When road signs are as clear as the one on the right!
STOP! is not a Spanish word.
What’s the first thing that comes out of our mouths when someone runs a stop sign? Can’t you read?
I have been amazed to have seen many elderly drivers cruise through stop signs as though they just aren’t there. Some of these people were driving top of the line cars, and I gave them credit for being more responsible. If for no other reason they were driving cars that you would normally take care of.
I had not been in the country for long before I saw my first broadside crash. All the people were badly shaken up, so it was no light matter. Eventually it would be my turn to narrowly escape being crashed into, but only because I could hear the car nearing the main road that I was on and it didn’t sound as though it was going to stop; so I did. We ended up with only centimetres to spare between us.
Next, I observed a van driving at about 40 to 50 kph broadside a family car driven by a mother taking her daughter to school. The mother thought she was on a main street with the right of way, but in effect she was driving along an area where the vehicle on her right, (the van ) had the right of way, simply because it was on her right. Two times I have been a witness to such collisions, and once almost a participant, and I can tell you that it is a traumatising experience.
I can’t say absolutely that the greater percentage of such accidents will involve the fault of a Spanish driver. Other non-English speaking drivers could just as well be to blame. If it is so, I think that might just be the luck of the draw. What I have been discovering is that many of the older Spanish drivers have never taken any kind of test, and they have no idea about these (new) international road signs. Consequently, there is a whole army of drivers who go about their daily lives driving vans, cars, trucks and tractors totally oblivious of what those red and white signs are demanding that they do. They should recognize red stoplights, but that is another story.
I can’t speak for you, of course, but that puts the fear of God in me. Especially when we couple that with men who are driving very large trucks without a license, and I have to question whether I really want to go out onto the road.
I have been driving in Spain for eleven years and I have been involved in two accidents where people ran into the back of me. Otherwise, I have lost count of the number of crashes I have avoided by exercising a very high level of due care. With this added knowledge I will have to be even more careful.
What about you?
What’s the first thing that comes out of our mouths when someone runs a stop sign? Can’t you read?
I have been amazed to have seen many elderly drivers cruise through stop signs as though they just aren’t there. Some of these people were driving top of the line cars, and I gave them credit for being more responsible. If for no other reason they were driving cars that you would normally take care of.
I had not been in the country for long before I saw my first broadside crash. All the people were badly shaken up, so it was no light matter. Eventually it would be my turn to narrowly escape being crashed into, but only because I could hear the car nearing the main road that I was on and it didn’t sound as though it was going to stop; so I did. We ended up with only centimetres to spare between us.
Next, I observed a van driving at about 40 to 50 kph broadside a family car driven by a mother taking her daughter to school. The mother thought she was on a main street with the right of way, but in effect she was driving along an area where the vehicle on her right, (the van ) had the right of way, simply because it was on her right. Two times I have been a witness to such collisions, and once almost a participant, and I can tell you that it is a traumatising experience.
I can’t say absolutely that the greater percentage of such accidents will involve the fault of a Spanish driver. Other non-English speaking drivers could just as well be to blame. If it is so, I think that might just be the luck of the draw. What I have been discovering is that many of the older Spanish drivers have never taken any kind of test, and they have no idea about these (new) international road signs. Consequently, there is a whole army of drivers who go about their daily lives driving vans, cars, trucks and tractors totally oblivious of what those red and white signs are demanding that they do. They should recognize red stoplights, but that is another story.
I can’t speak for you, of course, but that puts the fear of God in me. Especially when we couple that with men who are driving very large trucks without a license, and I have to question whether I really want to go out onto the road.
I have been driving in Spain for eleven years and I have been involved in two accidents where people ran into the back of me. Otherwise, I have lost count of the number of crashes I have avoided by exercising a very high level of due care. With this added knowledge I will have to be even more careful.
What about you?
Copyright (c) 2010 Eugene Carmichael
