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These vans are the most dangerous cars on long car trips to and from Romania. I've done quite a few of them and I don't think there was a single year when I wasn't either nearly pushed off the road by one who misjudged how much time it would take to overtake or where I've seen one of them upended in the ditch or in some other curious location (the one that I remember most clearly was one that had overtaken me about an hour previous that had somehow managed to cartwheel and land with the rear wheels over a pretty steep drop on top of the guardrail).
These guys should really drive at least with two drivers on those long trips if they are going to do it nearly non-stop, 3 hours of sleep really isn't enough to maintain your driving abilities, that's just playing the lottery.
The corruption (both the Hungarian and the Romanian variety) described in the article is very real, I've seen this many times up close and it is a source of much frustration with me. If not for that element Romania would have a much better chance to keep its talent and to move ahead.
Some of them have 2 drivers. They have to split the money.
And granted, this was one of the longer trips. The trip to Germany would be shorter so more doable for one person.
But yeah corruption is probably the biggest problem those countries face. It is entrenched top to bottom -- lowest traffic cop to highest government offices. And notice, how it is not that the driver necessarily has to be unsafe or break the rules, once the cop expects to be paid, he will go out of his way to make their lives extra miserable to teach them a lesson.
two drivers with what money to pay them?
Cheaper than a bunch of funerals.
100 hours of solo driving in 4 days should be simply classed as 'reckless' and should result in your license being taken away before you kill a bunch of people. Especially when also transporting passengers.
There might already exist laws against this in at least one country he's traversing, but I'm sure that's just part of the risk for him and doesn't affect anything else unless he's caught which is unlikely.
"100 hours of solo driving in 4 days"
uh... its more than 4 days, right?
Sorry, tired, it's been a long day, the exact quote was:
> 100 hours at the wheel in a bit more than five days. Is this crazy, suicidal or just business as usual?
It's murderous.
That is so far past what the current rules for truck drivers are in the US that its horrifying. I couldn't imagine people trying it without drugs.
I'm pretty sure they have rules for truck drivers in Germany (at least those 18 wheelers). I recall a documentary about that topic on a German TV channel. However, I think these rules don't apply to him because he is not an official driver (his business does not sound very official at least).
I strongly think that there should be very strict regulations on how much they may drive. He may not have been in an accident but the cars behind his might due to his irresponsible behavior.
The essence can be reduced to this quote:
"He sees it as a sport. He would like his daughter in Romania to grow up well, so that she can go to college later and live in a nice house. If he obeyed the German rules that wouldn't be possible. So he does what he must. And Germany does what it must. And Europe too. "
This article is too dramatic and generalizing too much. Of course fewer and fewer Romanians are like this, things have changed there. And it's one of the most beautiful countries in Europe.
Romanians I know are programmers, start startups or work at Microsoft or Google, are quite hip, go to music festivals, take acid and travel around the world.
It's all a matter of perspective (and selection bias :).
"Romanians I know...take acid... It's all a matter of perspective."
It's all a matter of selection bias.
A similarly biased selection of Romanians I've met in western Europe include an architect (UK) and a bank manager (Loire region of France). However, I actually spent a month cycling around Romania in 2010 and never saw any crazy vans. It was really pleasant, never had any problems, lots of educated people with perfect English, great food, wine and beer. Highlights were cycling up this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%... - Brasov and Rasnov, plus the old tumble-down mansions on the backstreets of Bucharest, once known as the Paris of the East. Great country!
Those vans typically drive on the Bucharest-Pitesti-Catiulata-Sibiu-Deva-Arad-Nadlac route, outside of that you won't be seeing them but on that road they're impossible to ignore.
That's also a road on which you simply should not cycle.
Now that the M1 is open on a large part of those stretches it has gotten a lot better, there are still three dangerous segments left (along the river, up the black mountain and near Lugoj).
Yeah, Romanians do all kinds of stuff like everyone else, but none of that changes the fact that you're lucky if you're making 200-300 euros a month in Romania and that's simply not enough to live off of.
Same situation in Georgia (outside of the tech industry), but at least you're in EU (unlike Georgia, yet...) ;)
As for corruption, the low-level part of it (e.g. cops taking bribes) is eliminated here, fortunately.
