Driving

(Second of two parts)

Drivers on the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau expressway near Hong Kong encountered a 50-lane traffic jam involving thousands of cars on Oct. 9. The jam occured when drivers returning home at the end of China’s “Golden Week” holiday (when an estimated 750 million drivers use China’s roads) encountered a newly installed toll plaza that reduced the number of lanes from 50 to 20.

I read Bruce Berger’s account of his misfortune with the mandatory road-tax stickers that tripped him up in Switzerland and, in a costly manner, in Slovenia (Sept. ’15, pg. 13).

While driving in Italy in 2005, I briefly crossed the border into the Lugano area of Switzerland. When leaving Switzerland, I was stopped at the border crossing by a Swiss policeman, who said I had been on the highway without a toll sticker. Luckily, I wasn’t fined, but I did have to pay for a sticker even though I was leaving the country.

In June 2014, my husband, Fred Teger, and I began a self-drive tour of several of the countries that comprised the former Yugoslavia. 

My wife, Lorna, and I travel to Spain every year, often renting a car from either an international or national firm or one local to our destination.

For a trip in April-May 2014, I began the online booking process early in the year using Economy Car Rentals (www.economycar rentals.com). I chose them because I saw that their prices included unlimited mileage and all taxes and fees, with full insurance, collision damage waiver and zero deductible. 

My longtime friend, John, and I took a trip through northwestern Bohemia in the Czech Republic the first week of May 2015. It was my fifth time driving through Bohemia since 1990. The roads we took through the picturesque countryside were mostly good and had little traffic. We stayed off the expressway.