Driving in Greece Tips

Driving in Athens on the weekend can be extremely rewarding or entail hours stuck in traffic. Greece also has the worst drivers (most show off, speediest, reckless and dangerous) in Europe and in 2005 there were 1,614 traffic fatalities (worst in Europe for its size). That's 4.42 people dying everyday in a country with the population of Manhattan, N. Y.

Sunny Sundays and most weekends are a nightmare of bumper to bumper exhaust fumes as people try to leave or enter the city. Weekend rush hour times should be avoided whenever possible. Drive everywhere as early as possible like 6 am! Failing that take back roads. Sometimes you just cant avoid it and then you pay. Still its awful nice to get away!

Driving can also be very dangerous in Greece, not so much in Athens where, its when you are on foot you should be more concerned, but out of Athens on the National Roads. Pedestrians were the largest group of those killed in road accidents.

Greece has some of the fastest show off drivers you are going to see anywhere! The Greek psyche is revealed when they get behind the wheel and it 'aint pretty. Most Greeks are great drivers but its the ones that aren't that you have to worry about.

The National highway system is good in some areas because the E. U. has been opened handed with Greece but its also where you find the speeders. I mean the people going 120 mph or more in their fancy BMW, Mercedes, Saab's, Skodas, Toyotas, Mitsubishi's or Hyundai's.

Since there are usually only two lanes each way on a major road they sometimes have a another lane which a Yank like me would call the 'break down lane'. This lane serves dual use: as a brake down lane and and as a lane the slower cars and trucks are supposed to drive in but only half way. As you go around corners you want to make sure there is nothing blocking your path or the other guys path either as he will swerve into the adjacent lane if he cant slow down. Because Greece has lots of mountainous terrain and winding roads caution should be exercised.

Renting a Car

In general the more photo ID the better for renting a car or motorcycle. The International Driver License/Permit is required for non EU nationals for driving in Greece, sometimes you can get away with moped-scooter rental without it. Your countries Automobile Club (AAA) will provide more information on obtaining one. Price @ $20. Within Greece, their AAA is called: ELPA: Tel: 7791-615-9. I have been in situations where no one asked for it and the complete opposite as well. For moped rental some sticklers want you to have a motorcycle permit also, especially during high season.

Defensive Driving in Greece

Harry's Note: I drive all the time but defensively. You can drive and be just fine if you drive defensively too!

Greece, after Portugal, has the highest death and accident rate in Europe. The Greek government recently announced a major national awareness campaign to try and remedy this situation. Long weekends, with their resultant mass exodus from cities; to return to villages or visit country homes represent the most danger.

Greek Holidays are the worst times to drive on the roads, especially the National Roads or big roads. Saturday night is the next most dangerous time to drive on Greek roads.

Although large amounts of money are being poured into the road system through EU grants, many roads remain 3 lane with the passing lane in the middle. There are also, what we would call, the breakdown lanes, which slower vehicles are expected to travel in full time. So there is no breakdown lane. Caution is recommended especially on curves.

If a Greek has a better car than you or a new sexy sports car, he/she is obligated to prove their superiority by driving to impress and endanger. Tailgating, passing on the right, speeding up just to gain a few meters...... very childish ......extremely dumb!! Not all of them of course but 95%. Its part of their mentality. I annoy my Greek friends and they call me frightened. Yes it is frightening!

Excuses such as: " But this is the fast lane" and "everyone else is doing it" are common. Wearing seat belts and cycle helmets are required by law but no one does. The Police never enforce any traffic laws. If you get in a fender bender, call them immediately on your cell phone and don't be intimidated by the blustering and posturing of the other driver who will try to make you look stupid and take advantage of your lack of Greek language skills. Call 100 or 171.

Athens is choked with traffic and pollution and parking in central Athens scarcer than Crocodile tears. Because you cant go very fast in Athens due to the traffic its safer to drive in. This past Easter, on major highways several hundred people were killed in this country, the size of Alabama or Scotland, and many more injured. Summer time many Greeks are away already so its a bit less intense on the roads. Weekends look out! Update for Katheri Deftera 3 day weekend or the beginning of Lent 2001: 53 dead, 243 injured.

APRIL 200X: Easter exodus is prolonged

Although 730,000 cars left the capital during the week leading up to Greek Orthodox Easter, only 170,000 had returned by late yesterday as Athenians took advantage of the good weather and tomorrow’s May Day holiday to extend their Easter breaks. And with temperatures expected to rise to 29C (84F) by the weekend, another exodus of city-dwellers is expected by May Day.

