'I'm American - I drove through Ireland and cannot understate how bad one element of the roads is'

An American tourist has pointed out the strangest things he noticed about driving in Ireland - from the dangerous to the daring.

Ireland is known for its windy roads, snaking streets, and at times heart-stopping junctures. Navigating your way through the narrow lanes is a daunting prospect in any foreign country .

Manoeuvring a vehicle through such precocious paths as Ireland presents ups the ante even more so, though, and has flummoxed one tourist who visited the Emerald Isle this summer. He took to Reddit to share his experience.

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"A week ago today, I dropped our rental car off at Dublin Airport after a week and more than 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) of driving around Ireland on a mix of motorways, national roads, and regional roads.

"I’m glad I got the smallest car I could fit two adults, two kids, and their luggage in. The luggage was a tight squeeze, but the smaller car (Volkswagen T-Cross) made manoeuvring and parking in villages and rural areas a lot easier. On average, vehicles are smaller over there - the largest pickup I saw was a Ford Ranger - so we never felt unsafe."

The user outlined what he considered to be the trickiest time to drive in Dublin : "The worst time to drive in the city... was when I picked up the rental car near St. Stephen’s Green , drove it to the hotel we were checking out of, and headed south.

"It took about a day to get used to right-hand drive and driving on the left side of the road, so of course I did that through a busy city center mid-morning! Once I got out on a motorway, I was able to get my bearings and by day two I was more or less good to go."

The writer moved on to the two most significant and surprising things he noticed on the Irish motorways . He explained: "Lane discipline is a thing and speeding is the exception, not the rule.

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"For the longer drives, I would set the cruise control for whatever the speed limit was on a particular stretch, and I found myself passing more cars than being passed, and it was easy because traffic stayed in the left lane and passed in the right lane.

"There were a couple exceptions that really stood out because they were the exceptions, and it was a bit more of a free-for-all on the M50 on our way to the airport , which we did during evening rush hour. Overall though everyone worked and played well together."

The man issued a stark warning to any holidaymakers jetting across the pond: "National roads aren’t as narrow as you think - something you realize when you see tour bus after tour bus drive past you in the other direction.

"What makes them feel narrow is the lack of shoulders, and that sight lines are more often than not blocked by walls, buildings and hedgerows.

"I cannot understate how bad the sight lines were. Outside of villages most corners and intersections were blind, but I can only think of one time when my passenger mirror clipped the scenery."

The user then turned his attention to the speed limits, which he described as "interesting". He went on: "One of the places we stayed at was at the end of this half-mile long R road that was more like a glorified driveway than a road.

"There were potholes and cracked pavement and it was in generally poor condition. The posted speed limit was 80 KM/H (about 50 MPH). I’m a bit of lead foot, but I don’t think I ever got to half of that."

The traveller assured readers that he had skipped some important points, such as insurance, but was interested to get others' perspectives. You can read what they had to say by clicking here .

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