Picture one of those dangerous two-lane country roads with a dashed middle line where cars pass each other by crossing into the lane of the oncoming traffic. Think about how dangerous it is to drive on a road like that. Now picture that road filled with impatient European drivers tailgating you in their Audis and BMWs and Volkswagens. (On the Continent, Volkswagen drivers tend to be the most aggressive passers.)
This two-lane death trap goes on for two to five miles, passing mostly though farmland, until you come to a village where the speed limit suddenly drops to 50 kmph (30 miles per hour) or in some cases even slower.
Anywhere along the road, whether in the villages where the speeds are slow or in the open spaces where drivers go just about as fast as they want to, you may encounter any of the following obstacles.
- Farm tractors
- Slow trucks
- Stray sheep and other livestock
- Elderly people riding old bicycles very slowly
- Children in bicycles
- People walking in the traffic lanes with their backs to the oncoming cars
- People standing in the traffic lanes talking to someone on the side of the road
- Dogs
- A guy on a tall ladder repairing an overhead wire
- The aftermath of a serious accident
- Horse-drawn trailers pulling anything from logs to packages to massive bundles of loose hay.
Vehicles from the Sixteenth Century and the Twenty-first Century are using the same road at the same time. It gets complicated.
Keep in mind that drivers of trucks and automobiles are usually in a hurry. Passing isn’t a rare occurrence; it’s going on constantly. It’s not uncommon to encounter double-double passing situations where you see someone passing toward you from the other direction, while you are passing someone else. Each of the passing vehicles has about a second and an half to get back into their respective lanes before everyone in all four cars is killed.
That is what it’s like to drive in Romania.
But wait. There’s more.
Crosswalks are everywhere, and pedestrians always have the right of way. No matter how fast you’re going or how closely you’re being followed by an impatient driver, when a human being steps into the crosswalk, you are required to stop and let them cross. No exceptions.
The aforementioned villages are full of these crosswalks, but even where there aren’t crosswalks, pedestrians can and wander into the traffic lanes.
But wait. It gets even more interesting.
There is a variation of the two-lane passing road that was confusing to me at first. This type of road has a paved shoulder that’s just wide enough to fit a car.
In the States, we would consider this a escape lane to be used in case of emergencies. You swerve into the shoulder in order to avoid a collision. In Europe, it works differently.
The paved shoulder is actually a traffic lane. You can opt to drive on it, or you can opt to drive partly in the shoulder or partly in the main traffic lane. (Trucks often have one wheel in each lane.)
Driving on the shoulder, completely or partially, is a signal to drivers behind you that they can pass if they choose to. This helps to prevent tailgating. The impatient driver doesn’t have to wait for you to pull over. Of course, if you don’t pull over, he’s going to tailgate you, flash his lights, and beep his horn until you pull over anyway. But at least you have the option of proactively getting out of the way.
But the shoulder lane has another purpose relating to oncoming traffic.
Let’s say that you’re driving not on the shoulder, but in the inside lane, the lane that is adjacent to the oncoming traffic. Someone in the opposite direction decides to pass a slower vehicle. As they pass, all or part of their vehicle comes into your lane. They are heading straight for you, and you’ll collide if someone doesn’t take action.
On the two-lane road, that driver would not pass unless he has room to get back in his lane before you reached him. But on the road with the shoulder, he’ll pass even if you’re close to him. When this happens, you are expected to ease over onto your shoulder in order to give the oncoming driver room to pass.
Think about that. An oncoming driver deliberately moves his vehicle into your lane right in front of you. You have to move out of his way in order to avoid a high-speed collision. This happens very frequently. When there’s a lot of traffic, oncoming vehicles will come into your lane in every minute of your drive. It keeps you on your toes.
Hence, there is another good reason to drive on the shoulder lane. You don’t have to constantly watch for oncoming vehicles. You’re already in the safe zone.
Happy driving in Romania!
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