Why I don't drive in Belgium

Most Americans that I know in Belgium drive everywhere.

I don’t.

Oh sure, when our car is available, I’ll drive to familiar locations in my own community, but I don’t go far. I use the public transit system to get around and most of the time, that’s OK. Of course, as yesterday’s post reveals, sometimes it’s a complete and total pain in the ass, especially if I have my kids along. They’re good sports, but the combination of unexpected delays, extensive walking, and hauling things in all kinds of weather is not for the faint of heart.

So why don’t I drive in Belgium? The short answer is I don’t want to, though there are practical considerations as well.

Most American expats in Brussels are associated with the U.S military or State Department, and exempt from Belgian car taxes. Unfortunately, we’re not. In the short time we’ve been here, the taxes we’ve paid have exceeded the Blue Book value of the car itself. Our 1999 Oldsmobile costs about $1,400 a year just to park in the driveway. My regular readers have read about $200 oil changes and the long waits and expense of auto repairs here. We’ve been unwilling to buy a second car just because we don’t want twice the headaches and expense of the first one. Since my husband takes the car to work each day, that doesn't leave me with anything to drive, assuming of course, I wanted to drive.

Why wouldn't I want to drive? Lots of reasons. Not only are there different traffic rules here regarding right-of-way, there are also different traffic customs and problems. A lot of driving defensively is not just knowing what the traffic rules are but anticipating how people will bend and break them. You have to know what they might do, not just what they should do. This makes it nerve-wracking for people like me who just drop into a new culture.

It’s rare to see a stop sign in Belgium. Why? Because cars entering a road from the right normally have priority (right of way) over cars already on the road. Stop and think about this. Imagine yourself driving down a street or road having to constantly watch out for cars pulling out in front of you from the right. They don’t slow down and yield to you, they pull straight out in the street from the right. It’s your job to watch and brake for them, not theirs to watch for you.

Visibility is a big issue—you can barely see some of the side streets when you’re driving let alone ascertain whether someone is barreling down them toward the road you're driving on. Priority-on-the-right freaks me out and makes for a very dynamic driving scene.

And then there’s the challenge of navigation. Belgium does not have an official language. The two primary languages are Flemish, a Dutch dialect, and French. As the debate in the U.S. heats up over having an “official” language, let me tell you what it’s like not having one. Here each “commune” (the Belgian phrase for community or town) has decides what its common language will be. In that commune, all the legal documents, bills, signs, schools, and public services will be in that language.  You can travel a a few miles or even just cross a street and be in an area with a different language. As a result, street signs, traffic signs, warning signs, and even city names will change as you drive along.

Many of the streets are very old and pre-date the automobile era. This is why they’re really narrow, they curve, and they’re not typically laid out on a grid. People parking on the two-way streets effectively reduce them to one way streets with cars traveling in opposite directions playing chicken with each other.

I won’t even go into the lack of street signs, the confusing highway signs, the weird way exits go umarked or disappear, or the placement and operation of traffic signals at intersections. Let's just say if you don't have a good sense of direction and an even better map, you're screwed. I have no sense of direction and trouble reading maps. Thank God E compensates for my deficiencies.

Obviously, these aren’t insurmountable challenges. Most Americans here won’t let anything separate them from the freedom driving a car brings them. But I have a different perspective--because I’m cautious and because I've been jinxed.

In the six months before I moved to Belgium, I was involved in three accidents where I was rear-ended by someone who was either following too closely or not paying attention at all.

The worst accident was the first. I was stopped to make a left-hand turn and was rear-ended by a tractor trailer going almost 40 mph. It sounded like an explosion, and my car was totaled. I wasn’t seriously injured but as you’d expect, I was seriously shaken up and had whiplash. It took nearly three months of treatments and physical therapy to fully recover from that accident and well over a year before all the medical bills and insurance issues were ironed out. It was an enormous hassle all around.

A little over four months after the first accident. I was rear-ended by a teenager switching lanes. That happened just a few days before Christmas. In January, the day after I got my car out of the shop,  a woman tapped my brand new  bumper in the school parking lot when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

Dealing with the American legal and medical system is enough for me, I don’t even want to think about the possibility of being involved in an accident here and getting sucked into endless bureaucracy in another language. I took an expat driving class here and learned that most Americans are in Belgium for four years and most are involved in at least one accident. That little factoid was it for me. That sealed my decison not to put a lot of miles on the car.

