Driving aboard

I'm driving from Dunkirk to Colonge next week and was wondering if anyone got any tips or things I should know?

I drove around France a bit, years ago and I can remeber needing Hivi jackets and a warning triangle, but this time iy's Belgium and Germany so dont know what's different ya know.

Thanks y'all

There's very little difference, its the EU innit. If your car is taxed, insured and MOT'ed then you're good to go.

They drive on the right and they are generally much more considerate and disciplined than we are. Be prepared to drive more considerately/slowly in towns and to get on with it / get out of the way on M Ways. Hanging about in the middle lane or the outside lane of a 2 lane Mway is a total no no (and a complete breath of fresh air).

Obviously Belgians are exempt from the above, they have no idea how to drive on M'ways and IMHO are consistently the worst drivers in Europe, enjoy.

Yes I do remember people being more courteous now, as for Belgium however I'm glad IM only there for one day yhen!

Make sure you are lined up properly for the ramp. Do not drive into the sea.

Keep to the speed limit on the German autobahns.

In addition to hi viz jackets for every passenger, and accessible in the drivers compartment (not the boot,) you're also supposed to carry an alcohol test kit in the car in france nowadays. That said, as long as you drive sensibly the french coppers very rarely stop uk cars in my experience. I suppose france and belgium are similar.

Yes I do remember people being more courteous now, as for Belgium however I'm glad IM only there for one day yhen!

Belgium is a piece of **** to drive in except the motorways around Antwerp, which has been like Whacky Races every time I've done that route.

Spare light bulbs, warning triangle, medical kit etc etc Look up on the googleweb what you'll need in your car for each country.

Don't stay in the outside lane on Motorways once you've overtaken. Oh, in France there's a minimum speed limit for the outside lane.

In addition to hi viz jackets for every passenger, and accessible in the drivers compartment (not the boot,) you're also supposed to carry an alcohol test kit in the car in france nowadays. That said, as long as you drive sensibly the french coppers very rarely stop uk cars in my experience. I suppose france and belgium are similar.

The enforcement of the breathalyser law has been delayed due to concerns over the accuracy of the testing kits, having said that they're cheap and you can buy them in the ferry.

In Germany on autobahns with no speed restriction keep an eye on your rear-view mirror because they can be up your backside flashing their lights before you know it.

Pretty much as has been said above, driving in Belgium the standard really does fall off a cliff particularly after driving in Germany.

If you are tempted to test how fast your car goes down the Autobahn make sure your car is up to it regarding tyre pressures condition and general mechanics especially brakes. 100mph equals almost 150ft per second, if you ain't use to driving many miles and very fast just be careful as any idiot can drive fast, it's knowing what to do if something goes wrong .......... North of 80mph things go wrong very quickly so at100mph+ It's often too late.

Pretty much as has been said above, driving in Belgium the standard really does fall off a cliff particularly after driving in Germany.

If you are tempted to test how fast your car goes down the Autobahn make sure your car is up to it regarding tyre pressures condition and general mechanics especially brakes. 100mph equals almost 150ft per second, if you ain't use to driving many miles and very fast just be careful as any idiot can drive fast, it's knowing what to do if something goes wrong .......... North of 80mph things go wrong very quickly so at100mph+ It's often too late.

Yes, very important. At 150mph the car has 9 times the kinetic energy as 50mph.

Don't mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.

The Belgium motorways are hell. Up till Brussels you would be fine, around Brussels its one big traffic jam, then Brussels till Liege the motorway is in a very poor state. The Autobahn in Germany sadly isnt in the best state either.

Apart from that you should be ok. Colonge is a great place.

I'm driving from Dunkirk to Colonge next week and was wondering if anyone got any tips or things I should know?

 

I drove around France a bit, years ago and I can remeber needing Hivi jackets and a warning triangle, but this time iy's Belgium and Germany so dont know what's different ya know.

 

 

Thanks y'all

I would take them to be safe.