NEWS: The latest figures show Europe’s roads continue to get safer though there are still some blackspots. Mercedes ponders free beach camping in Portugal. Dutch truckers look set for their next stage of go-slow motorway strike action. Be sure to stop at zebra crossings in Finland on Wednesday, and the highly controversial fuel price rise goes ahead in Romania tonight.

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EUROPE’S SAFEST (AND SCARIEST) ROADS

New figures show big gains overall but some serious accident black spots.

French road safety advert: ‘Celui qui conduit c’est celui qui ne boit pas’ – the one who drives is the one who does not drink.

Over 26,000 people died on Europe’s roads in 2013 according to new figures out today.

That horrifying death toll is however down 8% on 2012.

After a blip in 2011 when deaths fell only 2%, EU countries overall are now back on track to hit the target of halving road deaths by 2020.

Overall, the numbers are down 17% since 2010.

The average road fatality rate (road deaths per million inhabitants) is 52 across the EU.

Sweden comes in first place with rate of 28, narrowly beating the UK on 29 and Denmark at 32. The Netherlands, historically part of the top group, will publish its figures next month.

Another country with notably safe roads is Spain on 37.

Of the major western European countries, France is at 50, Germany 41 and Italy 58.

Much further down is Belgium on 65. In the thick of former eastern bloc countries is Luxembourg at 87.

That’s worse than Latvia (86), Lithuania (85) and on a par with Poland (87) which has the – now undeserved – reputation for having the un-safest roads in Europe.

The highest death toll is in Romania at 92 road deaths per million inhabitants, the only country over 90. Neighbouring Bulgaria, with newer roads, is at 82.

The biggest fall in 2013 compared to the year before came in Slovakia, down 24%. Also notable were Austria (-15%, 54/mil) and Lithuania (-15%).

As we have previously reported, the biggest rises – apart from a one-off in Malta – were in Ireland (+19%, 42/mil) and Luxembourg (+32%, 87/mil).

This is the second year running road deaths have increased in Luxembourg. However, the European Commission says, ‘The total numbers are so small that the big fluctuations from one year to the other are not statistically significant.’

See the complete list of safety stats for all EU countries here.

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Cascais: ‘Portugal is one of the few places in Europe where you can still stay on the beach overnight,’ photographer Alessandro Puccinelli tells Mercedes for its latest special ‘Ocean Calling: 48 Hours in Lisbon’.

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roundup: NETHERLANDS. It seems disgruntled truckers start the next stage of their strike action next Monday. Details are not confirmed yet – and will have to be submitted to police – but initial plans are to assemble at many places around the country and converge on a central location. Read the background here. FINLAND. Failing to stop at a zebra crossing this week could cost drivers their licences, particularly on Wednesday – apparently that’s when most accidents occur. Police are on a particular lookout after 1,000 incidents last year. ROMANIA. Fuel prices rise by 7c/l at midnight tonight though hauliers will have 4c rebated after a protest last month. 300,000 regular citizens signed a petition against. The president made a last ditch attempt to have the move cancelled today. The prime minister says the extra revenue will be spent on road building. Unleaded costs €1.297/l today, and €1.313 for diesel.

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The ferries are booked: we’re of to Iberia – Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal – in a couple of weeks. Plus, a poignant photo from Ukraine (and news about the fate of Yanukovych’s SUV collection). Diesel looks set to be ‘eradicated’ from Paris, while speeding and parking fines are apparently on hold in Geneva.

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TRIP PLANNING: IBERIA

A week around Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal coming right up.

Having spent the last few years exploring the Balkans it’s time to turn our attention back to Western Europe.

The idea was to try out these new cheap ferries to Spain.

However, it’s all being done at the last minute – we’ve been waiting for our new car to arrive – so the Brittany Ferries economie sailings are all full.

Instead we’re doing a compare and contrast. Out by the full fat cruise ferry, Brittany Ferries’ Portsmouth-Santander, back by the bare bones LDLines Gijon-Poole.

It ain’t cheap either. Including cabins, inside outbound, outside inbound – that’s what they had left – the combined fare is £675.

