European driving standards are horrendous!

[Laney760]

Hi to all. I drove in six American states last year, my first time driving in the US for a long time and I was very surprised by the high standard of driving in towns, cities and on the freeways. However a few weeks ago I had my first ever experience of driving in Europe, we drove to a 3 day rock festival in Zoetermeer. We had horrendous snow here at the time but on exiting Eurotunnel there was very little evidence left of the snow there although it was very cold and wet and driving conditions were not good. The standard of driving was dreadful, even more so given the road conditions! Tailgating at high speed seems to be the absolute norm and vehicles passing very closely to each other in poor driving conditions. I was not at all surprised when we were delayed before the Belgium / Holland border by no less than four accidents!

I was expecting European driving standards to be very high!

[steadvex]

I imagine going to a rock festival will be a magnet for cars filled with excited people to see said festival, I would hazard a guess the driving standards were lower on the roads you were on due to the festival more than anything else...

Personally with the exception of Italy and Belgium from my own experience driving standards are vastly better than in the UK it always takes me a week to adjust to the British aggressive nature of driving when I return!

On the flip side, in America if you cut someone up there is a good chance you can get shot in a road rage incident....

[Laney760]

Hi Steadvex. The other cars definitely weren't going to Cultuurpodium Boerderij venue, it only has a 750 capacity and most people we met there had flown in. Belgium was definitely the worst I felt

[steadvex]

Originally Posted by Laney760

Hi Steadvex. The other cars definitely weren't going to Cultuurpodium Boerderij venue, it only has a 750 capacity and most people we met there had flown in. Belgium was definitely the worst I felt

I do think as everything gets busier our driving standards decline, to me the busier the roads the more aggressive everyone gets, doesn't matter what country, you chuck a million people on the road at the same time and things get a bit crazy! I remember meeting a French man in Germany before in winter, he had budget summer tyres on, was genuinely shocked, was near freezing but no snow. I always figured most Europeans would have winter tyres, especially those who travel across Europe!

I remember driving through the centre of Brussels before, its something I hope to never do again! I sometimes feel in certain places having a British plate doesn't help, might just be in my head tho.

[volvoid]

UKs standards have dropped a lot in the last few years, seems that half the population just dont give a monkeys

[anthonyfrancis]

What's Europe it doesn't exist. As a brexit man and a Englishman born in Liverpool I think I'm allowed to ask what's Europe. I think driving standards have got bad in the United Kingdom maybe more traffic cops are needed or more old fashioned beat bobbys like we had in days gone by. Anyone contravening the laws of the road should be dealt with harshly. My pet hate is box junctions. And just junctions in general.

[gatos]

I find it is the exact opposite. We go to France/Belgium about 10 times a year and I found people to be a lot calmer, not speeding and not beeping. People wait patiently in the traffic lights and don't drive through red lights. We have never experienced any tailgating, with the exception of a few british number plate BMWs or Audis. It's always a shock driving back on the M20 of how much more aggressive and badly some people drive. Specially as you approach London

I agree with others here, that standards have dropped in the UK and too many boy racers can do whatever they want on the streets, as there is hardly any visible police anymore.

[fleming164]

I generally found driving standards throughout France to be on par with the UK, bar one exception; I find drivers in the UK to be more 'polite'.

The French seemed to push their way out of junctions whether there was a gap there or not, as opposed to polite filtering in traffic that we tend to get in the UK.

Having said that, wherever you are you only need to come across a few bad drivers in a short space of time to make your mind up on the quality of drivers.

[SwissXC90]

Belgium and north Holland are not Europe

Just like Wales is not Great Britain

You need to increase your sample size before you can reach a conclusion....

[Whippy]

I find lane discipline in France much better, signal, pull out, pull back in again. My pet peeve is drivers seem to hang off my back bumper for miles, then, just before a blind bend or similar they launch themselve lemming style into an overtake. Plus it helps that the roads are generally less crowded.