are you brave enough?
One of the most surprising & perhaps inconveniencing things about Bermuda is the non existence of car rentals as a mode of transportation for visitors. That rule has been implemented for good measure & reason. Sure it's a right pain for when you have multiple visitors, & have to shuttle them around in a cab or take the public transportation, but that's the rule. At one point, years ago, car rentals were in existence. But that caused an onslaught of traffic accidents as visitors (mostly Canadian & American) were not used to driving on the left hand side of the road. If you've got no traffic ahead of you as a constant reminder on which side of the road to stay on, it's just a force of habit that you would resume to driving on the right hand side. Which is the wrong side. Bermuda's round-a-bouts did not help either & probably contributed to the confusion. All these accidents could have only translated into increased red tape for the traffic police & increased car repair costs for the rental companies. To give you an idea of how expensive parts & labour is in Bermuda: SharkBoy & LadyBug's apartment move last year somehow entailed a broken window of the car they borrowed. Quote to get it fixed? $1,200.00 Absolutely asinine!
The demise of car rentals for visitors meant added business & stable employment for Bermuda's cab drivers. Scooter/Moped rentals, however, stayed but it's not as safe as it seems for the first timers. Many that opt to get on these are not necessarily ready or nearly as confident, for most have never been on a scooter before. We heard some horrendous tales of tragic scooter accidents involving visitors when we first arrived on the island. But the tales were of years past & there have been no accidents involving visitors since our arrival. And while the tales were horrifying to hear it was more to make us aware. Whether you're a visitor or a resident, the safest rule when it comes to renting a scooter is to not be a Speedy Gonzales ♫.
4 comments:
Some of these problems sound mighty familiar...I know for sure our taxi drivers would love a law like that on our island :-)
Island Cowboy, You have no idea how good Bermuda taxi drivers have it here. Stay tuned for more on that.
Your wrong. It’s not the issue of driving on the left that’s the problem. Europeans drive in the UK with no problems, just as Brit drive on the continent with no problems. The issue is the narrow, twisting roads that we have here and the type of attention and observation needed to drive on such roads.
The taxi drivers have it way to good here, so much so that they can afford to have a very flippant attitude regarding finding rides. Phone and order a taxi and they wont be able to confirm when they will arrive or indeed if they will arrive at all.
Actually Richard O, I asked why there are no car rentals in Bermuda anymore & I was told it was too confusing for the visitors to have to readjust to driving on the left hand side of the road. Everyone needs a bit of time to readjust & visitors are only here for a short time. Plus the speed limit that they are used to in Canada or America higher than what they are in Bermuda. I agree that Bermuda's roads don't help. But if it was just the roads that was the problem, then we wouldn't have scooter rentals for visitors now, would we. My point was also that it's a lot more expensive to have cars patched up as well.
With regards to the Cab drivers, that's a whole story altogether - definitely have experienced the same problems you did.
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