That does probably save a night’s accommodation each way, and 1,500 miles of fuel, so it’s not an outrageous price compared to driving the whole way but does feel a bit hefty all in one go (you can book Brittany Ferries trips with a small deposit and pay the rest later).

We wouldn’t normally recommend letting the ferry take the strain but the idea of having enforced rest at either end is very attractive – the sailings are about 24 hours – so we don’t have to hold back during the trip itself.

That said, this won’t be a mega mile marathon. The Iberian Peninsula is only about 500 miles deep by 600ish wide. Guestimated total mileage is about 2,000 miles. In a week that’s nothing.

As ever we’re planning a mix of roads, mountains, motorways, coastal, city and even a bit of desert driving if we can find it.

The fixed points are Madrid, Gibraltar and Lisbon.

Madrid is having a bit of a tourist depression so we’re hoping to score a bargain fancy hotel room. We also want to see for ourselves the situation at the Spain-Gibraltar frontier and check out The Rock. If I said we were going to Lisbon to check out its Low Emission Zone you wouldn’t come back, so how about we’re giving The City of Seven Hills a chance to cast its graceful spell, or something? Also quite interested in the role it played as a neutral centre of espionage in WW2.

We’re also strangely drawn to Santiago de Compostela, or at least somewhere nearby on the craggy, wild Atlantic coast in north west Spain. That’s if we don’t get side tracked on the Ronda Road and Veleta, Europe’s highest paved road, near Granada. Let’s see how it works out.

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Ukraine: pro-Russia supporters push their ZAZ Zaporozhets through the streets of Donetsk. There was a plan last week to hold a referendum in the south east industrial city, about 50 miles from the Russian border, about joining the UK. Donetsk was founded in 1869 by John Hughes, a Welsh businessman. Photo by Андрей Шокотко, Andrew Shokotko.

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roundup: FRANCE. The future of the diesel engine in Paris looks very bleak. Anne Hidalgo – who promised to ‘eradicate diesel’ – won the Paris mayor contest for the Socialist Party this evening, apparently after making a deal with the Green Party.. GENEVA. Police have stopped handing out fines for small scale offences like speeding and parking in a strike over pay. A similar strike in 2012 lasted two weeks. UKRAINE. Former-President Yanukovych’s fleet of blacked out SUVs has gone to a good home, sort of: Right Sector, the extreme right wing part of the Maidan freedom movement, is currently driving around in them ‘until the government auctions them off’.

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Brittany Ferries’ brand new ‘economie’ UK-Spain ferry service gets off to a disappointing start this morning. The cost of international car launches is eye-watering, and eye-opening. Our new Range Rover Evoque gets its first taste of the countryside.

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False start: the first sailing of Brittany Ferries’ brand new, low cost, ‘economie’ service between the UK and Spain was cancelled this morning after a technical mishap. According to a twitter exchange between the company and a member of the BF Enthusiasts club, there was a ‘cable problem with the stern door. One was fixed then another one also failed.’ Brittany Ferries told another passenger they were waiting for a spare part which should arrive soon. Passengers have been offered alternative sailings tomorrow (Sunday). Fares on the no frills ferry start at £169 one way for two+car, not including cabin, between Portsmouth and Santander. The 26 hour crossing leaves Portsmouth Saturday morning and returns Sunday afternoon.

Bribery and corruption: eye opening insight from Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe after the launch of McLaren’s 650S in southern Spain. In a blog post speculating about the cost of international car launches, the hugely respected road tester implies three times that one of the outgoings is ‘the palming of notes to the local constabulary’. Car launches are indeed expensive. It was revealed recently that Mercedes-Benz will spend €8m on hotels alone this winter in the nearby Algarve. Meanwhile, the Spanish government is closing on a deal to rescue its ailing toll road operators. A state highway corporation will bring together nine ailing road companies and forgive half their combined €4.4bn debt in exchange for a 30 year bond. The banks have until Monday to agree.

