I have always put the Belgians, Italians and people from Middlesbrough in the same scale. I blame the Rosary Beads, they seem to think there is someone looking after them, no matter what speed they drive at. 
^^^^ people from Middlesbrough have an excuse; itās all the fumes from Wilton that theyāve breathed in innit? No such excuse for those pesky Belgians/Italians.
Gidders:
I lived in Belgium almost 12 years and I always found their standards of driving appalling,including so called professionals many of whom couldnāt reverse onto a football pitch.I was told at the time that the introduction of a driving test was relatively recent.
If you see a Belgian registered car with 5 digits, as in the old red and white number plates, they got their licence through Grandfather Rights
I know a family who are in the Orthodox church, very like the Catholic church, and they didnāt make their kids wear seatbelts as they said God was looking after them, so you could have a point there!
The best thing they ever did in the Netherlands was to introduce a 100 kph speed limit on the motorways between 06:00 and 19:00. Itās calmed everybody down and makes overtaking in a truck easier as you donāt have the BMWās and Audiās bearing down on you at 120 kph anymore, creating more overtaking opportunities for us. I think its made driving a bit more peaceful (and safer?) for eveyone.
Hi Citycat - that is interesting. Makes a lot of sense. āCalmā is a great way to describe driving in NL. I noticed even some of the road signs have smiley faces on!
wanderingstar:
One thing I will say about driving in France is I have not once, ever seen a pothole here.
You need to head further down south matey, from Bordeaux on the roads get pretty dodgy in places, probably as much to do with the extreme heat warming up the tarmac as anything.
From my somewhat biased point of view Iād say drivers around Marseille are the worst Iāve encountered, completely undisciplined and always in a rush. . . glad I rarely have to go over there nowadays 
~ Craig
Hiya Craig, That is interesting - I didnāt realise the road condition in France is regionalised. I remember in America going over the state line from California to Nevada and the road went from cracked and potted to smooth and beautiful. My friendās explanation is that CA didnāt want to invest in people leaving the state to go to Las Vegas, but NV wanted to do what it could to entice people to make the drive. The weather explanation for going south in France makes sense. I think Brittany has some of the most gentle weather conditions on earth.
I have a friend who lived in Marseilles for years but moved to La Rochelle as she said the culture of Marseille was getting less generous. The example she cited was the little āfree libraryā boxes would regularly get raided.
Iāve been told driving in Italy is a step worse than in France. I did live in Italy for six months and did drive quite a lot there but honestly cannot remember what the driving was like and was not an experienced driver then anyway to have much to compare it to. I wonder if Marseilleās proximity to that part of the world has anything to do with it.
Useful insights - thanks. I guess I buckle up if I trip down south then!
wanderingstar:
Hiya Craig, That is interesting - I didnāt realise the road condition in France is regionalised. I remember in America going over the state line from California to Nevada and the road went from cracked and potted to smooth and beautiful. My friendās explanation is that CA didnāt want to invest in people leaving the state to go to Las Vegas, but NV wanted to do what it could to entice people to make the drive. The weather explanation for going south in France makes sense. I think Brittany has some of the most gentle weather conditions on earth.I have a friend who lived in Marseilles for years but moved to La Rochelle as she said the culture of Marseille was getting less generous. The example she cited was the little āfree libraryā boxes would regularly get raided.
Iāve been told driving in Italy is a step worse than in France. I did live in Italy for six months and did drive quite a lot there but honestly cannot remember what the driving was like and was not an experienced driver then anyway to have much to compare it to. I wonder if Marseilleās proximity to that part of the world has anything to do with it.
Useful insights - thanks. I guess I buckle up if I trip down south then!
When driving in France I was always told to avoid 33 plate vehicles, this is the Bordeaux area and allegedly everyone drove ā ā ā ā ā ā ā Another area was Marseilles where the school kids are weaned on Pastis. 
Regardless of the country one common factor is that the idiots mostly mostly drive a BMW or Audi 
Mazzer2:
Regardless of the country one common factor is that the idiots mostly mostly drive a BMW or Audi
+1
wanderingstar:
Hiya Craig, That is interesting - I didnāt realise the road condition in France is regionalised. I remember in America going over the state line from California to Nevada and the road went from cracked and potted to smooth and beautiful. My friendās explanation is that CA didnāt want to invest in people leaving the state to go to Las Vegas, but NV wanted to do what it could to entice people to make the drive. The weather explanation for going south in France makes sense. I think Brittany has some of the most gentle weather conditions on earth.I have a friend who lived in Marseilles for years but moved to La Rochelle as she said the culture of Marseille was getting less generous. The example she cited was the little āfree libraryā boxes would regularly get raided.
