Driving in Greece

Greeks drive in the middle of the road, because they claim that rocks may fall down a mountain, or hill and it is thereby safer that way. I live in the flat region of northern Evros and they still do it. OK, I will be brave and say that Greeks are lousy drivers, slightly better than the BUlgarians, I agree, but bad at that.
Also, I often wonder - when I see an aged driver; usually a farmer - if they even have a driving licence or insurance for that matter, or do they all need glasses?
PB

Throw away your Highway Code.
Forget everything you learned when you took your driving test
Expect no road signs or road markings
Invest in a decent horn
Make sure you have a full complement of well-adjusted mirrors.
Get out there and drive like hell!

Greeks are excellent drivers - in the sense that they.have good judgement and first-rate reflexes. But not only are the rules not followed, but it is doubtful
If there ARE any rules!

You need to be extra extra EXTRA carefull, they never looked to their mirror, they horn almost all the time if person in front of them don't obey the road sign but when it comes to them, they DON'T CARE about people behind them!!
They drive on the lines instead of in the lane. In the highway they drive on the fast lane with 80 km/hr and never care to move to the right lane, you need to do effort to horn at them if you're fast. And when they are fast they will overtake by the right lane. Crazy!

They park everywhere on the road, they don't care if people will be blocked by their parked car. They never prioritize pedestrian!! They DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE ROUNDABOUT!! extremely amazing.

I get into this conclusion : if a driver let you pass first, he must be an expat !
Greeks DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE. 
Shame, i never know any other european country as awfull as this.

Driving in Greece is nothing less than hazardous. Nobody observes any rules other than those that are considered for self preservation! It's always a risk driving here as you never know who will drive thru red lights or which moped will attack you for not getting out of its way! I avoid driving in Greece! There is no respect for any rules. They park wherever convenient ignoring the hazard that they create or the constriction of the traffic flow they cause. Greek drivers just don't care about what happens around them. On top of all that there is all that macho stuff driving like maniacs to prove their existence and then they sit at the traffic lights texting or gabbing while the light turns green. The worst about all this is that they all take this as being normal. Nobody gets upset if someone just parks and blocks the lane. They all just herd around the car...presumably because they all do the same thing and don't want to upset the status quo. Surprisingly, it seems that they somehow respect the blinking hazard lights that indicate u are looking for a parking spot and let you park without slamming the horn! Very confusing, but hey its Greece!

As a Long haul truck driver in North America, I found Greece no worse than many places I drive. The roads are smaller and some are only goat paths but overall if one pays attention when driving it is no better or worse than any where else I have driven.

Hi John,

If you check the statistics, you will see that driving in Greece is much more hazardous than most other european countries. I don't know what it's like in Ontario but it can't be as bad. Greek drivers are good defensive drivers and quick to respond to changing conditions on the road because they have no choice, but following the rules of the road is pretty much a choice taken by each driver so that you cannot trust the driver to do what you might do in the same circumstances. Accidents in Greece are more frequent and near accidents are a fact of everyday driving. You just never know that you'll get where you're going and cannot ever expect that things might not go wrong. I'm more used to expecting things to go right and get somewhere without dodging cars that pull out without looking or pedestrians that ignore the cross signs. The added element is that there are no traffic cops EVER around and no fear of breaking the rules because one never gets a ticket or if they actually do, some relative will know someone who can make it go away. So there is no fear as we might have in the CA (or Ontario?) where if we don't obey we pay! The streets of Greece are the epitome of anarchy but if you know that, you can manage to survive but by the skin or your teeth. But that does not make them safe. I don't know what your experience elsewhere might be but if you include the middle east or some asian countries, you'd be right, but we tend to compare apples to other apples and not pineapples, if you get my expression.

I disagree with all of the above comments. I had read about the “horrors” of driving in Greece years before my extensive travels (weeks at a time) in 2013 & 2014 – I'll be returning in 2016 and will have a car. I found Greek drivers to be patient and courteous far more so than in the northeast of the USA, my home region. I had cars both on the islands and the mainland. Perhaps those making comments don't understand how to read the license information on cars? If it's an EU country the national flag is displayed. If a non-EU country no flag is displayed. I did encounter “crazy” drivers yet the vast majority of the cars had no EU member flags and nearly none had the Greek flag. Athens was less congested with less noise from horns and many more cars without dents & damage than the affluent Philadelphia suburb I've lived in for decades. Greeks were generous in helping me find my way – especially the police. They became my best guides. I'd always stop and ask them for directions, and they were always courteous. If one didn't know enough English they'd get a partner who did to assist. Parking on the narrow streets was not a problem due to the innate courtesy of Greeks, and the last car I had was a luxe Mercedes. In general the roads were in excellent condition – far more so than most regions of the USA – but on some of the islands goats have the right of way.

Well Im glad your experience has been so, unfortunately mine has not.I have lived here many years and I find the drivers insane or lets say they take insane risks,statistically the death toll here on the roads is the worst in Europe and has always been so.The foot brake is something they hate to use,slowing down makes them angry even if its to avoid killing someone.They will over-take on bends,on the brow of a hill and will stay on the other side to over-take for sometimes the distance of five cars,they cut you up all the time,nobody is strapped in not even children and babies,few child seats,this is why you see so many small churches on the sides of the roads...death by carelessness and stupidity.Many truck drivers do not tie their loads properly,as an example a driver did not tie his load of very thin melamine huge sheets properly,on the main road to Lamia they shot off at great speed making them like wafer thin guillotine blades,they flew through a coach of teenage school children beheading most of them.Sorry for the graphics of this but Greek roads are graphic,yes we know that all road in all countries are dangerous but Greek mentality once they step into their vehicles is appalling and often terrifying,they are generally very dangerous drivers and my husband who is Greek supports this view.We must not forget also that in this crisis drivers are not getting their vehicles insured,large numbers of them,totally irresponsible.God help anyone they may hit.They are not polite helpful drivers,if they see another driver confused they will bib,shout and rave at them,absolutely no sensitivity,We once met a lone woman in a broken down car just outside of a small village,she had been there for five ours,many cars had passed as they had left from their cottages for the return to Athens but not one stopped to find out the problem or to offer help,we went back to a neighbor in the village for jump-leads and started her up and off she went to Athens.Great caution is required here and low speed.

We can exchange "driving horror" stories forever worldwide – I've traveled/lived worldwide for years. Perhaps if your personal experience is terrible you should think twice about remaining in a place you dislike so much. But to vilify an entire nation's drivers is a disservice to everyone.

Hi everyone,

Some posts have been removed to avoid any arguments and off topic comment on this thread. Thank you

well obviously you are very 'lucky' to drive in Greece travelpenandpalate.. all of us here Greek residence are not    And i very agree with Concertina, those are what happens here daily. I notice also there are huge numbers of tiny churche on the side of the road, they are the spot where people died on an accident on that road ( i thought it was a joke )

Thankyou for replying that you agree,its good to know that not everyone thinks Im just plain moany and that I should leave the country because of my views,on the Expat.coms people are invited to share their opinions on what they liked about a country-place and what they didnt like,no one tells them to leave because of the things they dont like,likes and dislikes are part of life.