the cars are capable of speeds well over 200 km/h but there are also many farm vehicles which can barely make 50. On rural roads it is not uncommon to encounter horse-draw wagons. The maximum speed limit is 120 km/h (on highways), but a large part of the traffic goes at speeds between 150 and 200, and some old people will putter along at 80. This makes the American habit of drifting from lane to lane extremely hazardous. You have to pay attention, stay in the right-hand lane, and if you want to pass someone:

Keep in mind that there may be cars behind you going 50 or even 100 km/h faster than you are, so you have to be very careful about cars coming up behind you.

By the way, if a car is coming up behind you with its left-turn signal blinking, it means that the driver intends to pass. If the car behind you flashes its headlights, it means that it definitely wants to pass.

The worst thing about driving in Portugal is that the drivers tend to be extremely aggressive. Under most circumstances the Portuguese are very nice considerate people, but not when they are driving. Furthermore, although they tend to be more skilful in a technical sense than North Americans (they have to be to get through the terrible Portuguese roads), when it comes to getting places they tend to pretty foolish – racing from red light to red light for example. This is especially annoying on roads with electronic speed sensors which turn the traffic light red if you are going faster than the speed limit, even more so when you have drivers who not only set off the red lights but charge right through them!

The worst and most aggressive drivers tend to drive small cheap cars, which I suspect means that they never drove a car before. By the time they graduate to Audis and BMWs they have a better idea of how to handle a car, and the Porsche drivers seem to have complete mastery of the road and go whizzing along at 220 km/h without a care.

Perhaps because of the narrowness of the roads, drivers tend to drive very close. Tailgating is very common, and passing is very tight. When facing oncoming traffic do not be surprised if a car pulls out to pass and expects you to move over to the shoulder to let it by.

Parking is hectic – you know those bumper stickers that say “If you don’t like my driving, get off the sidewalk?” It’s not funny in Portugal. However, while parking can be almost impossible in some areas, the Portuguese reluctance to walk more a few meters from their cars often means that cars will be jammed up waiting for a parking spot near the entrance of a mall, while there are plenty of spaces just 50 or 100 m away.

You will often be waved into a parking space by someone who expects a tip. This is annoying when you have no trouble finding a spot, although they sometimes help people manoeuvre in and out of tight spaces. I usually give them 20 to 50 centimos – this is plenty, since drugs are cheap in Portugal.

I do not advise driving in big cities or in heavy traffic if you are not used to driving in Europe. You are most likely to have a rental car from an airport location which you will shortly drive on a highway – just remember to keep to the right and pay attention to other traffic and you will probably make it at least as far as the next exit. And if you cannot cope, give up and wait a few hours (I heard about a couple of American girls in Florence who were so flustered by the Italian traffic that they finally got the police to escort them out of town!)

Above all, Americans driving in Portugal should keep in mind the guiding principle expounded by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz – “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!”

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