Driving in South Africa

HarryOfTheWeb · 5 May 2010 at 01:24

Going over the summer, and planning to hire a car. Anything I should know? Different rules etc.

I know they drive on the left like us but that's about it...

Cheers.

edit, p.s. don't tell me about crime I know about that, more concerned with rules of the road, what traffic cops there are like etc.

EdwardTeach · 5 May 2010 at 01:34

Carry a gun, you will get carjacked.

(alternatively make sure you lock the doors)

Rotty · 5 May 2010 at 01:47

panthro · 5 May 2010 at 05:25

Ive driven a fair bit in SA.

Make sure you lock your doors, its best to be on the safe side.

Dont wind down your windows to give money to beggars, this includes kids and women as theres a possibility theres a group of them waiting to car jack you.

When a slower vehicle pulls over to let you overtake, flash your hazards once you have made the move as a thankyou to them.

When you get to a stop sign, make sure you stop because if the police catch you going straight through then they will pull you over and "fine" you, even if its out in the country where you can see for miles around.

Tip the petrol station attendants a few ZAR for filling up the tank.

Apart from that its pretty easy, Ive never encountered any problems driving there.

Lopéz · 5 May 2010 at 07:42

Will you be able to hire a car in ZA at your age?

[TW]Fox · 5 May 2010 at 07:51

Lopéz said:
Will you be able to hire a car in ZA at your age?

Was about to post this - good look hiring a car abroad at 18. Generally hiring a car abroad under the age of 21 is all but impossible, and doing so between 21-25 and is possible only with the payment of massive surcharges that often double the rental bill.

PikeyPriest · 5 May 2010 at 08:37

It's okay. They drive same side as the UK. They call traffic lights `robots`, which confused me the first time. Roundabouts are also different. You don't give way to the right side, but it kind of operates in a first come-first served basis. People generally stop or slow to a near stop at roundabouts though, so it does work.

Generally driving is pretty poor. You will get a lot of slow moving traffic (trucks with workers on the back) on the motorways and people change lanes fairly aggressively. Watch out for minivan taxis. They are driven very fast and aggressively and I personally would get out of their way.

After about 11pm I wouldn't bother stopping at traffic lights. I`m not sure what the risks of getting car jacked are, but if you can see a junction is clear, there is no point sitting in your car in a quiet area if you don't have to.

There are no speed cameras. There are occasional roadside cameras, but we went through a few at speed and didn't hear anything after. However, we did get screwed for going through a stop sign at 5mph. So have some bribe money ready :eek:

*edit* we hired our a crappy mazda 323 at 23. But then we didnt have to worry about it attracting attention!

Oxide™ · 5 May 2010 at 09:05

I'm from SA and panthro and PikeyPriest pretty much nailed it

Roundabouts are called 'circles' otherwise it will be something slightly different called a 4-way stop. It is curtious to let the first person who stops at a 4-way stop go first otherwise you have all the right to glare harshly in disapprovement / give them ye olde :rolleyes:

treatment

If beggars or fruit sellers approach your car, look at them, shrug shoulders, say 'got nothing mate' then look ahead, do not engage any more after this, as they walk away watch them in case they do something retarded.

Otherwise lock doors, be curtious and your laughing

Also it's not illegal to drive without insurance and SA has no concept of MOT so there will be a lot of old, barely roadworthy cars on the road, things like indicators, brakes etc may not be working so drive carefully. Additionally people take chances and may drive slightly intoxicated as odds of getting caught (if you don't cause attention to yourself) are very slim. You will be in a heap of hurt if caught though

HarryOfTheWeb · 5 May 2010 at 19:12

Okay thank you.

The flashing indicators to say thanks and tipping petrol station attendents etc. is that something you need to do? Or is it just polite?

Presumably the hire car will have insurance and be road worthy though, if it's from a reputable company?

HarryOfTheWeb · 5 May 2010 at 19:14

Lopéz said:
Will you be able to hire a car in ZA at your age?