Extra lanes will be opened up at key junctions on the Athens-Corinth national road to minimize traffic snaggles. To further ease congestion, trucks weighing more than 1.5 tons will be banned from key road junctions every Friday and Sunday between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. from May 2 until September 14. The ban affects the Athens-Corinth, Athens-Lamia and Thessaloniki-Kavala national roads and the Vale of Tempe, where 21 schoolchildren died in a bus hit by a truck last month.

Strict traffic measures over Easter did not avert the 403 traffic accidents reported until late yesterday, in which 37 people lost their lives and 67 were seriously injured (an improvement over last year when 64 people died and 88 were seriously injured).

A 44-year-old woman, her 22-year-old son and her 15-year-old daughter were killed yesterday after their car veered into an oncoming truck just outside Gerakas on the eastern outskirts of Athens. On Easter Monday, a 45-year-old man, his son, 10, and nephew, 11, were killed after their car was struck by a train at a crossing near Larissa. On the same day, a 33-year-old man lost his son, 10, in a collision outside Athens. Fireworks also caused several injuries. An 18-year-old boy from a village in the Peloponnese had to have parts of both arms amputated after handling a homemade firecracker. A 17-year-old from Souli in Achaia lost a hand and another five people were slightly injured.

Emergency traffic measures now in force on highways to ensure safe Easter travel Extra lanes and more ferries are scheduled for the holiday period - Kathimerini Newspaper

The Merchant Marine Ministry advises prospective ferry passengers to get tickets in advance or they will not be permitted on board, and drivers to be at the port at least an hour before their ferry is due to depart. Athenians have started leaving the city for the Easter break. The traffic police began taking emergency measures yesterday to deal with added traffic on the highways and the main roads of Attica.

There is an extra outward-bound traffic lane on the Athens-Corinth road from Dafni to Elefsina and at Kakia Skala.

This measure will continue until Easter Saturday, according to the amount of traffic. From Easter Sunday on, there will be an extra Athens-bound traffic lane at the same locations.

Traffic control measures are planned for the Dafni, Dilistiria, Aspropyrgos and Magoulas interchanges, the Athens-Lamia highway, the New Kifissia, Varibombi Bridge and Kryoneri Bridge interchanges, and elsewhere as appropriate.

In Attica, some roads will be made one-way and extra traffic lanes will be added at Stavros, Aghia Paraskevi, the Vari-Koropi road and Democratias Avenue in Perama.

The Merchant Marine Ministry is ready to deal with increased passenger and vehicle traffic during Easter, and has scheduled an additional 424 ferry trips from yesterday to May 4.

A team of port officials, formed by order of Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis, will conduct extra inspections of passenger ferries leaving the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrion to ensure the safety of passengers and the punctual departure of ferries.

Intending passengers must buy their tickets in advance, or they will not be permitted to board, and they must confirm their return journey.

Drivers are advised to arrive at the port at least an hour before their ferry is due to depart and to comply with the directions of port officials responsible for supervising onshore traffic in the port.

Greece: A Dangerous Place to Drive and be Driven Around (Walk Too)

By Dora Antoniou/Kathimerini Newspaper

Road to hell. The number of accidents on the roads has risen by nearly 18 percent in the last decade as the number of cars circulating has increased. Fortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries has remained even over that time.

The inhabitants of Attica who have fallen victim to fatal road accidents over the past 10 years (5,000) could easily populate a small town, according to data by the Statistics Bureau of the Attica Traffic Police.

Specifically, 4,940 people were killed and 8,844 seriously injured in road accidents from 1991 to 2000, with 124,194 more in the same period suffering minor injuries.

In total, a rise in road accidents of 17.58 percent was recorded over the past decade, from 9,976 in 1991 to 11,730 in 2000. The number of fatal accidents and deaths shows little variation from year to year.

However, 1994 had the lowest recorded number of fatal accidents. On the other hand, serious injuries show a rise of 22.12 percent in the year 2000 against 1991, a rise matched by minor road accidents, and the number of less serious injuries showing an increase of 15.43 percent for 2000 as compared to 1991.

The majority of accident victims are male. Out of 509 fatalities in 2000, 398 were men and 111 women. Out of the 1,209 seriously injured in the same year, 932 were men and 277 were women, while 9,475 men and 3,979 women suffered minor injuries.

Of the 482 fatal accidents which took place in Attica in 2000, only 40 took place on the national roads towards Lamia and Corinth. Generally speaking, traffic police officers noted that national roads had the lowest accident rate, due to the fact that the roads are in better condition and that drivers tend to use more care on them. (Harry says 'BS'!)

Pedestrians were the largest group of those killed in road accidents in 1996.

A breakdown of the figures gives us 198 pedestrians killed as compared to 139 car occupants and 14 motorcycle riders out of a total of 501 fatalities. This tendency was reversed only after 1998, when the number of car passengers killed overtook both that of pedestrians and motorcycle riders.