What a cock: it has yet to venture genuinely off-road, but cynics will be heartened to hear our new Range Rover Evoque, delivered Thursday, has already come into direct contact with the countryside. Despite the wealth of driver aids, including country lane cameras which peer out from the front bumpers to give a keener view of approaching traffic at tight junctions, there doesn’t seem to be anything specific to clear pheasants out of the way. The WADAR flood sensor might mean @DriveEuropeDog now gets to keep his paws dry but hearteningly he hasn’t been made completely redundant, yet. More later, in fact for the next three years at least.

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The European Commission signals a significant change in its approach to roads. Distinctive new police cars take to the streets of Crimea. 15 year olds could be allowed to drive in France, a new road to link Skopje and Pristina, Brussels starts to revamp its parking rules, and Ed Miliband comes out swinging for Gibraltar.

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EU DROPS PAY-AS-YOU-GO ROAD TOLLS?

Did the German ‘foreigner vignette’ put paid to road charging?

EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas at the Brussels 2012 Road Charging Conference. Photo @DriveEurope.

This time last year the EU was preparing for pay-as-you-go road tolls across Europe.

Following a continent wide consultation, and a conference in Brussels at the end of 2012, the fine details were due to be published in June 2013. That date came and went, as did the next deadline of October/November.

The Commission envisaged a state-of-the-art electronic system, likely governed by GPS. Charges would vary by time of day and vehicle emissions, among other things, to price congestion off the roads and tackle pollution and even noise. It would also take a cut of the revenues to address ‘decades of chronic underinvestment’ in the road network.

A simple, silver bullet style solution to tackle all the ills of modern motoring. If only politics was so straightforward. Last week the Commission signalled a rethink.

Speaking to the Transport Business Summit in Brussels yesterday (Thursday), Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said, ‘The widespread view has been that EU transport policy should limit the use of roads as much as possible, in favour of other forms of transport.

Perhaps this view has been too narrow.’

Kallas still sees a role for road charging but it is now cast as a simple access charge to use infrastructure, such as airlines and railways pay, for instance.

So what could have changed the Commission’s mind?

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that the Germans are absolutely dead set against pay-as-you-go charges for private citizens. Along with high inflation, any form of state surveillance is a red line in German politics. Both are hangovers from the Nazi era.

During the recent hunt for the autobahn shooter, police were denied access to data from the electronic truck toll system over privacy concerns. Instead they had to build their own highly regulated, entirely separate network of cameras, at vast expense, as they narrowed down the search. It’s partly why it took them eight years catch him.

They are not against road charging per se though, far from it. The ADAC motoring club told the 2012 conference that over eighty percent of its members were in favour. The German MEP who spoke continued to extoll the virtues of the vignette – an annual charge allowing drivers to use the roads – as if Commission members had not spent all day describing vignettes as mere ‘blunt instruments’.

Vignettes might create funds to tackle road maintenance, a particular issue in Germany, but they cannot influence traffic flows.

Within a few months the roads vignette became a hot topic in the German general election campaign. Despite few taking it seriously it is now official government policy – payable by foreign drivers only, at least for the moment – with legislation expected before the summer break.

Last year, the Commission would not answer our questions last year about how the German vignette affected its plan for integrated pan-European road tolls. Kallas did not make any specific reference to the German vignette in his speech although he had earlier said,

‘Over the years, Europe has seen many good ideas and plans for improving its transport systems. But we often encounter huge opposition to some of these ideas, so they often end up either delayed or diluted… Time and again, strong Member State and industry interests together adopt a purely national, short-term perspective.’

The German ‘foreigner vignette’ is annoying but the silver lining looks like the end of pan-European road tolls. They would have made driving from one end of the continent to the other ruinously expensive. It does however raise the prospect of a EuroVignette for cars, similar to the charge trucks currently pay to drive in a bloc of European countries.

One thing is for sure. One way or another, individually or collectively, many/most European goverments have to deal with the state of their ageing roads. They either accept them as a core responsibility and pay for building, maintenance and improvement out of taxpayer funds, or get on with ‘user-pays’ funding arrangements – tolls, vignettes, whatever.

Another outstanding question is Belgium. After having their idea for a vignette publicly rubbished by the Transport Commissioner in summer 2012 they quickly dropped the idea and instead started to look at GPS pay-as-you-go tolls. The system is currently undergoing a large scale trial.

