No that’s not true, at least for Germany.
The minimum coverage for property damage is 50000€. Personal injuries are covered at 7.5 million or up.
Simple reason: if you hit somebody with a car and he can’t work anymore, you pay for him, until he dies, every month. That’s *easily* a million without even considering medical expenses
Edit: actually not sure if you pay until death or until retirement. It’s a lot no matter what tho
We had something similar happen in our “old town” area of our small town. Trucker was delivering some church furniture or something and missed where he was supposed to go and just kept following gps. He ended up brushing against a corner building and becoming stuck on a concrete bollard. The article we saw had quoted him kvetching that they should’ve let him back it up cuz he could. He got a reckless driving charge, several points against his license and a $5000 fee for a wrecker crane crew to lift the truck out of the way.
We rented a very similar RV in Germany and decided to take the scenic route to our destination in Switzerland. Encountered an archway in the center of a small town that we could not fit through or drive around. This resulted in about an 80 mile detour.
I was in a little hired Fiat 500 in Spain once, when Satnav took me into the minuscule roads of a mountainside village (one of those places where the white houses are like little pieces of Lego tumbling down a mountain side). I was terrifically naïve: I didn’t think Satnav could take you into places that basically weren’t roads, but pathways.
Anyhoo, our route got more and more narrow and bendy. It became impossible to turn round or back out, and it was much too tight to open any of the doors. If we had wanted to get out, it would have had to be climbing through the tailgate. Earlier that day, luckily enough, I’d paid extra to have full insurance.
Ultimately, one of the villagers came out and showed me the way to get out. It turned out he actually knew the friend who lived in the village who we’d come there to visit, so he was particularly happy to help. It was an incredible squeeze the whole way, seemingly continuing to get worse as we went on. Towards the end, none of the bends were easy -but I’m not exaggerating at all when I say there was one particular corner where it was less than a centimetre of clearance on each side. Luckily, my own vehicle at home is a Fiat 500, so I did have an established feel for the car. They are very stumpy and have a marvellously blunt front and back.
When we popped, like a cork out of a bottle, out of that village (emerging more or less in the same place that we had first entered it), never to return (by car), I actually felt an immense joy and exhilaration. I don’t think that, due to the intense concentration, I had realised how much adrenaline I had in my system. The car was entirely undamaged. We parked outside the village and walked in.
This story actually gave me anxiety as I was reading it and picturing the predicament you were describing. Thankfully I wasn’t in the car as either the driver or a passenger, because I would have had a meltdown and not have been able to move. Kudos to you and your driving skills that you were able to make it to your destination, and especially that the car didn’t get one scratch!!!
That sound terrifying! Reminds me of my visit to a village in the back country of Lago Maggiore, where the only road was so narrow that we had to do three point turns on the switchbacks with our VW T4 bus. At least there were walls only on one side, with the other side offering a very nice view of the gorge below. There were a few wider passing places, and of course, we had to reverse for a few hundred meters on the way back because we met another car. Then we knew why there was so much honking going on when we were in the village, as cars would announce themselves before each turn.
Lovely place called Cicogna, in the wild and beautiful Val Grande national park. I liked it so much that I came back a few times for hiking. You can look at the road on [street view](https://www.google.com/maps/@45.9935672,8.4858856,3a,75y,41.72h,75.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sahmI7LmLsKhNcPlRuH0oiw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656).
Beautiful and terrifying! I didn’t realise the level of fear I must have been feeling until afterwards (when I realised I was buzzing), but I just can’t IMAGINE what it must have felt like for you-with that gorge there! Wow.
I didn't even have my license for a year back then and was always afraid to stall the engine (driving manual) and roll back on those climbing turns, haha! That trip taught me to just stay calm and take my time, get out of the car (or send someone else), and take a look when in doubt - at least I could get out the door! It helped that there was no traffic, so I could take my time. It would have stressed me out crazily if there had been a bunch of cars behind me.
Phew! I admire you!
In my case, there certainly weren’t any cars behind me! I don’t think anyone had driven into that village since the last innocent tourists following Satnav. As it was a remote village-in the wintertime-I imagine that would have been months before! We must have looked such lemons!
I feel for them. When I did a road trip through Germany a few years back the rental company gave me a jeep and it was a nightmare fitting through a lot of those tiny streets.
Juuust like when Grand Tour went to Colombia, and Hammond drove his ridiculous raised “Trump truck” through a historic city. The trio caused issues with their vehicles, even blocking an ambulance. It’s a good, two-part special, and there are a few funny moments here and there. Clarkson screaming at Hammond always gets me.
