Seniors driving on Ireland
 

Can a US citizen over 70 rent and drive a car in Ireland?


THANKS
J747

J747,
I am sorry that I do not know the answer to your question. But I would strongly advise you NOT to drive in Ireland. Last fall My husband and I had a rental car from Dublin airport and drove to Killarney for 5 days. It was nerve wrecking the whole times and we are in our 50s. Our best relaxed time there was when we took the Dingle group tour when my husband did not have to drive. While irish drivers are courteous, they surely can drive 60 miles per hour on narrow winding road. There are a lot of coordinated rail and bus tours available which I wish we had done. Save your sanity and have a relaxed vacation by taking tours. You will not regret it. We normally love the independence of self- drive vacation which we did in Scotland. But in the case of Ireland, never again.

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question, either, but golly, we drove ourselves all around Ireland without difficulty. True, we weren't over 70, nor over 50 at the time, but still, we didn't come close to wrecking our nerves or losing our sanity.

Different car companies have different rules. Most have toll free numbers in the US. Call and find out their maximum age. My Mom was allowed to drive a rental car in France at age 80, but of course that wasn't Ireland.

We didn't have any trouble driving in Ireland this summer either, but we decided that because of all the driving we were planning on doing, we would splurge and rent an automatic. For us, it was worth it. We also stayed away from Dublin with the car (except once at night). We drove everywhere else, all 4 sides of Ireland.

Please check with your credit card company to see if are covered under the CDW in Ireland.

Have you driven on the wrong side of the road before?

I still have trouble crossing the street in the UK, let alone driving.

>>But I would strongly advise you NOT to drive in Ireland. Last fall My husband and I had a rental car from Dublin airport and drove to Killarney for 5 days. It was nerve wrecking the whole times and we are in our 50s<<

I assume the 'wrecking' was a Freudian slip ;)

Because you are nervous drivers doesn't mean others are similarly impaired.

Re the question: Yes - some will rent to older drivers. Start w/ autoeurope.com to get ideas of availability/limitations -- and maybe phone them . . . they are based in Maine and have an 800 number. Since they are a broker they can hook you up w/ agencies that allow older drivers. Then check Dan Dooley - a well known Ireland rental agency.

Re credit card insurance - almost no credit cards will cover cars in Ireland (or Italy for that matter). A couple of specific World Master Cards used to, but I think at least one of them has discontinued the coverage.

And don't listen to scare stories . . . <i>unless</i> you are nervous drivers at home as well. Driving in Ireland IS different,and the roads ARE narrow . . . but the speeds are slow and it is easy to get acclimated. Driving is the best way to see much of the scenic west/southwest.

There is no one general answer for all the companies and all the rental locations. You have to look at terms and conditions for a particular company/location combination.

For example, http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/go/car-...g-information/ says:
<b>Ireland Age Restrictions</b>
Drivers aged 25 and under and over the age of 70 may incur an additional fee locally. There is a maximum age of 75 for car hire in Cork and other destinations.

The "scary" stories are just as valid as unbridled encouragement. They are honest accounts of people's trips.

I think the worst place I have driven in Europe is Italy and would do it again, but I cannot adjust to driving on the wrong side of the road. It is a genuine concern. And we did miss a great deal because we did not get into the English, Scottish, and Irish countryside. But if the OP is aware of it and prepared to do so, then they will have a broader experience.

Yes.

HERTZ has a 50 and older age group on their web site
AVIS wants to know if "25 and older"
SIXT is "21 and older"


Mark

My husband and I have driven in both Ireland and Scotland without problems, although we found Ireland more problematic than Scotland. We were in our 60s. Both times, we paid extra for an automatic to avoid the problem of shifting with the wrong hand. My sister visits Ireland often, where we have many relatives, but she wouldn't consider driving there. She says that people drive too fast on the narrow roads, and maybe she has a point, but we just drove at the speed we were comfortable with and stayed out of their way. If we saw that we were holding people up, we pulled over and let them pass.

