Dear readers,
Please note the date of this post. The information was accurate (by my estimation of the situation) at the time of posting. I’m well aware that much of it is no longer true. Snapshot social commentary nearly always loses relevance and accuracy over time. Things change. That’s how the universe works. As such, I’d like to invite those of you who find this information to be offensively inaccurate by today’s standards to please stop leaving angry comments and sending me hate mail about how old, and therefore disgracefully incorrect, my commentary (by your estimation of the situation) may be.
Thank you.
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– My ride
For the purposes of my research, I have acquired a 1990 Dacia 1310. Romanian-made, with all the power and reliably that you would expect from a car manufactured in the second poorest country in Europe. This car is the ultimate disposable car. It’s built to die young. But Romanians can’t afford to buy a new car every 18 months, so everyone that owns a Dacia is forced to become an accomplished mechanic. The good news is that, unlike virtually all other modern cars, Dacias are simple and built so that any idiot with a screwdriver and no fear of grease can get to any part of the engine and fix it. There’s no micro-processors, no motherboards and no digital anything. It’s only equipped with the bare minimum of parts to make it go and that’s it.
Why did I buy this piece of shit? For several reasons. First and foremost, it looks exactly like the 20 million other Dacias in Romania. These cars are cheap and low-profile, meaning that not even the most desperate thief would consider wasting their time breaking into the thing to steal my backpack, the combined contents of which are more valuable than four 1990 Dacia 1310s. Also, as I mentioned, any dough-head can fix it. Not necessarily me mind you, but everyone else. Moreover, the parts and labor will be a pittance. Finally, being the most popular car in Romania will work in my favor when it comes time to sell it. There won’t be any need to put an ad in the paper or list it on the Internet. All I need to do is drive it around town with a ‘for sale’ sign in the window for a few hours and I’ll have plenty of offers. Sorted.
That said, this car needs more care and attention than a newborn baby. I have to pop the hood and fiddle with the engine virtually every single day. There’s always a thingy to clean, or a loose wire to wiggle or a smell to investigate. There’s no just starting it and zipping to the store real quick. Every trip requires anywhere from 10-20 minutes prep time. To start, you have to give it a good once over before something as intense as starting it up can happen. You begin by walking a slow, full circle around the thing to see what fell off during the night, or what is leaking from where, or which wheel deflated, and so forth. Once you’ve completed this loop, making all due repairs, then you can get in the car. Particularly in the winter, there is a complex ritual for starting a Dacia. If it’s especially cold or you haven’t started the car for a few days, your first step is not to put the key in the ignition, but, yes, pop the hood and lean way in there to finger-pump the primer. Three pumps is recommended. Then you get back in the car, pull the choke out all the way – that’s right, I said “choke” – stab the key into the ignition, make sure it’s in neutral, pump the gas pedal three times, say the Lord’s prayer and turn the key.
If you’re lucky the car will make a quiet, pathetic noise (“uuuuuhhhhggg”), at which point you stomp on the gas and it will roar to life. You must keep you foot on the gas for 10 minutes or so for it to warm up enough so that it will keep running when you lift your foot off the gas, burning a litre of fuel in the process. After that you’re off. There are a dozen “unlucky” scenarios, but I’ll spare you those details. Suffice to say that it’s just best to expect the unexpected.
– The (Lack of) Rules of the Road
I’ve done a decent amount of driving in Romania now and I’d like to impart some valuable lessons to you.Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon for drivers in Romania to acquire their license with a small bribe, a bottle of cognac and a wink, rather than training and testing. Seeing their driving skills, I often wonder if anyone was trained. There isn’t a single driver in Romania who has any sense of their own mortality. All driving is done at a frenetic, almost maniacal pace, even just to go to church. Though the speed limit on the motorways is 100-110KPH, anyone going slower than 130 draws the ire of all but the horse-drawn carts and the older, ailing Dacias (like mine). Even a few seconds behind a slower car is enough to drive a Romanian driver into a frothing rage. With the horn blaring, high-beams flashing and middle finger at high salute, they will execute violent, high-risk passes on blind curves in bad weather, coming within inches of clipping other cars, horse carts and people (Romanians have this strange compulsion to walk in the road, even in the city where sidewalks are plentiful) in order to get past you and your sorry excuse for a car. Essentially, the mentality of the Romanian driver is this: If you’re not the fastest vehicle on the road, you’re not really trying. According to my own Lonely Planet, driving regulations are officially this: “In Romania, there is a 0% blood-alcohol tolerance limit, seat belts are compulsory in the front and back seats (if fitted), and children under 12 are forbidden to sit in the front seat. Speed limits are indicated, but are usually 90km/h on major roads, 100-110km/h on motorways, and 50km/h inside cities. Having a standard first-aid kit is also compulsory. Honking unnecessarily is prohibited, and headlights need not be turned on in the daytime.”