[TW]Fox;16492810 said:
Was about to post this - good look hiring a car abroad at 18. Generally hiring a car abroad under the age of 21 is all but impossible, and doing so between 21-25 and is possible only with the payment of massive surcharges that often double the rental bill.

Not sure, I hired a car when I was 18 when I went to Spain last year.

DM · 5 May 2010 at 19:30

Get one of those cars with the flame throwers at the sides.

Sin_Chase · 5 May 2010 at 20:03

I covered 6,000KM over 3 weeks in SA and for the best part driving is as you would expect back in the UK. I did not experiance any trouble.

I was 22 when I hired, I used firstcarrental.co.za and got a stupid good deal on a 3 series. You will, I repeat WILL need TWO CREDIT CARDS to hire in SA. This is non-negotiable. I spent a week on the phone and emailing MANY MANY companies trying to get around this (My credit card from the bank was delayed and I might only have 1 card available) I talked with managers, supervisors and anyone I could and you will not hire without 2, do not even try to turn up with 1.

There ARE speed cameras and you WILL get fined, but the fines are small. I had 10 of them follow me home, forwarded onto me by the hire company.

I stopped at all traffic lights at all times of the night, but would not hesitate to floor it if I felt I needed to.

I got stuck behind a lorry which was suicidal, overtaking traffic on the inside in closed lanes of dual carriageways (road works) knocking downs 10s and 10s of signs, bollards and cones etc. Pretty damn strange. Got stuck behind a pickup full of natives in the back. Was VERY VERY dodgy and I did not overtake it as when I made a gesture that I was going to they swerved into the road.

Keep all valuables under seats/in the boot and not on-top of seats etc. Thieves will smash windows and grab whatever they can.

Got stopped in a few road blocks, once by a white South African with a shotgun who decided he did not need to see my ID after seeing I was white and British

In a regular check or two but never got pulled over.

They have an equivalent of the hard shoulder. Lorries and slow moving vehicles often straddle it to let people overtake more easily. BE AWARE they are not present all of the time and they can stop so be prepared for vehicles using it to move back into the lane fully. If you have inpatient/maniac drivers behind you, feel free to use it to let them get past.

Do not risk any overtakes, even if you think you can make it. There are maniacs who will overtake you while you are overtaking (and my increase your overtake time) and maniacs who will overtake on blind crests and corners.

MOST fuel stations will NOT take cards, keep cash handy for fuel. It's rare you will find a station that will take cards for fuel. Speaking of which, know your fuelling points. You may have distances of 100s of KM before the next one on the N1 for example.

Flashing hazards after an overtake and tipping attendants is not required, but almost everyone does. I suggest you do or you might have an angry trucker coming at you

Roadside Parking - You can not park contraflow. You must park facing the direction of the sides travel.

If I think of anything else I will add it!

-BA- · 7 May 2010 at 13:28

PikeyPriest said:
It's okay. They drive same side as the UK. They call traffic lights `robots`, which confused me the first time. Roundabouts are also different. You don't give way to the right side, but it kind of operates in a first come-first served basis. People generally stop or slow to a near stop at roundabouts though, so it does work.

Generally driving is pretty poor. You will get a lot of slow moving traffic (trucks with workers on the back) on the motorways and people change lanes fairly aggressively. Watch out for minivan taxis. They are driven very fast and aggressively and I personally would get out of their way.

After about 11pm I wouldn't bother stopping at traffic lights. I`m not sure what the risks of getting car jacked are, but if you can see a junction is clear, there is no point sitting in your car in a quiet area if you don't have to.

There are no speed cameras. There are occasional roadside cameras, but we went through a few at speed and didn't hear anything after. However, we did get screwed for going through a stop sign at 5mph. So have some bribe money ready

*edit* we hired our a crappy mazda 323 at 23. But then we didnt have to worry about it attracting attention!

From what I remember of driving in SA at night the robots change to fixed amber and you can drive through if all is clear. During the day time remain vigilant at traffic lights as they are a target point for jackings, robbings, especially near townships. Don't have your gadgets like cameras, etc on show or on the passenger seat even when driving as again it is inviting opportunistic robbery.