For example, in 2000, pedestrians accounted for 176 of all fatalities as opposed to 198 for vehicle occupants and 135 motorcycle riders.

As expected, the vast majority of accidents involved private cars (amounting to 57 percent), while motorcycles, mopeds, trucks and other vehicles (buses and bicycles) accounted for 25 percent, 7 percent, 7 percent and 4 percent of accidents respectively.

Most accidents in 2000 happened on a Thursday. In the five-year period between 1996 and 2000, however, Friday was the worst day for accidents. Both in the last five years and in 2000, the peak time for accidents was the same - from 5.00 to 9.00 in the evening. As traffic police officers note, tiredness is the major cause since these are the times when most drivers are returning from work. Of the entire year, June is the most dangerous month for accidents.

The years 1996 to 2000 saw a total of 71,462 accident victims, of whom 13,255 were over 50. The 18 to 29 age group accounted for nearly half of all victims, 30,397 individuals in all. These figures (see graph) clearly show the heavy price paid by this age group. The over-50s also form a large proportion of all accident victims.

Three in Jail for Tempe crash Kathimerini Newspaper April 2003

Three people were detained on Saturday pending trial for the “murder with possible malice aforethought” of 21 school children who died in a horrific crash on April 13 between a bus and a truck in the narrow Vale of Tempe.

Dimitris Dolas, 43, the driver of a truck and trailer loaded with plywood boards that came loose on a bend and sliced through the bus carrying 49 15- and 16-year-olds and three teachers, was transferred to the Ioannina prison in northwestern Greece. He was followed by the truck’s two owners, identified as F. Kavelidis and A. Kameas. Another six employees at the Alexandroupolis-based Akritas wood-processing company where Dolas’s truck was loaded, who face the same charges, were released on bail that ranged from 3,000-20,000 euros.

Dolas — who was driving in the opposite lane when the two heavy vehicles collided sideways — broke down in tears during his testimony on Saturday before an examining magistrate in the northern town of Larissa, and accepted full responsibility for the accident. But his lawyer, Miltiadis Carpetas, argued that the charges were excessive.

“I must stress that the description of ‘murder with possible malice aforethought,’ however much it may comply with and satisfy public opinion’s sense of justice, runs against logic, as well as against the law,” Carpetas told journalists. “If the existing legal framework is not sufficient to handle crimes committed through negligence, legislators should fill in the missing parts. Otherwise, there is a serious threat of undermining the fundamental principles of law.”

Following the deadly 1999 Athens earthquake, prosecutors have adopted, and freely used, the “murder with possible malice aforethought” charges against people suspected of negligence in a series of high-profile accidents, including the Samina ferry sinking.

Greece lacks infrastructure to handle the large number of road accidents Many accident victims lose lives due to lack of ICU beds, long ambulance waits

Kathimerini Newspaper April 200x

Most patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are accident victims, yet there are not enough beds. Moreover, hospitals do not have proper emergency departments. By Penny Bouloutza - Kathimerini

The recent tragic accident in the Vale of Tempe, in which 21 schoolchildren lost their lives, drew attention once again to the low priority given to highway safety, but another significant parameter in the number of road deaths is the way accidents are handled.

“There is no appropriate infrastructure or framework for dealing with a road accident,” said Assistant Professor Andreas Karabinis, director of the General State Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU). In Athens, just four hospitals — the Geniko Kratiko, Evangelismos, KAT and Asklipieio, Voula, which have a basic infrastructure — are called on to deal with most of the road accidents that occur in Attica but also in Western Greece and the Aegean islands.

Greece has more traffic accidents than any other Western European country, and therefore the largest number of injuries and deaths. According to Karabinis, the number of accident victims, including those left with some form of disability, could be much lower if the vital, triple system of “ambulance-emergency unit-ICU unit” operated effectively.

He said the state ambulance service (EKAB) suffered from a shortage of vehicles and a lack of specialized units.

The length of time before accident victims are picked up is getting longer, and crews are often not properly trained. The ambulances that arrived on the scene of the accident at Tempe did not have doctors aboard; they should also have had mobile units capable of providing medical help on site.

There are virtually no emergency departments in hospitals, while ICUs do not function properly, even though traffic accident victims comprise the majority of patients admitted to them.

Karibinis said data from the ICU at Geniko Kratiko indicate that 1,204 people had been admitted over the last five years.

“The average length of hospitalization in the ICU is 15 days and the average patient age is 45. Mortality is 28 percent. About 77 percent of patients have suffered head injuries, of which 35-40 percent are road accident victims, of an average age of 35-45. The Geniko Kratiko’s ICU unit has 12 beds, although the ideal would be 16-18, with another 10 beds for high-priority care. Yet we are not lacking in technology compared with ICUs abroad,” he said.