Unofficially, there is no law. I am the only person that I’ve ever seen wear a seat belt, and indeed, if you strap yourself in while in someone else’s car, the driver will be deeply offended, even if you pathetically try to explain that if you are involved in a car accident and you are not wearing your seatbelt, your insurance will not cover you by evacuating you to a reputable hospital in Germany. Speed limits and stop lights are ritually ignored and those who try to adhere to basic road conventions are considered a menace. The average Romanian driver uses the horn more than the brakes, whether it’s to signal that you are in his way or the red light is taking too long for his liking or your shoe is untied or he has arrived outside your apartment block at 2:30AM and that you should come out to speak with him. Drunk driving is a matter of course on the weekends in the city and all winter long in the countryside.
In recent years, as nicer cars have made their way into Romania due to the advent of personal bank loans and television teaching Romanians to live beyond their means, an ugly, unwritten road hierarchy has developed. That being, the person with the nicer car has the right-of-way. This applies to stop sign intersections, passing slow trucks, snatching parking spots and line-jumping at the car wash. Example, if there is a slow truck, followed by three Dacias and then a BMW, the BMW driver will take the first opportunity to pass the entire parade in one swoop (or weave in and out of the line to avoid oncoming cars, wholly expecting the Dacias to slow and make space for him) and if one of the leading Dacias should attempt to pass the truck during this interval, there’ll be hell to pay. A warning to all Romanian drivers visiting America: If you exhibit this behavior while driving anywhere in the US, particularly Los Angeles or Texas, you will involved in gun-play within the hour of your arrival.
I’ve heard a bit of hearsay about police targeting expensive cars and, in particular, cars with non-Romanian license plates for bribe shakedowns. Whether or not this is true, I imagine this type of thing will become more and more rare as anti-corruption pressure bears down and more locals start driving Mercedes. As is more and more common, once an individual has sunk his life savings into the expensive car, there’s literally no money left to appease opportunist cops (or even to eat a reasonable meal), and the authorities have already figured this out. Whatever the case, as a foreigner, being on your best driving behavior is advised, even if it means being the goat to every other vehicle on the road.
By the way, if an oncoming car flashes its high-beams at you, there’s a cop up ahead and you should immediately move to the far right of the road and slow to an appropriate groveling crawl, so as not to give him any excuse to pull you over and torment you for arbitrary offences (“Your car is too dirty”).
– Winter Driving
Take the white-knuckle, lawless nature described above, quadruple it and that’s driving in Romania in the winter. While there is small fleet of plows with a passing dedication for clearing the roads, there is no countermeasure in place for dealing with ice. No sand or salt and certainly no adjustment on the part of Romanian drivers to account for the conditions. Accidents are frequent. And it’s not just the maniacs taking high speed, blind turns on black ice. Within four days of acquiring my car, I was involved in two minor, yet alarming super-slow, ice related accidents. Once drifting into a bank of ice and snow during a U-turn, shattering my front-right turn signal (repaired in six minutes for US$3) and once downhill and backwards, with foot and parking brakes applied, into a parked earthmover. Whether it be a dangerously steep street or a busy national road, ice is left to sit and cause havoc until it melts in the spring.