I completely agree. This is just one part / one face of Romania, and unfortunately this is how Romanians are known..
When I went to holiday last time to Spain, I figured out very quickly that I am treated much better when told to be from Hungary instead of Romania. There is a big disinclination toward Romanians in western Europe, probably because the mismatch with gypsies.
Its probably because the majority or Romanians that you will encounter are gipsies. And they have a bad reputation.
With regards to corruption in Romania, contrary to the implication of the article, there has been a big push to eliminate it. Some articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/opinion/romanias-anti-corr...
Romania anti-sleaze drive reaches elite:
Romanians are to EU what Latinos are to US: running and fighting for a chance to improve their lot in life, whichever way they know how.
Well, most first generation immigrants are really hard working since they have to settle and prove themselves.
Hopefully the next generation will be part of the established middle class so that they can reach higher than agriculture and construction work.
You know enough to make that generalization? Romania pop. 22m. came 13th in the 2015 Int. Math Olympiad while the UK pop. 60m. came 22nd. I mention this because there's a more interesting story among others which follows from that.
I'm pretty tired, as a romanian myself, of always pointing out how good we are at math and that NO, we're not gypsies. Something like, you know, gypsies are to Romanians what latinos are to US. Fk that! Like any nation on this earth, we have it all. From math semi-geniues, to a vast number of drunk-wife-beating-jerks.
OP was pointing out that Romanians are treated as brute work force, although there is a part of romanian imigrants that work in hospitals and IT and what not. It was not to say to Romanians are stupid or something, "like latinos".
The Romanians that try to make a spot for themselves abroad are quite frequently unfairly disadvantaged because of these perceptions, which annoys me greatly.
Romania has had at least 5% of its population emigrate in the last few decades (13% population decline since 1990). The median income in Romania is $400-$500 per month.
The parent's statement is neither offensive, nor out of line with reality. It also says absolutely nothing about the math skills of the Romanian people, rather it speaks to the inherent nature of all people to seek greater opportunity for themselves.
You seem to assume that the parent post was making some sort of negative comparison.
I read the GP post as complimentary out of admiration for their work ethic. But perhaps that's because all of the individual Romanians I work with happen to be skilled and hardworking people.
> that makes for 8,000 kilometers of driving, 100 hours at the wheel in a bit more than five days.
And the article calls him a hero?
Move clock 25 years back and you can replace Romanians with Poles.
Ten.
Flood of cheap grey labour from Poland started right after 1989. 10 years go Poles used ryanair or easyjet, not sweaty mini buses. Jobs also moved from legendary dishwasher to engineers and managers.
Ten years ago Poland joined the EU. The majority of people did not fly to the UK, they drove or took the bus. How many of these buses crash every year? The last major crash was around Easter in Germany.
Does anyone know if original german version is available online?
Others were back in Romania only briefly because they needed to take care of paperwork in Budapest.
Hilarious that the author thinks Budapest (this is the capital of Hungary) is in Romania :). Maybe he thought of Bucharest.
No, hilarious is your not bothering to read the article properly. Budapest and Bucharest are each mentioned exactly once and appropriately in context.
"A Hungarian police car stops the bus shortly before Budapest, and once again demands €200" and " Others were back in Romania only briefly because they needed to take care of paperwork in Bucharest."
The text was changed, I saw the 'Budapest' line as well.
Looks like this may have been changed, since the GP quotes the same line about Bucharest, but it says Budapest.
OK - fair enough! That's obviously what's happened. Not so hilarious after all.
It is indeed confusing. Looks like proof readers also missed it.
Bucharest and Budapest are often confused.
I know :) but I still find it amusing. In a similar vein, in most Hollywood movies Romanians are presents as thugs, but with Russian names.
I don't understand why would anyone pay 120€ for a small van with only one sleep-deprived driver when for 115€ they can get on a regular bus with 3 drivers that rotate and respect European regulations for the number of driving hours in a day: http://www.booking.atlassib.ro/csp/onlinecardpayu/infocursep...
Just for the opportunity to transport forbidden items and the convenience of being dropped exactly at their destination?
The last mile can be surprisingly expensive in countries like Germany or Spain.