gazz

agree with the pedestrian crossing thing, you risk your life on them

Algarveaddick

In fairness, the drivers around Albufeira are not too bad at stopping, unlike Portimao. It does get worse in August (I wonder why...), but generally if they see the crossing, they stop.

Mind you the number of pedestrians (not estrangeiros either) who just step out without looking is frightning.

gazz

most don,t even bother with the crossings

masterbaits

I was never confident about driving abroad until I drove down , after then well the confidence came...bit like throwing your kids in the swimming pool mentality , deep end.

The driving in the algarve is mental , but just as bad as anywhere i have driven , including the uk.However I can confirm that on my first few visits I used a skoot , and did upon the mornings forget what side to be on , thankfully it was quiet.

I dont think that crashes are truly 100 percent "in the algarve" all drivers fault , but if you include non maintenence of cars and tyres then yes they are....with the possible exception of rain , they just plough on regardless in flash floods at 120kph.What drivers forget is the tyres age with sun , and no tred is only good for the f1.

I stopped a edp van few weeks back , no brake lights , told the guy in duff portu and even worse english that his brake lights werent working , sure he never used his indicators neither but I assume every driver wont anyway.He thanked me in english , and as he got in the van though swore in portu , with the last part being something about a somthing hole....i never even noticed any holes.

local

I'm going to quote some of your replies in way to share my views:

I completly agree. And I cannot accept the way as some portuguese drive, I tell you this and I tell to them too if necessary, that I get mad when they break simple rules as 'blinkblink' if they go to turn, if they don't stop at the crossings is something beyond my understandment or if they use speed when they should not have. I think they mostly like to show off and are quite confident with their driving, but this attitude is far from being apreciated for me. And yes, I think we should learn good driving with foreigns.

It has to be always the instructor, yes. And the final exam it works this way: goes the driver with the examiner sitting beside and in the back seat goes the instructor that has always teached the driver with another driver that is doing the exam as well, so one exam takes two drivers, we do it in turns.

oh my gosh! this is hilarious....

Now, there are several tv prevention about accidents at season time, Christmas, Easter, summer etc, there is one you could see on youtube:

CLICK

luckylucky

Well of course we're all entitled to our own opinions, but to me saying Portuguese are good drivers is the equivalent of saying the British have a flair for learning languages

gazz

bem teremos de aceitar desacordar

luckylucky

penso que sim

cavalierhome

Crime.

Unfortunately it is everywhere. Even PT.

I remember living in PT when Salazar was running things.... Crime? 0%. Now well.

But there are some things for you Brits to know. (I am Portuguese).

Portugal gave up its colonies over years and as that went on many non Europeans migrated to PT.

Now I know someone will jump on me for this but reality is reality.

If you are in Portugal and stay around Portuguese you are for the most part safe.

On the other hand there are several groups to avoid.

1) Siganos (gypsies) they are by definition thieves. They live in shacks or shanty towns. If you see those go somewhere else.
2) Brazilian emigrants to PT. They have a huge reputation for crime even on a HUGE scale such as the group of about 80 of them assaulting an ENTIRE beach and robbing and hitting everyone there a couple of years ago. Learn how to differentiate the Portuguese language from the Brazilian Portuguese and it will help you to stay away from them. A generalization... Perhaps but better safe than sorry.
3) Ex cons. Many ex cons in Portugal will have a tattoo on their hand. It looks like 5 little dot’s and they will refer to them as the five “escinas”. Avoid them.

Basically look around you. Do you see Portuguese with their kids around? Portuguese take their kids everywhere so the absence of children should be a warning sign. If you see little kids then you are probably safe. If all you see are individuals hanging around especially teenagers then best to walk wide and especially if you hear that telltale Brazil accent..

cavalierhome

Portuguese are for the most part great drivers. They just drive fast and take chances.

I would rather drive around Portuguese than around most other people because at least they are aggressive but consistent so I know what to expect.

In the US we have drivers from all over the world. Have you ever driven around Asian people? Probably not and that is why you are still alive.

masterbaits

yeah eeryone was too poor to afford to commit crime , I think then it was true there was less crime , which there always is in an oppressive regime in power.

