Continental (Europe) Motorways

Anyone tried it? Left Hand Drive car? Right hand drive car? How did you find it?

I've driven from home near Bath to Stuttgart today - though England, France, Belgium and Germany. And the Motorway speed limits:
70 in the UK
82 in France (in dry conditions)
77 in Belgium
82 is the suggested top speed in Germany but there's often no limit. CHECK YOUR MIRROR before pulling out to overtake!

Oh yeah ... and mind those a$$holes on the fast lane behind you, almost bumper-to-bumper at 100 m/h with fiercely flashing lights who want you to make way for them ... they've changed the legislation on that behavior several years ago in Germany - they can be charged for committing a crime 

Last time I was in Belgium, the guy I was working with was complaining that they'd changed the speeding laws.

Now, they've got points and fines like everywhere else.

The previous law, he said, meant that you could simply be banned from driving for up to two weeks. But, here's the kicker, you got to choose which weeks in the year you wanted to be banned.

Going to Spain for a couple of weeks in the summer? Seems like a perfect time.

And to think they changed it 

We've rented cars on the continent and it was fine.  No different to renting a car in the U.S. (with the exception of the speed limit!)

This summer we are driving to France.  We've got special mirrors because DH is going to be on the wrong side of the car for overtaking!  I've told him in no uncertain terms that there's no WAY I'm driving in France, because being on the wrong side of the car is too freaky for me!  I'll do the driving from Doncaster to Dover.  After that, I'm copilot/navigator!   

I've driven both left and right-hand drive on the Continent, as I have in Britain.    Being on the "wrong" side of the car really isn't as big a problem as many people believe, and I've driven LHD cars in the U.K. for years.     

The biggest problem I've found with France is trying to remember their crazy priority rules.    It's gotten better in recent years as more places have put up stop signs on side streets and designated through routes with the yellow/white priority sign, but you still find places where priorite a droite applies.  Driving along the main street and having to yield to a car emerging from a side alley just seems all wrong.
The French autoroutes are pretty good, and in most places not as crowded as British motorways.     They do seem to insist on pulling back to the righthand lane  the second they've passed another vehicle though, even if it's obvious that they'll need to move left again a couple of seconds later to pass something else.     Staying in the left lane to pass several things at once seems to annoy the locals for some reason.

[snip] ... They do seem to insist on pulling back to the righthand lane the second they've passed another vehicle though, even if it's obvious that they'll need to move left again a couple of seconds later to pass something else. Staying in the left lane to pass several things at once seems to annoy the locals for some reason.

I reckon, France is similar to Germany - the left (fast) lane is only used for overtaking not for blocking it!  My German driving teacher taught me to NEVER EVER overtake on any other lane but the left one. Can you picture me swearing and ranting on the English motorways when the right lane (equivalent to the continental left one) is jammed by cars while the other lanes are free ... well, on a good day, I wave at the drivers passing with a smile on my face <jerks!> 

Ive heard before there is no speed limit on the motorways of Germany. Any truth to that?
I drove from Vicenza to Rome and it was the scariest drive of my life and I learned to drive in Chicago!
The cars would zoom up on your tail and pass you so fast and close your car would shake! Scary!!

I wonder why everybody keeps saying that ... the speed limit in Germany is around 80 m/h (as mentioned by Graham in the OP), sometimes less. 'k there are some short spots w/o limit but they only last for a few miles. The different side of the story is that nobody gives a damn about it 

JUST back.  I've done Germany, Belgium, France and England today.

Funny thing is - in Germany the traffic seems to flow much better even if some of them are doing 110 (that's M not K) ... nasty weather today, below 0 all the way from Munich to the Belgian border, snow falling a lot of the time, filthy road.  Is the driving test harder in Germany?   The Belgians seemed all over the place (and it was the state of the loos at the rest point that I noticed in France).  And what is there to say about the M25?

I can't compare the driving tests from other countries! I had my training in '84, theory training is mandatory and the driving lessons had to be 30 hours minimum, it also included around 5 hours (I think) of night driving. The difference is that driving a car is permitted from the age of 18 but you can drive a light motorcycle from age 16 up to 80cc - after passing a driving test for that too. Interesting though, I was watching German news TV online the other day and they were talking about introducing a new small car class that can be driven from 16 years on (with a special driving license) - seems to cause a lot of controversy ... the majority of people interviewed didn't like it, one reason are the car models, they're constructed so cheaply that they don't stand a chance during a crash.

That sounds MUCH tougher and perhaps explains what did seem to be good driving.  Mind - the dangers did come home when we came upon them sorting out the mess after someone had misjudged it in the snow.

For all I know, driving training focuses a lot on the so-called "defensive" driving, you always have to assume what another driver "might" be doing next. I've been a passenger with british and american drivers and often got the feeling they responded totally unexpecting to certain traffic situations and completely unprepared? But then again, I hate making generalizations, there are definitely German drivers that shouldn't be allowed in a car (not me, of course!  ) 

Is the driving test harder in Germany?   

So we have been led to believe, although I've never even visited Germany, much less taken a driving test there so I can't report first-hand.

There was a story made the news here a few years ago about young Germans coming over to Britain to learn and take their test.  Apparently even with the cost of travel and accommodations it was cheaper than learning to drive in Germany where, apparently, the law requires a certain minimum number of lessons with a qualified instructor at rather exorbitant rates.

Once they had a U.K. license, under EU rules they could then just go back home and swap it for a German license.

So we have been led to believe ...

Ah ... and it does show ... thanks for that Paul!