How To Drive in Ireland (for an American)

Even roundabouts are a pain for most who drive in UK and Ire. Basically saving on traffic lights.

Don't know if you mentioned, were you driving manual or automatic? Thanks for the video!

About to head over and your video has really put me at ease. Thanks!

America is over policed its a sign of a society

Stay to the LEFT on motorways. Typical complaint from Irish drivers about American drivers? They hang in the right lane, driving slowly.

Ireland requires that everyone in a car uses the seat belts (or childreen with the length for it a pillow and the normal seat belt.)

Most european countries has a mandate on seat belt usage.

I believe Ireland disallows speaking to camera in a way like this.

I love watching Americans shit themselves on our roads at 70mph. Welcome to Ireland. 😂😂😂😂

Re: SPeeding: They use cameras and if you speed you WILL get a ticket sent to you with a photo of your rental car's resistration/license plate. Found this out the hard way 2 weeks ago :(

This is the British system of driving that most of the former British colonies have except for Canada which is heavily influenced by the United States.

live saver thank you!!!

"Hey kids, look! Big Ben, Parliament"

This was so helpful. I am going at the end of April and not going to lie, I am pretty nervous about driving there. You give great tips!

Just remember don’t fly straight back to America if you have an accident

Headed there in 2 days.. good information, thanks!!

Tip1: If you cant thank a driver for yielding you because you are driving away from them, or simply going the opposite direction, toggle your hazards on for a few seconds then off. This will let the other driver know you're thanking them from a distance.

Tip2: In a roundabout, if cars are waiting to enter the roundabout, but you are going to drive past them instead of taking the exit, sometimes especially on big roundabouts with multiple exits, it is common to turn the blinker facing the roundabout's center as in a way to tell drivers you are not exiting the roundabout yet.
Same as you should ALWAYS use your blinkers to signal that you intend to exit the roundabout.

Tip3: Because of narrow roads, especially on 2 way roads, truck drivers will sometimes stick to the left so you can see the incoming traffic, and even use a hand gesture telling you that it´s safe to overtake them.

Tip4: Some times pedestrians will not cross the road and yield cars with hand gestures, it is completely up to you to let them pass or not. In my opinion and following the traffic law, I always let them pass no matter what, as some times they indicate you can pass but another ped is crossing from the opposite side, and if you don't spot them you may run them over. (Especially kids)

Hope this helps, drive safe!

Roundabouts and 'which way round' are the test. Americans do not understand them even in their own country... There are no public education adverts on the subject and so ignorance of them is universal...... I am a Brit who used to drive in Paris. I have driven (American 'I have drove'), in the US full time since 2007.... I have ridden (American 'I have rode'), motorbikes in every country in Europe...

Speeding is generally enforced by cameras and camera vans. The right lanes on the motorway are for overtaking, do not cruise on the right lanes.

Thank you! This was very informative especially for safety. I have driven in Ireland before but it's been about 25 years - so this was a nice 'refresher' before I leave! ☘☘☘

Waze is the best. Dont pay for that.

I come from Spain and here in Ireland is H-A-R-D to drive and not intuitive at all. Its way easier to drive in Spain, as is way more intuitive because of all of the signals and how the roads are made. Here in Ireland is more or less like doing rally 😂😂😂 Very tricky. Im getting use to it. And other thing that bothers me a lot is how slow is the traffic 💤 😴 I understand it in National and Regional roads as is dangerous as F 😮 But in a motorway 100 km/h COME ON!

At least Irish people are very educated and polite. I've made many mistakes in the bridge crossing, meaning that you have to yield sometimes for the other car to pass. I have my car very well measured so I know where I can fit and where I don't. I lived in Madrid, so I'm very used to narrow roads. So I passed very close to the wall and the other car, and I was wondering why they were staring at me like that 😂 Then a friend of mine explained to me. Im very sorry about that. The other drivers must been very scared 😨

Alot of people have accidents on Irish roads be very careful please I know what I speak.❤

Thanks, guys!

Thank you... scary for me... fingers crossed

Even the rain is soft...in Ireland !

I just booked my rental car for my trip in two weeks, I requested the bubble wrap car option.😬

Looks easy enough.

Nice video! Thanks for sharing

Awesome video, guys👍. I'm a Canadian just about to pick up my rental vehicle in Dublin to start our road trip across the republic and I've watched your video few times to alleviate my anxiety.

The mirror tip got me out of anxiety 😂

Bad image!!

Wish you had shown the road more and less close-ups of your face.

Don’t drive in the fast lane- move over after passing

Police aren’t on the road. They have unmarked vans and sensors in the roads

Planning a trip with my ma to ireland. Fly into shannon and drive about, up to the north, then back down on east coast then back to shannon...just me and my mom..spiritual.journey, one last big memory of just us. My wife agrees we really need it..I am so excited

I’m having an anxiety attack just watching this.

I have my driving license for decades, and drove in many dozen countries (always on the right side). Within the first 20 minutes of driving in Ireland, I shaved of my left side mirror. Some advice from my side, especially when you rent a car: The difficulty does not lie in sticking to the left side of the road. The biggest challenge is to judge the distance between your vehicle and obstacles on the left side. I felt like a total driving beginner again, making sure I don´t leave the lines on the left. Try to rent a car that´s smaller/ more narrow than your current car. And last not least, do get this extra insurance! It will do a lot to ease your mind in this new experience.

Ireland beautiful country

Don't think that the speed isn't being enforced!!! There are cameras all over doing that!
You should also stay in the left lane of the motorway. The right lane is an overtaking lane. When you have overtaken another car then you're supposed to return to the left side.
Note that ALL solid lines are no overtake, not just the double ones.
There are certain things that are worth noting also.... yellow boxes at cross roads shouldn't be entered unless you can leave them, that stops people blocking the crossroads. The reflectors on the road at night change colour depending on what's happening. For instance, if there's a turn the reflectors (cats eyes) will be green. White for centre and yellow for side.
The road signs will also change colour depending on the road type. Blue for Motorways, Green for National roads and white for regional and local roads. You should also (as a tourist) look out for brown road signs, those are for places of interest. There will often be little hidden gems indicated by those signs.
Follow the rules of the road, even if you don't think the police are around. A lot of the time they don't issue a ticket directly but it will come in the post later (as all they have to do is drive past, scan the number plate and go again).
If you're ever unsure then just follow another car, once it's not another American tourist, hehe

thank you for this video. We are currently trying to plan a trip for ireland and this is one of the "sticklers" for me per se. My husband refuses to drive in Ireland and prefers a guided tour where we dont have to drive. however, its much more expensive to do it this way. I would end up doing the driving here. So this video does help somewhat with the anxiety over this.

Well
..now you're officially a switch driver.

I'd agree with all the comments made in this video, especially the last bit. It seems daunting, but from one American to another, I promise you can do it. It's a great feeling to put together your own itinerary and be boundless in such an incredible country. Happy travels!

HAVE 6 pints of Guinness and keep your eyes closed but dont do more than 80 mph and if you get pulled over tell the cop to feck off.

Just like the USA. Police don't care about how you drive.

Thank you for the video, I am going in June and will be the driver...nervous and this helped ease some of my fears.

Nice video. Thanks for the tips. Going there in a few weeks.

Thank you

Pls get me one job im driver 16yers experience

M= Motorway
N= National Road
R= Regional Road