Romanies , now that italy are looking like 1930s germany with laws directed towards them under the guise of "helping"...perhaps if the eu does nothing about this then portugla will follow suit.

Theres easy ways to rid society of its gypsys "problem" , jailed for everything they do thats their "way.Make shacks illegal , begging , unlicenced entertainment , street markets , and the white van cannot get insurance etc without a brick house adress , take it off them if they dont have photo licences too on the spot.....the gnr likes to police cars , perhaps tats what they are already doing.

Lastly when you get that strict on a "criminal" part of society they in turn will escalate their agression in the act of criminalty.They will simply kill for pennies then slip out a borderless country into another....so generally you replace one "problem" with more.

cavalierhome

LOL.... I don't know I never felt opressed then..... But I feel so free these days.... Everyone must feel so wonderfully free with nice folks like George Bush running things......

masterbaits

cant agree more , uncle adolf took over countries much the same as usa and uk have recently...yet the outcome was entirely different.

Germany had at least its "reason" ie unite its country , it claimed that the bordering nations were part of it historically.But when that land grab went unanswered , or unpunished if you will , then they just carried on regardless.The uk did it for centuries before them for economic reasonings and even today still owns land it took by force or other means.

Dictators and terrorists come in many guises ,including saviours , and monsters ,which are blurred by media spin and whether bush and co like them or not...saddam was once a friend of the usa , and uk , as were many despots across the globe.Mandela of course today would be no better than osama et all , strange that one hand terroism is denounced and ignored to suit.

Afghanistan was secretly backed by the usa , and the uk , during its fight against russia.Its dictators use opium , and religion , combined with fear to keep power...these are mini dictators , or is it the invading armies leaders that are dictators?

Russia is a sort of mish mash of democracy, dictatorship , and new capitalism...but tbh communism was as corrupt as anything else and it still had its rich dictators....now they are called oil barons and poisoned as they poisioned others.

Before this it was royality whom were normally the dictators , most european countries had royals , which determined the outcome of everything.Even today in the uk most of the land is still owned by royality , and ironically the queen is not even the richest one of them.

Not everyone was under duress with portugals dictatorship , the upper middle classes and higher were not as exposed to the harsh reality.Those that were dirt poor still remember the hardships of secret police etc , but their now matured offsprings offspring , having had no real contact with hardship dont appreciate just what they have in the now.Its not unlike 3rd gen offspring of immigrants to the uk whose children are now bitterly anti uk ,they want to go back to their "homeland" but enjoy liberties here that they would not have there ....liberties that would have them killed , ie pissing off the govt and religious freedoms.

tis a funny old world , ok then maybe its not.

luckylucky

I think it depends on what you see as great driving - I'm sure if Formula 1 went on a scouting trip in Portugal they'd find a great pool of talent. I've no doubt that Portuguese drivers are far better at driving fast and taking chances, since that's what they are used to, and that's what it seems like is often considered to be good driving here. In terms of being safe drivers though Portuguese drivers on average are far less safe imo than most other countries in Western Europe, at least, and when I think of good driving I think more in terms of safety.

Algarveaddick

Just stand on the one way system around Albufeira town hall, it's better than any dull old F1 race, with the added fun of unexpected stops as the drivers spot a possible parking space. Cracker the other day when a lady stopped right next to an island to ask someone directions, thereby making everyone else squeeze past her car to keep the traffic flowing, when I tooted her, she tooted back and looked at me as if I was mad; silly old me, expecting her to actually consider the existence of any other road users...

Parking is great too, especially now the Portuguese holidays have started - can someone tell me if it is legal to park on the "wrong" side of a yellow line? The visitors from the north seem to think so as they completely block the pavement by parking the whole car on it, but on the other side of the line, in their tiny minds it does mean they are not actually "on" the yellow line so not comitting an offence. The Portuguese love of children is suddenly forgotten when they want to park as close to the beach as possible, Mums with buggys can just push them into the street if their car is in the way...