Stay safe while driving abroad

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Where I grew up, there was a road. This road wasn’t particularly special to look at – no famous people lived there, nothing interesting ever happened there, and not even everybody in the town needed to use it to get to where they were going (it wasn’t a main road or anything). Yet, everybody knew it. Well, everybody local knew it, that is. Why? Because the speed limit on that one small road (which was not even the length of a football field) changed from being a 30 road to a 20 road and then went back up to being a 30 road again at the end. Madness. This, of course, led to the police sitting and waiting for people not to bother slowing down. 

Every driving instructor, every well-meaning aunt and uncle, everybody in the bus queue, just about everybody in the town, would always talk of the road and warn you to stay away. Now, that’s one small road where the laws were out to get us in our own country. Driving abroad should be easy, shouldn’t it? Speed traps and car accidents don’t happen there, right? They do, and you should see this link if you’ve been affected. Let’s take a look at how to stay safe while driving abroad. 

Check your insurance policy
Many people assume that, due to the cost of their insurance policy and due to the fact that they are insured through a respectable and well-known insurance brand, that their insurance will cover foreign travel. This is a rookie mistake. Always make contact with your vehicle insurance firm to double check your eligibility to drive a car in a foreign land (you may need to pay extra).

Headlight converters
You may have never heard of headlight converters. That’s because you may have never driven in a foreign land where they drive on the opposite side of the road. So, what are they? Headlight converters are stick-on patches that must be applied to your headlights in countries where they drive on the opposite side of the road. Why? Your headlights are designed to point away from oncoming drivers. In countries where they drive on the opposite side of the road, you risk shining your headlights directly at oncoming drivers. 

Change for tolls
Toll roads crop up out of the blue when you least expect it abroad. Foreign travel systems seem to love toll roads. Always keep some change to hand for a quick exchange.