Belgians in the rain
Yesterday it rained in Belgium... nothing to see here, it rains about 200 days a year in Belgium.
And in a country where rain is present 200 days per year, you'd assume the population is used to it.
I mean, when was the last time you heard Sweden bitch about snow? They stopped caring ages ago, with their well-built oil-heater- and gel-battery-equipped four-wheel-driven Volvo's and Saabs, up there in the North they are well aware of where they live and what the potential dangers are.
Yesterday however, Belgians proved yet again that they aren't.
It rained, and instead of not letting it get to us, we formed over 400 km's of traffic jams all over the place. I'm surprised we even have 400 km's of road here in our small country!
Then you get “mobility organisations” in the papers today explaining what we have to do to prevent this from happening, sound advice like “drive slower”.
When I first started driving, I was able to drive the highway from Antwerp to Brussels (passing through half the country basically) at 140 km/h, I never did because the maximum speed here is 120 km/h and I wouldn't want to break the law, but if I wanted to, I could have easily. The speed limit for trucks is 90 km/h most of the time (exceptions granted).
These days, I drive a lot of truck-sized vans around that are electronically limited to 120 km/h, no problem you say, well wrong. These days, that type of vehicle is forced all the way to the left lane, because the sometimes even three other lanes are filled like this:
Right lane: Trucks doing 85 – 95 km/h
Second lane: Trucks overtaking at 90 – 100 km/h
Third lane: Cars overtaking at 100 – 110 km/h
Left lane: Everybody that actually wants to get to their destination
No wonder most accidents that slow down the entire rush hour happen on the left lane.
And what happens when you're cruising the left lane in the pouring rain, knowing you have a car that is not equipped like an M5 or Ferrari and thus leaving space for two cars between? Three cars try to slot in between because they feel they should make it home 1 km/h faster then the rest of the people clogging up their lane, and in return, our lane is slowed down by at least 10 km/h .
So in one graceful move, they take away your braking space and they make you brake.
It's worth considering that the weather has something to do with it, as well as the growing congestion on our roads, but if we look at our pleasant neighbor Germany, when it rains, they spontaneously slow down from whatever they were doing to about 140 km/h (unless they see signs indicating otherwise, because every German knows, their signs actually mean something).
In Germany, driving in general is something different... they are more commonly informed about the hazards and the fine art of driving, in general they also seem a bit more interested in their cars.
Of course, you can buy a ticket and enter a closed track every week in Germany, something that none of our tracks seem to be doing, although they could use the extra income.
But “better” cars and “better” roads are more common also in Germany, so that makes sense.
Well then, if we take Finland for example, their roads are as tough as their climate, and how do they manage it? By teaching 15 year old kids the fine art of car control and how to react properly in an emergency situation. Hence the expression in motorsports: “If you want to win, hire a Fin”.
Now you can start arguing that I am a jackass and that I should shut up, but imagine: What if everybody that wants to drive slow takes the right lane and just follows the trucks?
What if everybody that wants to go the speed limit takes the second lane?
Doesn't that leave us with one or two empty lanes that are usually full of accidents?
And if a Fin can teach Captain Slow to drive fast, couldn't he teach Belgian to drive properly?