It will be interesting to see how the Commission’s latest thinking affects the new Belgian government’s final deliberations after its general election in May.

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Simferopol: introducing the new-style police car for Crimea.

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roundup: FRANCE allow 15 year olds behind the wheel with an accompanying adult in a bid to get young people used to the roads earlier, and dissuade them from riding mopeds. KOSOVO. Building on a new highway between capital Pristina and Skopje, capital of neighbouring FYRO Macedonia starts next week. The €600m, 90km road will take 42 months to build. BELGIUM. New parking arrangements start in Elsene (Ixelles), south Brussels, on 1 April. The Brussels Capital region is gradually harmonising rates and zones – orange, max 4.5hr, blue, free with a time disc, red, charged 09:00-20:30 up to €5 for two hours. The half day charge is now €25 (multi-stories are cheaper). The idea is short stay is cheap, long stay ruinously expensive. Other Brussels regions should follow suit by September (see more here, Dutch only). GIBRALTAR. Labour leader Ed Miliband says the border queues are a ‘deep concern’, ‘unacceptable’ and that resolving the issue should be a priority for Britain according to GBC News.

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As France threatens an ever more draconian crackdown on speeding why risk it when derestricted Germany is so close by? Italy flogs off its fleet of official limos. Belgium comes up with a sure fire way to keep Bad Dads on track. Plans for a swish new rest stop in Denmark, Audi’s A3 e-tron will be genuinely zero emission, PSA signs up with IBM, Greece rolls out free wifi, and it was a good day at the Gibraltar-Spain frontier.

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THE CLOSEST BIT OF AUTOBAHN TO BRITAIN

Don’t risk your licence in France when you can go as fast as you like in Germany.

The German border near Aachen, from the A4 to Cologne, the closest autobahn to Britain.

Don’t speed in France this summer. They might be having trouble with their speed cameras at the moment but, make no mistake, come the holidays the police will be out in force.

Get caught at more than 40kmh – 25mph – above the limit and your licence is at risk. Just ask Jeremy Clarkson.

But why put pedal to the metal on French roads when just across the German border you can go as fast as your car, skills, nerve and the conditions allow?

Around 200 miles from Calais – half a day’s drive via Brussels – is the A4 at Aachen. It’s not just the closest bit of autobahn to Britain, it’s the closest bit of derestricted autobahn too.

The only problem is that, like most German motorways, the A4 is dual carriageway. Not great for high speed runs, especially for novices. There’s the odd three lane section (and a lot of road works at the moment too) but the road doesn’t open out properly until the Michael Schumacher Kart Centre at Kerpen.

It’s only about another five miles before you hit the city limits of Cologne. So where next?

The A4 doesn’t open out until you’re within sight of Cologne. Photo @DriveEurope.

The authority here is Clemens Gleich. His ePamphlet ‘The Traveller’s Guide to the German Autobahn’ is essential reading, not just because it only costs 79p, and he details some of the mechanical issues you need to be aware of, but because he pinpoints the best locations.

What you need is a wide, quiet, long, ideally straight stretch in the middle of nowhere. Gleich’s pick nearest Cologne is the A7 through the Kasseler Berge (Kassel Mountains) between Bad Bruckenau and the A38 junction – Autobahndreieck Drammetal – south of Gottingen.

‘Bring an amount of horsepower you would consider ‘too much’ at home, otherwise you might leave the A7 a very frustrated man,’ he says. ‘If you don’t manage to max your car on these roads you need a slower one. Or bigger balls.’

For the other good stretches see the book. In general, Gleich recommends eastern Germany (a good one is the A9 at Dessau where the last land speed record attempts were made before the war). There’s also the A71 just to the east of the A7, the BMW test loop near Munich, the A27 between Bremen and the coast and the A7 from Kiel to the Danish border.

Our personal recommendation would be the A2 between Hanover and Berlin. Wide, flat, straight and typically quiet, 125mph is an easy cruise.

