Driving in St. Lucia: Keep Left in a Right-Hand-Drive Car

If you're renting a car on St. Lucia, two things change at once. You keep left. And the car may have its steering wheel on the right, so you drive from the seat you know as the passenger seat.

You can pick up the permit when you land. The habit is the part to practice.

Which side of the road St. Lucia drives on

St. Lucia drives on the left. The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority ends its advice on renting a car with one line: "Remember to drive on the left side of the road!"

Sixt, which rents cars on the island, says where it matters most: "remember to stay on the left, especially at roundabouts and intersections."

St. Lucia is one of the 54 countries on our list of countries that drive on the left.

Ask which side your steering wheel is on

M's Car Rentals, a rental company in Castries and Rodney Bay, says "All our rental vehicles are right-hand drive". Ask your company when you book, so the seat isn't a surprise at the airport.

In a right-hand-drive car on the left side of the road, you sit next to the center line and your passenger sits at the edge.

The permit you need

Your US license isn't enough on its own. The Tourism Authority says a temporary driving license "is required for visitors" and can be picked up with your own license "upon arrival at the airport, at the police station in Castries or at the car rental offices."

Under St. Lucia's law, a visitor's driving permit is "valid for not more than 3 months."

The UK government's travel advice lists what to bring: your driving license, your passport, a passport-size photo, and the fee, 54 Eastern Caribbean dollars or 20 US dollars. It says some rental companies can get the permit for you. M's Car Rentals says it helps "arrange your temporary permit as part of the car rental pickup process".

Two things to ask when you book:

• Does the company arrange the permit? Then you don't need a separate stop.
• What does it require of drivers? The UK advice says rental companies often have stricter rules, such as a year of driving experience or a higher minimum age.

The roads, and the road from the airport

The UK government's advice describes potholes and speed bumps, and minor and rural roads that are often narrow, "with steep gradients, hairpin bends and blind corners." It adds that drivers don't always use turn signals, pedestrians often walk on the roads, and some roads are unlit at night.

For your first drive, one sentence in that advice matters most: "Accidents often happen on the main east coast road to and from Hewanorra International Airport."

Hewanorra is near Vieux Fort, in the south of the island. If you land there, that road is likely your first drive on the left. Give yourself daylight for it if you can.

The part the permit won't fix

The first time I drove on the left, I had an accident while taking a right turn. I looked the wrong way for oncoming traffic.

I knew the rule. The problem was habit.

These are the moments where a habit from home shows up:

• Right turns. On the left, a right turn crosses oncoming traffic. That's the turn I got wrong.
• After the turn. Your instinct pulls you toward the right side of the new road. You keep left.
• Pulling out. Leaving the airport lot or a parking space, there's no traffic to copy, so you choose the left side yourself.
• Roundabouts. M's Car Rentals tells drivers to stay alert at roundabouts and enter clockwise, the opposite of home.

Practice from the seat you'll drive from

LeftLane rehearses those moments in your browser, in a right-hand-drive car. If your St. Lucia rental is right-hand drive too, you practice from the same seat.

Start with First Drive, then T-Junction Right Turn, Main Road to Side Road Right Turn, Parking-Lot Exit and the Roundabout. All five are free.

Ten scenarios are free forever, no signup and no card. Twenty more come with a one-time pass. It runs in your browser on a computer, tablet, or phone held sideways.

Quick answers about driving in St. Lucia

Where these facts come from

• Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, "Getting Around St Lucia", on driving on the left and the temporary license for visitors.
• Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2023), Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, section 30, "Issue of a visitor's driving permit", on the 3-month limit.
• GOV.UK, St Lucia travel advice, "Safety and security", on the permit, what to bring, rental companies' requirements, and the roads.
• Sixt, "Car Rental in St. Lucia", on keeping left at roundabouts and intersections.
• Sixt, "Car rental at St. Lucia Hewanorra Airport", on where the airport is.
• M's Car Rentals, "Driving in St Lucia: What Tourists Should Know", on its right-hand-drive fleet, arranging the permit, and roundabouts.