Driving from the Netherlands to England involves crossing country borders. Going by car to England using the Eurotunnel means traveling in a number of countries in one day: the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England. The difference in driving ‘styles’ are striking.
The Netherlands
It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned it, but the Dutch do tend to like to stick close together on the motorway in the fast lane. It’s called bumperkleven (tailgating) and it’s actually illegal.
Most Dutch drivers who tailgate don’t know this or simply don’t care – and there aren’t many police around to remind them on the motorways, so it happens. It happens a lot.
Then there’s the issue with linksrijders. These are the drivers that don’t seem to understand that there are other lanes on the motorway in addition to the left lane. But don’t worry – the police have been on the case for the past year, in Rotterdam at least: Politie pakt ‘linksrijders’ aan met nieuwe campagne.
Belgium
Then we pass into Belgium. You can usually tell that you have crossed the border as the quality of the road surface deteriorates dramatically.
And as you jiggle your way down the motorway, something becomes very apparent: Belgian drivers are mad. Bonking mad behind the wheel of a car.
They make Dutch drivers look tame.
They tear down the fast lane with complete disregard of speed limits (I learnt that foreigners caught speeding are treated severely by the police whereas the locals are not really bothered by law enforcement officers until they travel at the speed of space shuttles…) and they criss cross lanes as if they are the only vehicle on the road.
Something worth watching out for in Belgium are cars with only five figures in the licence plate – these are drivers who obtained their driving licence with a pack of milk many decades ago (or at least they didn’t have to take a driving test) ….. and the cars usually display the evidence of this.
France
Then we hit France. What redeems French drivers is that any driver probably looks good if you’ve escaped the Belgian roads unscathed.
However, the French do something that none of their neighbours do. They keep their indicator on in the fast lane to let you know that they need to get past you.
Note that they are not just using the fast lane to overtake, the outer lane is their very own personal road to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Therefore, you really need to move over because they have priority. And there is no point just putting your ticker on and following suit- you’re a foreigner so you don’t have ‘fast lane priority’.
And then you drive onto the Eurotunnel train and marvel at how you’ve made it so far. It’s time to sit and relax for the short trip under the Channel to Folkestone. before your journey takes you on to the British motorways.
England
Once over the Channel your journey takes you on to English motorways, where you will instantly be reminded to drive on the left. Forgetting this is disastrous, but it happens a lot. There’s nothing more terrifying than waiting at a roundabout having come off the train to see a car coming at you on the wrong side of the road.
You will also notice the ‘middle of the road’ attitude of English drivers. They sit in the middle lane of the motorway for no apparent reason. To legally pass them from the ‘slow’ lane you have to cross over to the ‘fast lane’ and then cut back to the furthest left lane. (which of course is not linksrijden because the English drive on the other side of the road).
These middle lane drivers remain oblivious to the fact that they are causing mayhem around them as drivers criss cross to pass them. Some pass on the left, others on the right, but to no avail.
I eventually worked out that some English drivers believe you have to pick a lane when you join the motorway and stick to it – no matter what. Horns. Lights. Cutting them up. None of it works.
So there you have it – the Turning Dutch guide to some of Europe’s main highways. You have been warned.
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