Why do rental car companies hate the Big Islands Saddle Road? What other roads in Hawaii don they like?
See the (Ala Mauna) Saddle Road photos page (highway was renamed in 2007) for photos and other information on how that road is seriously substandard, and also on plans (avout halfway completed) to improve and reroute the highway to create a more direct, rental car-friendly cross-island shortcut between Hilo and Kailua-Kona. That is the one road that most though not all rental car companies specifically forbid for most or all of their vehicles, and indeed may be the only paved state highway in the United States that is open to motor vehicles, but off-limits to most rental cars. That restriction has the side effect of limiting tourist travel on some side roads accessible only from Ala Mauna Saddle Road or from even more difficult unpaved roads, such as unnumbered Mauna Kea Access Road (John A. Burns Way) to the Mauna Kea summit and the visitor center near the bottom of the mountain. The Big Island also has some other roads that make the rental car companies unhappy. South Point Road, to
See the (Ala Mauna) Saddle Road photos page (highway was renamed in 2007) for photos and other information on how that road has long been seriously substandard, and also on plans (about halfway completed) to improve and reroute the highway to create a more direct, rental car-friendly cross-island shortcut between Hilo and Kailua-Kona. That is the one road that most though not all rental car companies specifically forbid for most or all of their vehicles, and indeed may be the only paved state highway in the United States that is open to motor vehicles, but off-limits to most rental cars. That restriction has the side effect of limiting tourist travel on some side roads accessible only from Ala Mauna Saddle Road or from even more difficult unpaved roads, such as unnumbered Mauna Kea Access Road (John A. Burns Way) to the Mauna Kea summit and the visitor center near the bottom of the mountain. The Big Island also has some other roads that make the rental car companies unhappy. South Poin
