Turkey

Driving in Turkey

Turkey is where a hire car quietly becomes an administrative question. The motorways and the major Bosphorus crossings charge electronically through the HGS system, and on most routes there is no cash booth at all — nowhere to stop, nothing to hand over, and no obvious signal that you have just incurred a charge. A foreign-registered vehicle is expected to hold an HGS account with enough balance before it uses the road. Pass without one and there is a 15-day window to open an account or settle through the tax administration's online portal; leave it 45 days and the penalty is four times the original toll. Hire cars normally arrive with a tag fitted and the cost billed on afterwards, but that is worth confirming explicitly rather than assuming, because the consequences of it not being set up fall on you. The country is transcontinental, and the European and Asian halves are joined by the Bosphorus bridges and tunnel — themselves tolled. Winter tyres are mandated province by province rather than nationally, with dates that vary and commonly run from around December to April, so the requirement can change as you drive across the country. Headlights are required outside built-up areas at all times. Limits are 50, 90 and 120, the alcohol limit is 0.5‰, and the currency is the lira.