So now you know why I walk everywhere, ride the bus, or take the Metro—and why I occasionally have meltdowns over the weather, the changing bus schedules, the safety of the Metro, or the problem of carrying groceries or packages. Life without a car is an entirely different sort of life. I’m glad public transit is relatively cheap and widely available, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy or fun to use.

Comments

[Lisa]

I'm a non-driving, bus-riding, occasional taxi-taking gal too, but if given the chance I think I'd give the European driving thing a go. That pulling out on the right funked-up thing? We had that in South Shore, Kentucky. At least the farmers who drove there did. If there was one 20mph travelling tractor pulled out in front of me going 55mph, there were a hundred. And wait until you get *right* up on them to do it, too, with both lanes clear, and pull out into yours. Didn't matter right or left, just that you were in it. No rhyme or reason. Brakes slamming on, curses flying and prayers. Man. Takes me right back. Reading your post makes me think people considering driving in Europe should be sent to South Shore to train.

[Annie]

When we first moved to Japan, I was worried I'd never get used to driving onteh left. But I did and I was very comfortable driving there. The streets were tiny, the road signs were in Japanese kanji but only major roads have names, and sometimes the intersections are named. I drove 4.5 years in Japan without an accident. Most of my friends relied on me as designated driver over there. I had a friend living in Singapore at the same time and she, like you, was uninterested in the unfamiliar rules and expense of a car. If public transit is cheap and user friendly (relatively) I say more power to you. I wish California had trains like Japan. They were marvelous.

[Javacurls]

After reading your post, I'm not entirely thrilled about the idea of driving in Belgium! With my horrible sense of direction I'm a prime candidate for getting seriously lost in a foreign country. I'm screwed! LOL!!

My husband did buy a GPS and he has assured me that the system will help me tremendously. We'll see. :)

[Mrs. Harridan]

There is no way you would see me driving much if I lived in Belgium. It sounds nightmarish. Like you, I have a scatty sense of direction and am useless with maps. Throwing a lack of street signs (or street signs in Flemish) would drive me over the edge.

[V-Grrrl]

Lisa--Maybe Kentucky was settled by immigrants from Belgium?

Annie--I am beyond impressed you drove in Japan. You military wives are a tough lot!

Javacurls--Most Americans I know drive, drive, and drive some more. Many go EVERY week to the commissary at Chievres, which is at least an hour from here and located in the middle of nowhere. You'll do fine, especially with a GPS giving you directions in English!

[Mary]

Your decision sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

[Jenny]

Damn. I'm dangerous enough in my own country where I vaguely understand the rules of driving.

I'd totally be walking everywhere.

[Flubberwinkle]

First of all it came as a shocker that Belgians have similar driving habits as Greeks! I always thought Northern Eurpeans were a lot more disciplined and obedient to road regulations and rules.

Belgium (the size of Maryland) and Greece (the size of Illinois) have short urban distances. Public transportation is a lot less of a hackle than getting around in a car (parking spaces are too few in Greece and active vehicles way too many).

There's also another point that you didn't mention which has been my downfall ever since we got a second car in our family. Walking. Using the excuse to get more things done faster by using the car, I've cut down my daily walking quota. Combined with a job that requires sitting on one's arse all day and NOT cutting back on caloric intake... well, I don't need to paint a picture. It ain't pretty. Walking. I need to add it to my life. And quick.

You've done right V-grrrl by choosing a life of no driving. You have less stress and certainly better thighs than me!
:-)

p.s. Don't Belgians bike a lot? Does that sound like an alternative to getting around?

[Ash]

Well, I don't think the northern European driving style is at all like the Greeks! The traffic, although aggressive, is very ordered. I learnt to drive in Africa (on the left) and though the traffic was not nearly as aggressive, it was, at the same time, less predictable. I think aggressive and predictable are better than non-aggressive and unpredictable.

We have a car, and a total of five bicycles! If we need to go somewhere nearby, to school or where we would need to pay parking, or if the day is nice we use the bike.

If further away, parking is free, or it's raining we use the car. I never use public transport unless I go into Amsterdam. My husband uses public transport to get to work and back every day.

I have the same problem with the illegible street names and narrow roads so I use a GPS. I love it - it takes all the decision making out of your hands so you can just drive. I would feel uncomfortable without it.

[Elisabeth]

I suffer from a rather severe case of highway phobia and, believe me, it cramps my lifetime big time in the U.S. I know that I should deal with this issue, and probably will do it some day soon.

I am from northern France, and choose not to drive when I visit my family. You are right, there are too many unknown factors involved there. La priorité à droite sucks big time - my father was a very big fan of it, and nearly killed the entire family a zillion times because he was always so eager to assert his right to it.