While Romania’s roads are normally a heart-quickening moonscape of potholes and ruptures, requiring total vigilance at all times, winter adds to the excitement with snow camouflaging these impediments. You don’t know they’re there until the car bottoms out in a hole the size of a cow, which you’re helpless to avoid anyway as a quick evasive swerve would send you spinning off into a corn field. It’s because of these conditions/accidents that I have suspended the bulk of my driving-related research until March.
I hope you have fun in our country. Come again :D :))
Allright, just finished reading this article that leif made, pretty accurately, in 2006.
There are some things I object to:
1… romanians are better drivers then what I’ve seen in Canada or Austria (2 countries that I know a bit better)
NOT driving accordingly to the rules doesn’t make you a bad driver, although you may be in a hurry (95%) or plain stupid (5%). Now the reason I consider 95% of romanians driving like that are in a hurry is because our infrastructure is just the basic 70′ roads … in the US of EU when you need to make a 300km trip you know you’ll be there in 3 hours… in romania this takes a bit over 4 and a half WITH speeding.
so this is the first and foremost important rule about driving in romania:
EXPECT ! everyone to be in a hurry and overtake you even if it seems physically impossible ! it’s a jungle, survival of the fittest… if you know you’re a lame slow driver, don’t bother !!! visit some other place, we don’t want you clogging up the roads over here !
now once you are settled with this rule and fully understand it you may also want to consider some other stuff:
2nd don’t get intimidated if a cop stops you, if he starts making shi|t up ask to go with him to the station, call someone who can properly translate for you… hell you could even try threatening the guy that you’ll call a news station to report his actions… DON’T let yourself get intimidated, it’s not about the law, it’s about who has the biggest bal|s, this thing still lingers even after 20 years of capitalism.
3rd rule … if you have to drive during the night you should be careful about youngs doing road races (yes, just like in the movies… I used to do it myself, 200km/h in the city was my record, I’m not joking). if you find yourself in the middle of such an event try to let them go even if they may be rude to you.
4 … winter means mayham in romania, most of the roads aren’t properly marked and if they are covered with snow or ice they are potencial deathtraps, especially if you hit a pothole, so beeing extra careful during winters would be advised
now what I have to say about the old Dacia 1310… well I had one too, after I got my license, I drove it for almost 2 years between 2005 and 2007 and I have to say that it shaped me into a pretty good driver, I managed to get unharmed out of a couple of pretty gruesome stuff (winter, speeding, others speeding) and all in all it taught me how to react to certain situations. now it’s 2009, almost 2010 and most of those cars have been taken off the streets, including mine :(
also I would like to add something about what some romanians commented here, those that pointed out in which ways west and cetral romania is better… that’s just a preconception some romanians have, they like to think they are more civilised and so on then people from Bucuresti or… god forbid Moldova, but it really isn’t true…if we look at it statistically, on the roads, more deaths occur in the western part of romania then the rest…in other words, don’t worry ! it’s pretty damn dangerous anywhere on the road, in romania :D
yes, almost forgot, when walking, in romania, you’d better be more alert then an airport air traffic controler !!! there is no telling when someone might zoom over you even on the sidewalk, and also NEVER !!! cross the street without checking, even if you have a green light ;)
so… all that beeing said, I wish you all the best when visiting romania !
INDEED,you are right,I am a romanian, but i have to say that dacia 1310 is quite cheap, but it have last for like 20years look forward on buying a better dacia, and use it like drinving in every hole you see,and you will observe it still works as new, for example DACIA LOGAN, alot of germans bought that model and works fine!
WOW!!!!! Peopele I am taking a trip through Romania this summer and I just bought a new Aston Martin DBS. I am wondering if it is really worth risking a 200,000.00$USD car there. I have seen that the best raod in the world for a super car is there in Romania and I want to drive that road and visit a few friends in Bucharest. I will still be coming but after reading this I may rent a lesser vauled car. I also understand that there are many super cars there now and they are growing as a fast and upcoming membership. Where do they open them up and take the cars to the limit?(SMILES) I guess the rest of EU driving I will find out myself.
I found this article extremely amusing, particularly as I’ve driven from the UK to Romania on five separate occasions (and lived to tell the tale!).
