Usually once a month I drive by car to London. In one day, of course. Sometimes with a stop in Brussels, which is just in the middle of the time duration of the journey (including the time for crossing the Channel). I really like the different driving habits of the drivers of different nationalities.
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First, about Germans. Although they are fast – whenever there is no speed limit on the motorway they increase their speed over 200 km per hour – they are still polite and, I must say, great drivers! You won´t be locked behind any truck or other slow vehicle.
After that, I drive into Belgium. No matter the Flemish or Waloon part of the country. The motorways are straighter, with lamplight in the night but with a worse quality of the surface. But what is worst are the drivers. Without the necessity of having the driving license till the 1970´s driving in Belgium is a horrifying experience. Moreover, driving on a motorway is feeble rehash of driving in Brussels. GPS and tunnels don't get on well at all and if you want to exit the inner city circle, you have to know exactly where (of course), but also which street on the ground above you should choose. There are often five lines in one traffic flow (besides the two in the tunnel) and each line leads to a different direction. Usually, you have less than about 80m to change the lines – not just you, but all the drivers at the same time!
French people seem to me a little bit confused on motorways. I´m not quite sure if they are in a hurry on not. They change their speed in the range from very low to very high without any reason. It´s always hard to anticipate them.
Finally, I crossed the Channel and started driving on the left. It may be because I´m left-handed, but I find it more natural than our way of driving. I don´t want to tell you anything about the narrow streets which force you to drive carefully, roundabouts with a more logical system and the traffic rules. I really love the politeness of nearly all the English drivers from London to the smallest village in the UK. Being in a good mood while driving is encouraged by funny names of some things and events – like the line for slow vehicles is called “crawlers lane”. Motorways and other roads are connected with exits and “slip roads”. The special lane for broken vehicles is called “hard shoulder” and on a work site you can use a “free recovery” in case of breakdown. Isn´t it lovely?
P.S. And there is one new thing. On the first 10 or 20 kilometres from Dover to London, a new type of reflectors has been installed on the motorway – the left full white line is covered by red, the centre dashed line by white and the right side line by orange reflectors. There is also green colour on the very left side of exits and slip roads.
