Obstacle (updated)

The other day the local newspaper reported an accident in which a 17 year-old girl was killed when the car in which she was riding was rear-ended at high speed on the autoroute. Her mother, sitting beside her, was seriously injured. What was remarkable was not that the accident happened, but the newspaper's editorial comment.

According the article the Mercedes, carrying a family headed south for a visit with relatives, was in no hurry. It was in a far right-hand lane reserved for slow moving vehicles on a long uphill stretch. Father was driving, his son beside him, mother and daughter were in the rear. Night had just fallen, supper no doubt had been eaten, coffee sipped. Happy times with other family members lay somewhere ahead.

Somehow, the driver of a Citroen minivan "misjudged" the speed of the Mercedes and slammed into it from behind at a reported 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour;; that's the speed limit, as if the Citroen was obeying it). If the Mercedes was traveling at the minimum autoroute speed of 80 kmh (50 mph; in a lane for slow vehicles it could well have been less), the impact speed was at least 50 kmh (30 mph). The Citroen driver claimed to have tried to swerve to avoid the Mercedes at the last minute. The newspaper, in reporting all this, queried whether the Mercedes, "on account of its slow speed, constituted an obstacle on the autoroute?"

The recklessness of the Citroen driver, and the stupidity of the newspaper reporter and any editors involved (or who should have been involved) is so profound that it is entirely possible to overlook the fact that both driver and reporter reflect entrenched European cultural norms.

A European union report shows that between 2001 and 2007 France made the most progress of any country in the EU in reducing highway deaths. Implicit in this statistic is the fact that in the early part of that time frame the carnage on French highways was gruesome. Older studies show that for a while, at least, France had the fourth worst highway safety record in Europe, behind only Portugal, Spain and Greece. Heady company.

France may be "most improved," but it still has a long way to go. A web page for British travelers in France asserts that in France:

• "Overtaking where there is a solid single line in the middle of the road is heavily penalised;"


• "Drivers must keep a distance of two seconds from the vehicle in front. Any infringement incurs a maximum fine of €750;"


• "Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is punishable with a fine and two penalty points;" and,


• "Speed limits are applied rigorously, and radar traps are frequent."

The author of this page has obviously never driven in France, certainly not in the south. The lack of enforcement of these rules would be laughable if the consequences were not so serious.

Speed limits are routinely ignored. Radar traps are not "frequent" by any applied definition of the word, the location of each and every fixed radar is available in print and on the Internet, and each and every one is announced a kilometer or so in advance by an enormous sign. Traffic slows down to a good 15 or 20 kmh below the limit shortly before the radar, and then accelerates in a cloud of exhaust just after it. Roving radar patrols are reliably announced in the newspaper ahead of holiday weekends and are otherwise rare.

The ban on use of mobile phones while driving is ignored. Every third or fourth driver on any given road has the telltale cock of the head and hand to the ear. When a Frenchman's mobile phone rings while he is driving, the act of answering is invariably accompanied by a shrug meant to convey a sort of helpless disbelief that someone would actually call while he was behind the wheel.

Overtaking where there is a solid center line happens frequently enough that it is something to be anticipated at all times. Once, while turning left we were nearly broadsided by an impatient driver who had pulled out over a solid line to pass the line of cars slowing behind us.

Regard for safe following distance is practically non-existent. To drive at the speed limit is to be tailgated mercilessly and passed at the first opportunity (safe or not). To pass another vehicle yourself on the autoroute is to risk having someone come flying up the road behind you, headlights flashing, and advancing to within millimeters of your bumper until you pull back out of their way into the right-hand lane.

It's not personal. They just want you out of their way. As soon as you pull back into the right-hand lane they'll blaze on by without a sideways or rearward glance. Or, from the same lane they will pull out around you with inches to spare. No hard looks, no shaken fists. You are in front of them so they have to pass you. Simple as that. You are an obstacle.

This behavior is by no means limited to young drivers. The offenders are as likely to be middle aged as twenty, as likely to be women as men. Nor on French highways is it limited to the French. The Dutch, the Spanish, Swiss, Belgians, Germans and Luxembourgois all play this high speed bumper cars game, almost invariably in high horsepower German luxury cars, or in the case of the Dutch, pulling camping trailers. One can only wonder about their observance of traffic laws in their own countries; in the south of France they display an arrogant disregard for speed limits and safe following distance.

By now, what really happened between the Citroen and the Mercedes should be pretty clear. The Citroen driver's usual habit of racing up behind the car ahead, whipping around it at the last second and barreling on down the highway left no room for mistakes. But this time the driver did make a mistake, and his reckless, self-centered driving habits cost a young girl's life.

Changing this culture is not a simple matter of lowering speed limits. It's going to require a sort of personality adjustment on a national, if not continental level. A regular feature in the local newspaper is the "question of the day," followed by the photographs and responses of five randomly selected people. Recently, following a spate of highway accidents, the question was "Would lower speed limits result in fewer accidents?" Although EU statistics show a direct correlation between speed and accidents, five out of five French drivers said, "No." One even expressed concern that lower speeds would be less safe because drivers would be less cautious.

If you were to walk up behind a Frenchman on the sidewalk, put a gun to his head and ask him to step out of your way, he would regard it not merely as a criminal assault, but an attack on his dignity and a gross breach of egalite and fraternite, not to mention horribly impolite. But, if you tried to explain the analogy to following too closely on the road at high speed he would stare at you uncomprehendingly.

Obviously, not every French driver is a maniac. Some are actually quite considerate and safe. But not nearly enough, and it only takes one reckless idiot to ruin your holiday. Drive carefully.

20 Sept 08 - There's a very amusing article in the Times Online suggesting that French drivers are starting to get the message and that now it's the foreigners who are the problem. As in days of old, the news is still slow trickling down into the south. Yes, the foreigners do blast around in their big cars (did I already say "arrogantly?"), but the French are the real problem. Note, however, the remarkable French creativity brought to bear -- importing British traffic police!