My top ten tips for driving in Romania are as follows:-
1) Ensure your vehicle is in peak physical shape. The tyres, suspension, cooling system and brakes all have a hard time. Check you have a spare tyre and the jack & brace is present.
2) If hiring a car in the winter, for the modest additional charge snow chains are worth having with you, just in case. We hired a Dacia Logan at Christmas 2007 and extensively used the chains when the whole country was covered in deep snow (even the capitals airport was closed for 24 hours).
3) Know the speed limits and observe them, even if everyone else doesn’t. In particular, be careful when driving through long sprawly villages where Police often lurk at the entrance or exit with radars. The lack of speed signs makes it hard to know when a national speed limit changes to 50 or 70 Kp/h.
4) If you can’t see the road ahead is clear don’t risk overtaking. Too many people take silly risks just to save a few minutes.
5) If you need to cross from the west to the east, or are overlanding to Bulgaria and beyond, the ring road (marked “CB” on maps) around Bucharest is well worth taking. Yes, it is very bumpy and has subsided due to heavy trucks, but you avoid the crazinesss of driving through the centre of Bucharest.
6) Fuel stations offer all types of fuel and even LPG is not hard to find. Most stations accept credit cards, howevr, it’s worth having some cash just in case. Diesel is chaeper in Romania than most of Europe, including Hungary. The price of Romanian diesel is about £0.90-£0.95 per litre, against approx. £0.97-£1.00 in Hungary. It is worth filling cans/tanks if you’re heading back to Western Europe.
7) The drink drive limit is ZERO and this is generally respected by most driving members of the public.
8) If you plan to explore off the beaten track I wholeheartedly recommend the DIMAP 1:250,000 Road Atlas. Dimap are Hungarian cartographers who produce accurate and clear mapping. You can buy from their website. In the UK, the same mapping is sold in a Road Atlas published by Berndt & Freytag (sourced from Stanfords in London).
9) When you drive in Romania you needd to be focussed at all times and drive in a defensive manner ie. maintain adequate stopping distances, indicate in good time, select the appropriate lane early, be patient and take special care at junctions
10) If you have time and a good map, the smaller roads are highly recommended. You’ll not only lose the transcontinental trucks in your rear view mirror, but will start to slow down and enjoy the fabulous rural scenery.
Yes, driving in Romania is challenging, however, it is also very rewarding and in the main, the people are warmhearted, friendly and generous, especially towards foreigners (Hungarians and Russians excepetd!).
If you can learn a little Romanian it will stand you in good stead, otherwise, marry a Romanian as I did!
Funnily enough, we’re driving to Romania in a ’94 Hymer motorhome next week.
Drum Bun!
I have just moved to Bucharest Romania after living in Qatar in the Gulf for 5 years.Statistically Qatar is the most dangerous country in the world to drive in,so driving here holds no fears for us,Parking however is another matter,Romanians seem to think that just stopping and leaving the car where ever happens to be nearest to where the want to go constitutes PARKING,as this is often in the middle of the road or a junction (at least in Bucharest)gridlock follows fairly quickly,U turns are also performed without the need to look in a mirror or indicate,the biggest problem here (as in Qatar) are drivers of big RVS or luxury saloons who think that to drive without a mobile phone to their ear means they will lose face.One thing has been confirmed in both countries is that drivers of Black Porsche Cayennes all have a lobotomy at the dealership before driving off.
Yikes. Planning a two-week “self drive” trip for summer 2011. It’s supposed to start with a car pickup in Bucharest. Now I’m beginning to have second thoughts. First part of trip has us drive us to Tulcea, then up to Bucovina, Maramures, Cluj, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Brasov, and back to Bucharest. Might want to “train it” for a part of this …. or am I being a chicken?
@John – the state of driving inside Romania has improved dramatically since this post was written. There’s still a fair amount of close quarters recklessness, but it’s manageable if you’re not the twitchy type. With your itinerary, it does seem as if you’d do best with a car. Getting too/from Tulcea is a little tricky on the train. Less so on the bus, but then you’re on a bus. Either way, schedules aren’t great. The one thing that’s gotten worse since I posted this is parking. Parking in Romania went from being a non-issue to being a serious liability. Nearly every city has posted parking meters and they’re enforced with diabolically glee. I’ve heard about people getting tickets in the short time it took them to walk to the machine, buy a parking permit and walk back to their cars. Last summer I was towed in eight minutes flat. En guard.
