self drive or transfer from Airport

[sunlover]

Also i have just thought if a car was coming towards you at speed or  doing anything else where there was no chance of avoiding an accident, it wouldnot make any difference if it was a transfer or your own car that was being driven. so long as drivers are aware as they can be of other drivers on the road.  But if there is suddenly a car coming towards you from a blind bend what can be done.

[Mrs B]

Ooooh, Sunlover, this exact thing happened to us two weeks ago when we were two miles from the Scottish border on the A68...and i can tell you there is nothing you can do. 
MrB managed to steer us as far to the left as he could without taking us through the crash barrier and dropping into a field.
The instigator tried to sneak between us and the two cars he was overtaking on a blind bend...he ended up writing off his car, one of the cars he was overtaking and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to our car.
All we can do is try our best to keep ourselves safe, and hope that in doing so we keep others safe too.

[Rosie]

I too would like to know who the person was that was killed as I have many Friends in Kalkan who I am now concerned about.

Foreverkalkan and Lougie
The man that died on his way home from work one night last week was a chap called Tekin. He was not a restaurateur as such, he worked at the tea gardens at the end of the harbour. He called his wife on his mobile to tell her he was on his way home and would be there in 15 minutes. When he didn''t arrive home, a search party went out and his car and body were found within an hour. His car had gone off the road and there were no other vehicles involved, neither was anything found to be wrong with his car. The general opinion of everyone - friends and family- is, that he was making calls on his mobile, lost control and went off the road. His best friend has said he had a drink with him when he finished work that night, but he definitely wasn''t drunk.

[Blackpool]

We manage to have a proper holiday without a car, but i imagine we all have a different idea of what a proper holiday is. 

Sorry, Mrs B. No offence intended. I just need a car. Its a long walk to Kaputas

[Pete]

I always drive in Turkey. I think the thing to remember is that Turkey is a big country and to get anywhere other drivers simply put their foot down, its exactly the same driving in France.
The biggest hazards that I have found are:-
1) Speeding drivers coming from behind and suddenly overtaking you. Keep looking in the rear view mirror far more often than you would at home.
2) Overtaking on bends. If they are overtaking you, back off and let them pass as they are better in front than behind. If they are coming towards you, again back off and let them in. Try and look much further ahead on the road and ''see round bends''.
3) Beware of poor road surfaces. The roads do not seem to be swept and there are areas, especially at the sides where there is loose grit and dust. This will adversly affect your braking and control in an emergency situation. Particularly, beware in Kalkan at the road works by the Bus Station.
4) The heat in Turkey in the middle of the day in particular, melts the tarmac topping on some roads, this will again affect your braking and control.
5) The hills in Kalkan are extreme. If you have to brake suddenly when you are going downhill you will simply keep going for a far longer distance than you would on the flat, its similar to braking on ice. Leave a bigger braking distance than normal.
6) Roundabouts are a bit of a ''challenge''. It seems that vehicles entering the roundabout have the right of way ie: give way to the right. In reality, there does not seem to be any common sense and they are a bit of a free for all. So, take a roundabout very slowly, be prepared to make an emergency stop and give way to all other vehicles. In particular watch out for small mopeds and motorbikes as these seem to just go straight through.
7) Check your hire car throughly at the airport. Make sure you make all the necessary adjustments before you set off. Then, before you even leave the car park, test the brakes.
In the event of an accident you must leave the car in position. Do not move it out of the way.
9) If you are driving at night, be extra cautious and try and look even further ahead on the road. Keep your headlights clean.
10) If you have not driven on the ''other side'' of the road before, then I would not start with a drive from the Airport to Kalkan. Get some experience nearer to home in say France. Or just rent a car for the day when you are in Kalkan.
11) If you have family with you make sure everyone is strapped in and that the kids are on their best behaviour, you do not need distractions of the kids fighting when driving a new car in a strange place.

In general, I have found the standard of driving in Turkey to be OK. The roads are empty compared to the UK and as such people can speed easily this is particularly so later at night. There is a lack of road markings, compared to the UK, so use common sense. The road from Dalaman to Kalkan is wide and easy to follow, just keep a steady pace, concentrate and stay alert.

[Enişte]

Do you mean the Fener bar, with the ice cream stand and the lighthouse at the end, in front of Korsan, Deniz and the Kebab House?  Always found them really nice lads in there, very appreciative of both of my words of Turkish.  Very sad.

[Lougie]

Thanks Rosie for replying, it is very sad news.

[Mrs B]

We manage to have a proper holiday without a car, but i imagine we all have a different idea of what a proper holiday is. 

Sorry, Mrs B. No offence intended. I just need a car. Its a long walk to Kaputas

Ahhh, Blackpool, no offence taken at all....we all have different ideas of what makes a great holiday, and thats what makes us all diferent and interesting 
Enjoy! 

[routemaster]

Tekin worked at the bar run by the belediye on the beach by the keep-fit apparatus.

He was on the phone to his wife, apparently, when he came off the road in Bezirgan just past the picnic/barbeque area.

It was 3am, and I heard he was drunk. They found him by phoning his mobile and looking for the light on it.

[jonnysdad]

Pete''s post is spot on. Just drive more defensively than you would at home. I was dreading having to drive back to Dalaman at 2.30 in the morning but it was no problem at all.

[Chucky]

There is an interesting article in today''s Zaman News about driving in Turkey.
Those of you with the Enjoykalkan toolbar can access it from there.