I’ve managed to unearth yet more news about Driving in Europe and the problems that us Brits face when we venture over there in our Motorhomes.

The Association of British Insurers has become concerned with the increasing number or road accidents taking place throughout mainland Europe, which it believes is due, in part, to the rise in popularity of touring abroad.  It has released a report with some surprising figures which highlight the potential dangers of driving abroad.  Here are a couple of examples:

• Britons driving in mainland Europe caused over 5000 accidents in 2006

• While cross-border drivers only account for 15% of Switzerland’s total daily traffic, they commit 50% of traffic offences

The insurers association believes that the root of the problem lies in a lack of awareness of the differences in road regulations between countries in Europe.

There is a free leaflet you can obtain from GEM Motoring Assist called “Introduction to Driving in Europe” and this gives information on the road regulations in 16 different countries.  You can get one by either logging on to the GEM Motoring Assist website or by calling 01342 825676.  A couple of snippets from this are:

• In Italy : police can impound your Motorhome if you cannot present the relevant ownership documents when asked for them

• In Finland : if you hit an Elk or Deer you must report the collision to the Police

• Also in Finland : the amount you pay for speeding fines is calculated according to your income

Source : Practical Motorhome April 2008

This is something that I’ve been talking about regularly on this site and because most of us will take our Motorhomes into Europe at some stage it is something that we all need to be very aware of. I’ve already posted some key information about driving in Europe but you can never get enough and as I’ve stressed a number of times it does change regularly so you need to keep yourselves updated on an annual basis.

When I come across more information or see any changes to existing regulations then I will of course publish these.

The other key thing I keep saying is of course to not be put off by any of these regulations, they are usually very sensible and at the end of the day none of us either want to break the law or have an accident.