Driving in Greece

Greece suffers Europe's worst accident rate in terms of the number of collisions per vehicle. Red traffic lights are consistently ignored, and other driving habits are marginally reasonable.

The minimum age of a driver is 18 years. Children must be at least 10 years of age to sit in the front seat. The use of seat belts is compulsory for front-seat passengers. The legal blood alcohol limit is 50 mg. Speed limits are as follows: 50 kph (30 mph) for cars and 40 kph (25 mph) for motorcycles in built-up areas, 110 kph (68 mph) for cars and 70 kph (44 mph) for motorcycles outside built-up areas, and 120 kph (75 mph) for cars and 90 kph (56 mph) for motorcycles on expressways.

Many roads are three lanes wide: the middle lane is used for passing in both directions. If there is little room to pass on the road, fast drivers expect slow drivers to pull onto the shoulder in order to let them by.

Multitone horns are illegal. Use of a vehicle's horn in towns is allowed only in cases of immediate and extreme danger.

Passing is illegal when approaching a train crossing that isn't equipped with a barrier.

Fines should be paid to the public treasury, not to a police officer.

Greek-registered vehicles owned by persons who do not reside within the centre zone of Athens (the designated area or daktilio) cannot enter that zone, but this restriction does not apply to vehicles rented or those bearing foreign plates and, in either case, belonging to a person staying for less than forty days. Persons who reside in the centre (daktilio) of Athens and own a vehicle with Greek plates can drive that vehicle in that area only on even or odd dates - depending on whether their plate number is even or odd, respectively - or outside the hours between 8am and 8pm. These centre-zone restrictions are lifted during August.

Parking

You are not supposed to park within 3 metres of a fire hydrant, within 5 metres of an intersection, or within 15 metres of a public transportation stop, though practically no one follows this rule. If you park in a No Parking zone in Athens or certain other areas, the police may remove your licence plates if you owe a traffic fine or fines.

Fuel

Many stations close at 7pm. Some stations accept credit cards. Lead-free is widely available. Regular unleaded petrol has an octane rating of 91 or 92; the octane rating of super is 96 or 98. Unleaded petrol is called amoliwdi wensina. Unleaded super petrol has an octane rating of 95.