Iāve been told driving in Italy is a step worse than in France. I did live in Italy for six months and did drive quite a lot there but honestly cannot remember what the driving was like and was not an experienced driver then anyway to have much to compare it to. I wonder if Marseilleās proximity to that part of the world has anything to do with it.
Useful insights - thanks. I guess I buckle up if I trip down south then!
As much as I love going to France, Marseille is that bit of the country that I like to avoid as it were the plague. I used to tip a lot of plant machinery going for export at the docks there, I canāt imagine a bigger ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā than that on the planet! You get out of your cab at one side, the thieving ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā get in on the other side! Always paid some local ex legionair to keep an eye out, whilst I was sorting out the paperwork.
Been to Toulon for the first time the other day, and although itās in that same part of France, itās a totally different experience. Odd, as Marseille is only 'round the cornerā¦?
I agree with PV , Marseille is full of men with scars on their faces and an eye missing from jail house fighting, they look very suspicious, watching where you are going and what you are doing .
I would never park there overnight, either camp out a couple of hours away then run in early in the morning or drive a night shift to tip in the morning and get out of Dodge .
It seems to be an oasis for criminals on the run and itās not far away from North Africa and itās links to ISIS and other terror hooligans and petty gangsters .
But oddly enough, I felt very safe in Casablanca.
Done a lot of work around Marseille over the years, used to reload billets or coils from a steelworks there regularly, never had a problem but never parked up overnight.
Only problem was Naples, you think Marseille is dodgy then stay well clear of Naples, always used to ring the customer and they would ā ā ā ā ā ā us in to tip and ā ā ā ā ā ā us back out.
ā ā ā ā ā ā in and out - thatās serious!
wanderingstar:
ā ā ā ā ā ā in and out - thatās serious!
It was said you were always safe South of Napoli. Since locals had bought the stuff, they wouldnāt nick off their own.
.
I think that was just us whistling in the dark to keep cheerful though.
Grumpy_old_trucker:
Done a lot of work around Marseille over the years, used to reload billets or coils from a steelworks there regularly, never had a problem but never parked up overnight.
Only problem was Naples, you think Marseille is dodgy then stay well clear of Naples, always used to ring the customer and they would ā ā ā ā ā ā us in to tip and ā ā ā ā ā ā us back out.
Sounds about right. I remember loading in Pompeii late one afternoon and asked if there was anywhere near i could park for the night and they let me stay in the little ind estate which was like fort knox.
Felt safe (ish) but didnt get much sleep due to the guard dogs barking most of the night.
Tarmaceater:
I agree with PV , Marseille is full of men with scars on their faces and an eye missing from jail house fighting, they look very suspicious, watching where you are going and what you are doing .
I would never park there overnight, either camp out a couple of hours away then run in early in the morning or drive a night shift to tip in the morning and get out of Dodge .
It seems to be an oasis for criminals on the run and itās not far away from North Africa and itās links to ISIS and other terror hooligans and petty gangsters .
But oddly enough, I felt very safe in Casablanca.
Grumpy_old_trucker:
Done a lot of work around Marseille over the years, used to reload billets or coils from a steelworks there regularly, never had a problem but never parked up overnight.
Only problem was Naples, you think Marseille is dodgy then stay well clear of Naples, always used to ring the customer and they would ā ā ā ā ā ā us in to tip and ā ā ā ā ā ā us back out.
Always stopped for the night or went back to either that Routiers at St. Martin de Crau (is that still opened?) or the one near Senas. Only once did I had to stay for the night at the docks, got in with a pilot (wide load) but there was something wrong with the offloading reference, and they didnāt allow you to stay inside the gates for the night. Pilot was already gone and so only option I had was stay there just outside the gate, nothing happened, but I never left the wagon too that night! Was glad to leave again the following morning though!
Never went any further south than Rome, but Iāve heard the rumours about Naplesā¦ true story or not, but earlier this year I was week ended in Melzo and one of the older hands that was having his 24h off there told me that he once had to tip fish in the Naples region, this being in the pre-satnav days, just before entering the village he stopped to have a look on his map when a van with company logos on the sides stopped in front of him and told him to follow him. He did and ended up at some warehouse, opened the doors, backed up to the ramp and the lads offloaded the fish. 20 minutes later, all was done, paperwork signed and he was off again. 30 minutes later his gaffer phoned him up asking when he would arrive at the tipping address, thatās when the brown stuff hit the fanā¦
That is an amazing story pv83. I guess that is the difference between crime and organised crimeā¦
Great info here. Thanks for sharing.