A road trip is that perfect opportunity to forget all your worries and make memories along the way. Every traveller should do a road trip to Goa at least once in their lifetime. But then again Goa is so adorably tiny that you can do one every month too 😀
Goa is very much drivable and the roads are excellent. Not to forget the grand amount of diverse attractions in landscape and in culture over here.
So whether you’re a regular Goan commuter or simply a traveller looking for a great time, here are 5 great tips for driving on Goan roads (straight outta first hand experience).
5. Never ever ever ever forget your documents. ( Especially if you’re a tourist)
Image courtesy : Goa Prism
If you’re driving a rented vehicle (they come with black number plates with yellow fonts, in case you didn’t know), then you can almost have a 90% guarantee that a cop WILL stop you, regardless of whether you were driving safe or not.
Most of the drunk and driving cases in Goa happen due to tourists, so the traffic police might stop anyone driving a rented vehicle just to play it safe. Always carry all your necessary documents including the paperwork for the rented vehicle. It’ll save you a lot of trouble.
Just in case, if not obvious, please don’t drive under the influence of alcohol.
4. Turn on live traffic on Google Maps
It’s a real shame that a lot of people simply aren’t aware of this really neat feature in the google maps app that lets you view traffic on most roads with pin point accuracy.
Head over to the Google Maps app and check for the best routes before blindly hitting the roads.Â
3. Avoid riding a two wheeler at night on highways
People say that a pretty girl in white once asked a passer-by for a lift around midnight. He turned around to ask the girl where she wanted to go and to his surprise, she was missing. An hysterical laughter followed soon after only to be silenced by…just kidding 😛
Source : TOI
The real reason you shouldn’t drive a two wheeler on the highways is because animal attacks on moving vehicles in Goa are on the rise. Leopards are also known to wander off in these parts and can most certainly attack an unsuspecting driver. If you’re driving a car, be sure that the windows are pulled all the way up (or at least half way).
2. Avoid confronting traffic cops in English
Got caught by the RTO? Tough luck. As bad as it may sound, a sure shot way to make it even worse is to try to argue with them in English. The minute you do that the cop will assume that you’re a spoilt rich kid who’s trying to mock them. After that you can almost certainly expect some sort of fine. If you know Konkani or someone with you who does then please leave the talking to them. Use English only as a last resort.
1. Know the best way for parking uphill
Image courtesy : Drivesed
Goa has its fair share of hills and slopes. This point is especially useful if you’re planning on road tripping the western ghats. Which we most certainly recommend that you do.
When facing up/down hill ,park with the handbrake engaged whilst in 1st gear.
When facing uphill, turn the front wheels away from the edge of the road and when parking downhill, turn the wheels towards the edge of the road. If your vehicle moves, it will roll off the main road and into the dirt and not into traffic.
SUGGESTED READS: Best Routes for Road Trips within Goa
 Are you going on a road trip to Goa? Don’t forget to tag @lokasoapp in your pictures on Instagram. Get more first-hand tips about Goa from the locals themselves only on lokaso app. Download Now!
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