Yes for may car rental agencies - you just need to check which.

And frankly, if you are a confident driver and not overfaced by anything that is not a giant open highway with no traffic and parallel parking versus mall type there is no reason at all not to do so.

It's try roads are narrow i many country places - but driving speed are slow and as long as you have reasonable skills it should be fine.

I've rented cars in Ireland many times and I'm 78. They tell you to bring 3 things - a statement from your car insurance company saying no accidents in last 5 years; statement from your doctor saying you are healthy enough to drive; and an international license to give them in the event of an accident. That way you can keep your own license. By the way, each time i offer these documents, they tell me no need to show it to them.

<I still have trouble crossing the street in the UK, let alone driving.>
Crossing the street on foot is much more dangerous than driving, IMO! I almost got myself squashed flat one day in central Dublin. I blame jet lag, of course.

<don't listen to scare stories . . . unless you are nervous drivers at home as well. >
Very true.

< I cannot adjust to driving on the wrong side of the road. It is a genuine concern. >
IMD, have you tried and failed? Not arguing, just genuinely curious. I consider myself to have quite average driving skills and yet I took to it like a duck to water.

Our experience in driving on two trips to Ireland supports janisj's position. I was 78 when we were there coming up two years ago and had zero issues. Yes, I have had significant experience driving to the left and yes, I always get an automatic because I have an artificial knee which doesn't like clutches. Slow and easy as watchwords are the key to a happy trip. Driving in both Belfast and Dublin were relatively stress-free for us but parking is the constant killer so if you can let the transportation system help you out in the cities you'll enjoy the country all the more.

As noted above, the rules on age are agency-dependent. I am right now planning for our two weeks in Tuscany and Umbria a little over a year from now (when I'll be 80) and have predetermined that AutoEurope will have no trouble finding a car for us.

Re insurance, if you do not have a specific World Master Card you may have major issues. A friend who just came back did have such a card which Enterprise (he was sent there by AutoEurope)said they would honor but then insisted on pre-charging 5,000 euros (it could have been USD) just "in case." Absent any damage the 5k would be returned at the end of the rental. When he refused to do that Enterprise talked him into taking their insurance which made his bill almost twice what he expected. I suggested to him very strongly that he call AutoEurope for some financial relief. I don't know the outcome.

As to PaulH's comments above, I've never encountered the first two recommendation from anyone anywhere. As a practical matter it makes sense to have an International Driving License most places although, frankly, unless the country specifically requires it I only get one if the first language of the country is not English.

To answer your specific question, Yes, a US citizen over 70 can rent and drive a car in Ireland.

If I've given you far more than you wanted or asked for, please accept my apologies.

The two recommendations I mentioned were given to me by Hertz and Budget

There is no such thing as an "international license." There is something called an IDP which is simply a translation of your US license to a local country's language, which of course, wouldn't be necessary for Ireland. I'm sure you can buy one, of course, but giving them that when they speak English doesn't seem any different than giving them a photocopy of your driver's license, which actually would be better ID, I would think, if you just want a copy of something.

Personally, I don't think people should encourage older tourists to drive in countries where the driving is very different from what they are used to.

The OP's question was "Can a US citizen over 70 rent and drive a car in Ireland?"
The most accurate answer appears to be yes, he can rent one, but who knows if he can drive it??

Christina, please tell me that your posting about not encouraging older tourists to drive in countries where the driving is very different from what they are used to was intended to give us all a good laugh...

PaulH, before I would encourage others to go to the hassle of securing the documentation you say has been recommended to you, I would ask myself what impact such letters would have on any car rental agent. Neither your safe driving record nor your much-to-be-envied good health will have any effect whatever on your rental contract or insurance contract. What will make a difference is legal proof of insurance coverage from your credit card company or your agreeing to pay for it from the car rental agency and, of course, a valid driving license.

So nerve wracking for us at age 40 for 7 days driving in Ireland that we chose a british Isles cruise this summer at age 50....much better!!!!