Our Tips for Driving in Barbados
Intended for your enjoyment as much as your information!!
We drive on the LEFT, keep your vehicle on the LEFT side of the road at all times for a more enjoyable holiday!
We have several round-abouts (circles in the road with traffic spinning around it at all times!) that you will navigate on your journeys. Always look to your right as you approach the round-about as those vehicles to your right have the right-of-way and are not going to stop for you … they are going through no matter what! Once there are no cars coming on your right you then need to look to your left because at several of these round-abouts there are pedestrian crossings immediately to the left!! Don’t ask me why, but they are there so check to make sure there is no one scurrying across the crosswalk prior to taking off!!
Try not to hit every “pot hole” (Bajan for large crater in the road!)… there are many of these pot holes of varying sizes and depths that you will encounter and they have been known to wreak havoc on tyres and rims!! We tend to prefer if our rims are returned to us in the same circular shape they were provided to you as opposed to more of a square shape!!
Try not to careen into a ditch at the side of the road because a large blue bus is coming at you!! Just keep to your side (… the LEFT side!), they will keep to their side and all will be well in paradise! You can stop if you want to and shut your eyes as they pass if it makes you feel better!
If you are following behind a ZR van (white van with a maroon stripe around the middle) keep your eye on the ZR van at all times (… do not blink!!) and expect it to stop at the most unexpected times!! They stop at every person walking at the side of the road, or they stop just for idle conversation with another ZR driver coming in the opposite direction!!
Try not to park your car under a coconut tree – those little green nuts are deceptively heavy and have been known to cause large craters in unsuspecting car roofs .. and the occasional head too!
Do not be discouraged with these driving tips because you will be driving a hired car with a blue “H” license plate and all the locals give hired cars a wide berth as they know you are on unfamiliar ground!!
…and that’s the end of our Barbados driving tips for you!!
Now you can hit the road in your Barbados rental car with confidence!
