An additional aspect, IMO, is that Europeans in general are much better educated when it comes to driving rules and driving in general. Rigorous theoretical and practical exams, expensive mandatory classes, and actual enforcement that, not rarely, will take away a driver’s license for serious/repeated offenses. This causes people to approach driving as a privilege, not some god given right.
Anecdote time - I actually have a couple of American neighbors, they’re a couple in their late 60s/early 70s, probably. It pains me to see their gorgeous BMW X5 gaining new dents almost single time they go out with it… :(
Eeeeeh. I mean sure, we do have stricter requirements, but not nearly as much as fantasized by Americans. My grandpa still has a license that he got where the whole test was saying “I solemnly swear that I can drive”. Here in Belgium the country is extremely car-dependent so license suspensions are actually vanishingly rare, requiring you to get caught red-handed more than 40 km/h above the speed limit (50 in practice due to radar correction), and even then the suspension is only temporary; I have never heard of anyone who lost theirs permanently. Most people here do consider driving to be a right. Until a few short years ago temporary license suspensions could even be scheduled only on weekends and holidays!
Another angle to see this problem: I see Dutch people driving in Belgium daily. And they’re absolute menaces. But they’re so chill when they drive in Holland! What gives? Well most roads around here have more in common with American roads than Dutch ones… Give a dutchie in a BMW a wide straight line and he will do 75 km/h in a school zone without a second thought before changing lanes without signalling, then barrel through a roundabout while ignoring right-of-way. They aren’t better drivers, they just have such good road infrastructure that forces them to drive one very specific way: slowly and carefully.
I agree with you, it is multifactorial.
An additional aspect, IMO, is that Europeans in general are much better educated when it comes to driving rules and driving in general. Rigorous theoretical and practical exams, expensive mandatory classes, and actual enforcement that, not rarely, will take away a driver’s license for serious/repeated offenses. This causes people to approach driving as a privilege, not some god given right.
Anecdote time - I actually have a couple of American neighbors, they’re a couple in their late 60s/early 70s, probably. It pains me to see their gorgeous BMW X5 gaining new dents almost single time they go out with it… :(
Eeeeeh. I mean sure, we do have stricter requirements, but not nearly as much as fantasized by Americans. My grandpa still has a license that he got where the whole test was saying “I solemnly swear that I can drive”. Here in Belgium the country is extremely car-dependent so license suspensions are actually vanishingly rare, requiring you to get caught red-handed more than 40 km/h above the speed limit (50 in practice due to radar correction), and even then the suspension is only temporary; I have never heard of anyone who lost theirs permanently. Most people here do consider driving to be a right. Until a few short years ago temporary license suspensions could even be scheduled only on weekends and holidays!
Another angle to see this problem: I see Dutch people driving in Belgium daily. And they’re absolute menaces. But they’re so chill when they drive in Holland! What gives? Well most roads around here have more in common with American roads than Dutch ones… Give a dutchie in a BMW a wide straight line and he will do 75 km/h in a school zone without a second thought before changing lanes without signalling, then barrel through a roundabout while ignoring right-of-way. They aren’t better drivers, they just have such good road infrastructure that forces them to drive one very specific way: slowly and carefully.