I live in Romania and unfortunately it is still the same. My wife and I are looking forward to getting our visas and getting to a country where people are worth being respected.
I’m a Canadian, married to a Romanian, living here now 3 years. This article is DEAD ON. Message to Romanian’s Learn how To Drive. Message to Romanian Government. Just so you know, you mucking forons, 1 cm of asphalt is rated at 500kg per square centimeter (that said, you need at least 5cm on a road where a 2 ton truck will drive not one cm, that won’t help). Asphalt is to be poured while hot onto, no less than, 5 centimeters of crushed stone. Pouring it directly on top of cobble stone will not work. Dont scratch your head and wonder how the road keeps getting broken… here is a basic physics lesson. Every action produces and equal and opposite reaction. The cobble stone below the tar is shaking when cars drive over it, which rips apart the 1 centimeter of asphalt you packed on top of it cold with a shovel.
next time you fix a hole please follow these simple instructions from every other country in the world with roads.
Before preparing the road as outlined below, section off a portion of road and set up traffic control to allow workers and work to be undisturbed by motorists.
#1. remove the fu&&ing cobble stone from below the area of the opening.
#2. dig below the cobble stone 5 cm and fill the entire area with crushed rock. no less than 5cm deep
#3. pound the rock in place with a leveler.
#4. Cover the crushed rock with a mixture of Tar and Asphalt while it is heated and in a liquid / maluable state. (Maluable means, you can squish it around easy)
#5. Make sure that you have calculated the rating of the road (30 Tons for all romanian roads regardless of their true rating) and divide that by a factor of 500 to the power of 1/8th to compensate for structural reinforcement that is how many centimeters of asphalt you HAVE TO use for the hole to be covered for more than 3 hours.
#6 DONT ALLOW ANYONE TO DRIVE ON THE FUCKEN THING FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR for every 10 degrees it is outside, example if it is 20 degrees outside, you should leave the asphalt to set for 2 hours.
Hope these tips were easy enough to read.
I gotta add to what u wrote above that..driving during night time..it’s ..crazy..and that the animals in the jungle have more rules then the ones romanians have when the night falls.And on winter season..around 5-6pm..it gets dark..so people around 6pm..go home from work or whatever..and goodnesss..the driving..it’s psychotic!
Smart writing dude!
Well nowadays it is no longer like that.
It’s not like in UK but it is much better.
There are other shits going on like corruption in the government but hey everyone has that shit. Maybe ours is worse or more mediated who knows.
I do know except the fact money is tight it is more decent, no more Dacia 1310 on the roads. You can still see one a year here and there in the country side but they are wasting away as parts are getting harder to find. They wore replaced by newer model that compared to today’s Mercedes is still a piece of crap but not big a piece.
You are safer in Romania then in USA but things will most likely cost the same. Wages are low and life is not very easy but don’t think people don’t enjoy life have fun and so.. they do. I have no clue how but they do. Everyone manages to have a party, go to a concert or just hang out with friends and some beer. Ney to bad. You’d like Romania more then a lot of other countries even a bunch of European countries much higher then Romania.
If you become a subway fan driving will not bother you to much. Most people are used to ground transport. I myself proffered to walk to the nearest subway station and just go as close to my destination and walk from there. Much faster then even by private car.
Cheers,
and don’t forget the are better countries that are much worse to visit.
I was perhaps a bit “over prepared” after reading this article but it probably was a life saver or at the very least, saved me from months and months of psychological counseling for PTSD.
This past March of 2012 (one of the coldest winters in decades), I had occasion to visit the heartland of Romania on business. Twenty minutes on the “National Highways” at night felt like an equal amount of time engaged in a knife fight inside a small clothes closet… if you didn’t have the right mind set.
