
The Last European: Romanian Driver Navigates the Soul of the EU - lermontov
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/traveling-from-romania-to-portugal-in-an-illicit-van-a-1043797.html
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jacquesm
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.

~~~
shimshim
two drivers with what money to pay them?

~~~
jacquesm
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.

~~~
protomyth
"100 hours of solo driving in 4 days"

uh... its more than 4 days, right?

~~~
jacquesm
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.

~~~
protomyth
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.

~~~
Matt3o12_
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.

~~~
fennecfoxen
> I strongly think that there should be very strict regulations on how much
> they may drive.

And how will that be enforced ... how, exactly? Short of proactive electronic
monitoring in every single vehicle on the road in Europe as a prerequisite for
driving anywhere at all, that is.

The entire premise of this operation is that you throw caution to the wind and
save money because it's an extra ~$200 and you're making around $3/hr, _if_
you're lucky enough to be employed.

~~~
Matt3o12_
As far as I know big trucks have meters that monitor how long you have been
driving (at what speed).

While I have no idea what that costs, you should be responsible for what you
are doing on the road. And if commercial driver think it is a good idea to
drive 100h in just 5 days, such reckless behavior has to be stopped. If you
want to save money and sacrifice your on health, that's your decision but
endangering others is a no-go.

I'd also be reckless (and forbidden) to drive without working breaks even if
they have worked well enough for you so far. If you don't sleep enough, your
reflexes will be pretty bad and that is just as bad as not having functioning
breaks.

And how much would that cost him? Maybe 200€ per trip more. The cost would not
only be split among the passengers but also among his legally smuggled goods.
And I think he is making enough money if he gives each passenger tobacco that
he sells for a lot of money and even has someone's paycheck for half a year
with him.

~~~
fennecfoxen
> As far as I know big trucks have meters that monitor how long you have been
> driving (at what speed).

Most freight companies have an existence and operations _outside the grey
market_. They can be subjected to this sort of regulation. An independent guy
with a van? Enforcing that will be a whole lot harder. He won't install it. Or
he'll install it and disable it, or otherwise thwart its well-functioning. If
you set up checkpoints to verify that the device is installed and functioning
he'll detour around them, over rural highways.

And if the lawless independent guys with a van can undercut the lawful one,
they'll get the business.

------
codeshaman
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 :).

~~~
falsestprophet
"Romanians I know...take acid... It's all a matter of perspective."

 _It 's all a matter of selection bias._

~~~
contingencies
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%...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%99an)
\- Brasov and Rasnov, plus the old tumble-down mansions on the backstreets of
Bucharest, once known as the Paris of the East. Great country!

~~~
jacquesm
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).

------
pcrh
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...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/opinion/romanias-anti-corruption-
mania.html)

Romania anti-sleaze drive reaches elite:

[http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-eu-31537338](http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-
eu-31537338)

------
mnglkhn2
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.

~~~
vixen99
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.

~~~
cristianpascu
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. F __k 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".

~~~
jacquesm
The Romanians that try to make a spot for themselves abroad are quite
frequently unfairly disadvantaged because of these perceptions, which annoys
me greatly.

------
Oletros
> 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?

------
rasz_pl
Move clock 25 years back and you can replace Romanians with Poles.

~~~
jedrek
Ten.

~~~
rasz_pl
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.

~~~
jedrek
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.

------
dilap
Does anyone know if original german version is available online?

------
RoboSeldon
_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.

~~~
vixen99
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."

~~~
mkehrt
Looks like this may have been changed, since the GP quotes the same line about
Bucharest, but it says Budapest.

~~~
vixen99
OK - fair enough! That's obviously what's happened. Not so hilarious after
all.

------
stefantalpalaru
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...](http://www.booking.atlassib.ro/csp/onlinecardpayu/infocursepayu.csp?lang=1&taraplecare=6&plecare=422&taradestinatie=18&destinatie=650&affid=)

Just for the opportunity to transport forbidden items and the convenience of
being dropped exactly at their destination?

~~~
xyzzyz
The last mile can be surprisingly expensive in countries like Germany or
Spain.

