Driving - How To Fit In

When I came to Belgium one of the most noticeable differences was the driving style.  It is difficult to know where to start with this one and of course I am generalising when I describe the habits that both UK and Belgian drivers have.

My contact with Belgian drivers before I moved over was limited to the odd times that I had transited through France and seen the dreaded red number plate hovering what seemed like inches from the back of my car, so close in fact that I thought the guy behind should be wearing a condom!  Clearly this is considered very aggressive and rude to British drivers and does not happen that often on British roads, some may disagree.

There are several things going on here that need to be explained.  Most of the time the driver behind is not being aggressive but merely indicating that they would like to pass.  If they leave any more than a cars length then another driver will inevitably get between them and the car they wish to pass and this will not do.  If you wait patiently at what you might regard as a safe distance, maybe a gap of 3 car lengths then you will be sat there for some time as the car in front will interpret that as just following normally and not wishing to pass.  You can tell the aggressive ones as they will have approached at very high speed and will have flashed their lights to let you know that you should get the hell out of the way.

On the subject of flashing main beam, don't do it because it is seen as aggressive and confuses people if you do it as a signal to let them out.  There are no friendly signals and people very, very rarely let you out ahead of them.  In fact they are pretty ruthless about not giving way at all if they can help it.  There not quite as bad as Danish drivers who will speed up as you overtake even if they are driving bloody tractors, they just get competitive when you overtake!

During rush hour at certain places, it seems like there are no legal restrictions at times, of course there are but the rules just go out of the window when there are serious traffic jams.  Do not be surprised to see cars and lorries passing queues of traffic trying to get off the motorway only to cut in at the last minute and often across the solid white lines, which would usually attract a large fine.  I used to get a bit hacked off by this but I am guilty of using this technique myself, although not crossing the solid white lines, there is only so far I will go!

There are some things that you need to be aware of regarding motorways, firstly they have some very complicated junctions when getting on and off.  In fact it is a bit of a flying circus at times as you switch from one lane to the next as others do the same in the opposite direction.  You have to have faith and go for it, if you hesitate then you lose.  If you exit from the motorway then you cannot easily re-join the one you have left.  Effectively all junctions are restricted, you don't have roundabouts like you do in the UK when you realise that you have made a mistake and you can re-join.  In some cases you have to drive some distance, in others you can get back on fairly quickly.  be aware that there is normally at least one lane for left and one for right, watch for the nutters who do not know where they are going.

That reminds me Belgian towns and cities have two names, one in Dutch and one in French.  You will find yourself driving towards Bergen whilst in the Flemish part of the country and then it changes to Mons when you cross the boundary into Wallonia.  If you have a sat nav then fine but otherwise try and find out what both names are before you set out!

There is a rule that where there are no give way markings then the priority is to give way to the traffic coming from the right, even if it looks like you are on the main road.  It must come to quite a nasty shock for those who get T boned because they expect the other driver to stop.  This is usually in towns and cities, but also be aware that some people don't pay attention to this rule either!

If there is an accident then it is not just an inconvenience to those involved, even very minor knocks will require the presence of a policeman to decide who is responsible.  They will not get the vehicles out of the way and therefore you can imagine the monumental delays that result when there is an accident on the motorway.

Car parks and manoeuvring in general.  The other drivers will not allow you to complete any manoeuvring on the road, if you are turning, parking, reversing or anything like that then they expect you to stop and let them pass.  Now this is quite interesting in a car park because they speed past like Michael Schumacher knowing full well that you cannot see them as you try and reverse out of a space.  Almost all drivers park facing in, ie they have to reverse to get out.  All I can say is be careful or have someone guide you out.  There is a good bit to this, which I really appreciate.  If the road is blocked on one side then the driver whose side is clear has right of way, unlike the UK where it is a game of chicken.  The drivers in Belgium do respect this rule, mostly.  Roundabouts I have to say are a relatively new concept here, often four drivers will arrive at once and none will go onto the roundabout as they think the first to arrive has priority.  In other cases they will all belt toward the roundabout in a bid to make it first and it gets quite hairy.  The other nice trick is when some drivers think that the car that is on the roundabout will stop as they apply the right of way belonging to the car coming from the right, no, quite frightening at times I can assure you.

I think that is all for now, more about motoring later