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Roundup: BELGIUM. Pay alimony or lose your driving licence says the government. DENMARK. A new secure rest area off the E20 between Koge and Ringsted, on Zealand south of Copenhagen – replacing three existing areas but with more truck capacity and space for 64 cars – gets EU cash. It’s also not far off E47 to the Rodby-Puttgaden ferry. Should open December. CARS. Audi offers carbon-free electric charging in Germany for A3 e-tron drivers (and their homes). PSA Peugeot-Citroen signs a deal with IBM for in-car connectivity services while Greece rolls out free nationwide wifi from November. GIBRALTAR QUEUE WATCH. A good day. The maximum delay was just 50mins.

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Auto Blu: the Italian government is selling off its fleet of ‘Blue Cars’. The chauffeur driven official limos irritate other motorists as they are waved through traffic jams and have become emblematic of a self-serving elite. The first batch of 25 are on ebay.it now, a varied bunch including a couple of Jags, Mercedes, Lancias and, of course, Maseratis, all painted that fetching shade of dark, dark blue. 151 will be sold by mid-April. Search ‘Le Auto Blu del Governo’.

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Politicians and papers proclaim the effectiveness of France’s speed cameras despite a surely lamentable strike rate. Audi launches its 2014 sports car racer with a gentle drive through Le Mans. Eurotunnel carries a landmark truck, new road signs in Hamburg to improve safety and tackle congestion plus record Gibraltar queue misery.

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FRANCE RADAR CARS. RUTHLESSLY EFFICIENT?!

A sixty percent strike rate claimed as a success.

An employee of road safety agency Securite Routiere demonstrates how radar devices are hidden behind the number plates of unmarked police cars. Screen grab from lefigaro.fr

Even after being caught, drivers in France have a forty percent chance of getting away with speeding offences.

Figures released today say that out of the 300,000 drivers flashed by the unmarked mobile camera cars, introduced last March, only 180,000 – 60% – were prosecuted.

(For some reason however, the French press today praised the cameras’ ‘redoutable efficacité’ (ruthless efficiency). And claimed a strike rate of 66%, adding it was a better conversion rate than traditional fixed cameras. Go figure.)

Around 70,000 of those caught were in Paris or the Ile de France capital region with nearly 20,000 in Moselle, north east France, and another 15,000 in Bouches du Rhone in the south east.

The 120,000 caught but not prosecuted reportedly had ‘barely legible’ registration plates.

The French police currently have a fleet of over 100 unmarked Renault Meganes and Peugeot 208s equipped with radar cameras. With a new batch of Citroen Berlingos coming on stream in June they hope to have 200 in total by the end of this year and another 100 in 2015.

The cars have cameras hidden in behind the front and rear number plates to scan drivers in opposite lanes on main roads, as well as on motorways.

British, Irish and Danish speeders should not fear penalty notices falling through their letterboxes after returning home. As previously, they have to be caught in the act to be prosecuted.

It’s been a bad week for French speed cameras. On Monday it was revealed ‘dozens’ of penalty notices had been sent to the Belgian king because the cameras could not distinguish between the royal number plate – 1 – and those on regular cars, which mostly now start with a 1.

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Nine time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen gave the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro its first public outing yesterday. The diesel hybrid drove 10km from the Saint-Julien du Mans cathedral in the city center to the famous race track. R18 will be driven in anger for the first time on 28-29 March at test at Paul Ricard, South of France, ahead of its race debut at Silverstone on 20 April, round one of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Le Mans itself takes place 14-15 June.

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EUROTUNNEL. The 20 millionth truck to use the ‘world’s leading rolling motorway’ since it opened on 25 July 1994 crossed from France yesterday. The truck belongs to Emons Cargo, a non-stackable freight specialist from Milsbeek, east Netherlands, which has distinctive ‘2WIN’ branding. GERMANY. 642 new signs placed at eye level every 500m along major roads in the Hamburg region – detailing the road name, direction, and the distance from the road source – will improve safety and congestion by making it easier for drivers to give their location after accidents and mishaps say the authorities. Rolling out this year. If successful could spread to other major roads in Germany. Similar to a project on-going in Russia. GIBRALTAR QUEUE WATCH: three hours, the longest delay this year, and just for cars – pedestrians and bikes cross the frontier without queuing.

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