Once you give up your last remnants of “Sanctity for Human Life”, you’ll be much more equipped for the experience. The last of your tree hugging humanity for animals will slowly slip away after you’ve pried your 100th dead rabbit, squirrel, pig, bear or wolf and an occasional gypsy out of the grill of your car.
Arriving in Sibiu around 7pm, I was the one who insisted on renting a car rather than being driven to Cugir by our Romanian host. Following him during the hour long drive at 80 to 100 kmh (around 50-65 mph) doesn’t sound so bad until you do it “Romanian style”.
The “National Highway” is their equivalent to our interstate in the US. In surprisingly good condition for that time of year (they have greatly improved many roads over the past few years), there were few pot holes and an abundance of road signs. The road signs, I’m told, are not like the rest of the EU. Romanians have the same rugged individualism about their roads as the do their currency (it’s illegal to buy/sell the Romanian ‘lei’ outside the county). The universal symbols for hazards and traffic flow don’t exist. You know the big red circle with a line through it designating “NO” or “DON’T”? As far as I could tell the general rule is that if the symbol is black it’s ok, if it’s red, it means “no”.
So if you see a sign that has a picture of a red car, a line and a black car, that means “no passing”. A black car, a line and a black car means you can pass. Mostly, if you stopped to think about it, you could pretty well figure them all out. Of course when you’re doing 65 mph, that picture of a “red bridge” might not sink in until you’re actually airborne.
The national highways typically pass through the center of every little village along your route. While a slower speed is advised through these little dog patch hamlets, you’ll find that the rest of the flow of traffic is more likely to just decrease their distance from your vehicle (which is typically kept to an efficient 6 to 8 inches) rather than reduce their speed. And to any road-savvy Romanian, there’s never a better time to pass than now… RIGHT NOW!!!
So there’s my first driving tip, EXPECT to have someone no less than a foot away from your rear bumper at all times so you need to learn what I call good “flinch control”. The fact that you can actually count the beard stubble of the guy behind you is something you need to “embrace” lest you develop a full blown stomach ulcer the first day of your trip.
And DO NOT even think about doing the American trick of tapping your brakes to let them know they’re following too close. A Romanian driver would never even conceive of someone doing that. If you do you’ll soon learn not to that… in the next life because you’ll be instantly vaporized the first time you try.
The next thing you need to learn is the proper way of making a turn. If you ever use the term “turn signal” to a Romanian you’ll probably just confuse them. And if YOU use a turn signal, total confusion and chaos will be the likely result. So usually just a quick glance in the direction of your turn is proper etiquette. You may even want to accelerate slightly before the turn as your passengers grabbing the “granny straps” appropriately signals the other drivers as to your intentions.
Never, ever, not even once did I see anyone so crude as to “flip the bird”. I did, however soon learn that a shaking of your fist is the only acceptable way to say “Howdy!” to your fellow drivers.
Now I wouldn’t really call it “rage driving” as we know it in the US but there is a unique phenomenon in Romania where the instant someone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, you become their mortal enemy. Shooting their dog, beating up their son or raping their daughter or wife just doesn’t rise to the same level as “sharing the road with a Romanian”. Should it ever escalate to the point of a roadside confrontation, it’s likely that by the time your fellow traveler actually storms over to your car he’ll probably graciously offer you fresh baked rolls, some garden vegetables or if you’re really lucky, a small sampling of the local beverage known as tuica (pronounced “tswee-ka”). This 130 proof treat also doubles as windshield wash, jet fuel and dry cleaning fluid.
Which is a good segue into the topic of drinking and driving. Don’t. Just don’t. While it was reputedly a problem of the past, the Romanians dealt with the problem efficiently by just making sure you will never, ever drive ever again, for the rest of your life if you are caught even once with anything measurable. Seriously. Don’t. If you have a single glass of wine… you’re not driving… it’s not worth the risk.
Despite being your mortal enemy, there’s one thing a Romanian hates even more than fellow drivers. The police. Romanians are loathe to see even their worst enemy get pulled over by the police and signal other drivers by flashing their lights frantically enough to induce epileptic seizures. It seems even the police don’t want you to get pulled over and I frequently saw signs saying, in English, “Speed enforcement area 2 km”. Amazing.
