Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

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.

"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.

That's exactly how it happens. Overtaking in blind corners with fairly big vans (these things exceed 3 tons fully loaded and they're 6.6 meters long) and then ramming their vehicle back into the lane they're overtaking if they run out of room counting on the rest of the drivers to absorb their mistake.

And if that doesn't work then too bad for you...

The first time this happened it scared the crap out of me, now I'm more prepared and I will keep a very large truck in front of me on the most risky parts of the passage, they rarely try to overtake that combination, it's just too long.

Defensive driving gets a totally different meaning on those roads.

> 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.

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.

> 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.

Depending on countries driving above a certain number of passengers means you have to have a special license. That is why he is probably carrying only so many people. If he could get by he would probably stuff some people in the trunk too.

I saw this in another one of those countries, basically after the public transportation collapsed, individual drivers would use vans and basically suppliment existing routes. Before regulations those could be very unsafe, and superoptimized for maximum number of people (very few chairs -- more standing room, chairs squeezed togethers, and so on).

The number is 9 including the driver.

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.

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