If you do get pulled over do NOT try and bribe your way out of it. While customary for the natives to do this, as a rookie you have no sense as to whether the cop will be the 50% that take the bribe or be the 50% that will be incredibly insulted and just pistol whip you by the side of the road. A better approach is to learn a word in Romanian… almost ANY word. Every Romanian I met, if you even TRIED to speak their language will invariably be flattered and work with you all day to learn Romanian better. It’s not a very common language and the Romanians take great pride in their language.
Like I mentioned earlier, road signs are incredibly prolific. You may have to do some noodling to figure out what they mean as they often times are very specific. Deer crossing is obvious but “Small, Brown Pig Crossing” not so much. Pictures of dogs, and pigs and bears are just the norm.
Another thing you’ll quickly notice on the National Highways, they often pass through the middle of town. Pedestrians pretend like traffic is moving at a crawl and tend to wander, seemingly aimlessly across the road without even glancing at traffic. They ARE a blessed people as you’ll also notice that you can’t go more than a couple of blocks without seeing a roadside “Jesus Station” which substitutes for having to watch for traffic.
Pedestrians are just one of the traffic obstacle you’ll have to contend with. A good parking spot for a Romanian driver is, well right here. They’ll just stop their car and that’s a parking spot. It may be on the road or on the sidewalk or on top of a pedestrian… it’s all the same. Parked cars are one those “little surprises” that make the country so enchanting. Combined with the fact that the National highway is going through the middle of town and the distance from the roadside curb to side of every building is only about 30 inches means that an accident is guaranteed to be at high speed and involve someone’s living room furniture.
Another warning about the laws of the land… driving 5 kmh over the speed limit can be a huge fine. Driving 105 kmh over the speed limit is EXACTLY THE SAME FINE! This explains a lot why they drive the way they do. Go big or go home. You’ll get a ticket sooner or later so you might as well go big they figure.
Romanians work at passing. An American may look at an endless line of cars. Miles and miles of traffic, cars sequenced just a few feet apart and you figure you might as well just follow the flow of traffic. To a Romanian, you’re just not trying hard enough. They will wheedle and work and and thread their way around an infinite number of cars just to get one more guy in their rear view mirror. An hour later, 30 km down the road you may be waiting at a light right next to them and they’ll be totally unconcerned and just start all over again.
Passing is the most incredible thing to watch. Besides all the work they put into it and the risks they take, they’re just not very good at it. I’ll see them come up behind a semi just 3 meters away and then zig-zag out from behind the truck when if they just backed off a few feet they’d be able to see around the vehicle. Nope. Just won’t do it.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Romania, drive like the Romanians drive and you’ll be fine. Mostly just keep in mind that it’s different. If you drive like they do, really… you’ll be fine. If you try things like you would in other parts of the world it’s unlikely to work out for you.
Good luck!
Haha. This is a great article! Exactly what happened to us in Romania a couple month ago. My boyfriend has (had!) a short fuze though..
Laugh, I nearly did on my trip through the wild side of europe!
To all fellow traveles, watch MAD MAX, then you will understand the drive through Romania.
lovely people, lovely country but levitation needs inventing for getting through the place.Leaves you all hot and sweaty with any your remaing nerves poking through your skin.
It would seem to me that HGV drivers from all of europe use Romania as a training ground for how not to drive, being sure to remove any device that limits the speed of your rig, or maybee they are also shi–ing themselves and want to get through in the least time.
Still, europe would be (and is) boring without our Romanian folk making the place a bit lively, like!!
The article is accurate. I have driven in many countries. Romanian drivers are by far the most dangerous.
haahahha, cool story , most of it is completely true, the first part about Dacia is not entirely true though,you just bought a pos. Now things have changed, gas prices are a few times over what you payed in 2006 (we don’t bomb any arab countries like u guys do) .
Been to Romania once in my life. Got into an accident within 45 minutes of arrival. In the taxi coming from the Airport.
Statistically unbeatable.