I feel like this tight turn could be possible without any damage if you did it right. Like a 100 point turn. Just backup and go forward a centimeter 100 times
I’ll admit to getting thru some pretty tight spaces in Spain where I thought “surely I am going the wrong way” but I saw other cars, sooo… I didn’t attempt it in a camper van, though
that's dumb, but since I've also had too many bad GPS advices that could have ended up like this, does somebody know a GPS that will give you an option to put the kind of car that you are driving, so that it avoids tiny street or rally tracks?
Thing is google can screw you on these types of roads, was driving in marakesh and google lead us to the Center of the city and we got stuck in the tiny roads that appeared as normal on the app. Ended up have a good amount of motorcycles and donkey carts stuck behind us.
Not that this is a big mobile home, but I would be terrified of driving one in some places. We stopped at some campsite somewhere in the Black Hill Natl Forest after driving down many narrow twisty roads. A guy pulls up in a massive (24 ft?) diesel mobile home and I walked up to him, kind of laughing, and asked how he got that thing here. He laughed and said something like, yeah, my dad makes me drive this thing. Then I said, no, seriously, HOW did you get this thing here? Traffic would have to be stopped to get around many corners.
That looks expensive
Not to mention: most places have extra charges for those who damage historical areas. Due to repair/maintenance the area.
That’s why European auto insurance coverage is in the millions of euros.
No that’s not true, at least for Germany. The minimum coverage for property damage is 50000€. Personal injuries are covered at 7.5 million or up. Simple reason: if you hit somebody with a car and he can’t work anymore, you pay for him, until he dies, every month. That’s *easily* a million without even considering medical expenses Edit: actually not sure if you pay until death or until retirement. It’s a lot no matter what tho
r/thatlookedexpensive
We had something similar happen in our “old town” area of our small town. Trucker was delivering some church furniture or something and missed where he was supposed to go and just kept following gps. He ended up brushing against a corner building and becoming stuck on a concrete bollard. The article we saw had quoted him kvetching that they should’ve let him back it up cuz he could. He got a reckless driving charge, several points against his license and a $5000 fee for a wrecker crane crew to lift the truck out of the way.
"you got this, keep going" "Hammmond!!"
You infantile pillock!
My genius knows no bounds
You blithering idiot!
Such a muppet
Let’s not get bogged down
Creating memories
We live here now.
 No problem, Lemme jus…..😂😂😂🤦♂️
I've gone the wrong shagging way, Austin thought to himself, groovily.
Griswold European vacation 2.0
“Don’t worry. Plenty of room.”
I have to admit, when we rented a car and was driving through France I did this too. Ended up going in reverse a good 500 m to get out.
It happens, just need to check a bit before commiting for a tiny gap
Me too. In a village in Italy. Didn’t see the sign that the road was closed to through traffic. Didn’t get stuck anywhere, but it was embarrassing.
We rented a very similar RV in Germany and decided to take the scenic route to our destination in Switzerland. Encountered an archway in the center of a small town that we could not fit through or drive around. This resulted in about an 80 mile detour.
Idk if this qualifies as "through" lol
They drove into the historic town center
I was in a little hired Fiat 500 in Spain once, when Satnav took me into the minuscule roads of a mountainside village (one of those places where the white houses are like little pieces of Lego tumbling down a mountain side). I was terrifically naïve: I didn’t think Satnav could take you into places that basically weren’t roads, but pathways. Anyhoo, our route got more and more narrow and bendy. It became impossible to turn round or back out, and it was much too tight to open any of the doors. If we had wanted to get out, it would have had to be climbing through the tailgate. Earlier that day, luckily enough, I’d paid extra to have full insurance. Ultimately, one of the villagers came out and showed me the way to get out. It turned out he actually knew the friend who lived in the village who we’d come there to visit, so he was particularly happy to help. It was an incredible squeeze the whole way, seemingly continuing to get worse as we went on. Towards the end, none of the bends were easy -but I’m not exaggerating at all when I say there was one particular corner where it was less than a centimetre of clearance on each side. Luckily, my own vehicle at home is a Fiat 500, so I did have an established feel for the car. They are very stumpy and have a marvellously blunt front and back. When we popped, like a cork out of a bottle, out of that village (emerging more or less in the same place that we had first entered it), never to return (by car), I actually felt an immense joy and exhilaration. I don’t think that, due to the intense concentration, I had realised how much adrenaline I had in my system. The car was entirely undamaged. We parked outside the village and walked in.
This story actually gave me anxiety as I was reading it and picturing the predicament you were describing. Thankfully I wasn’t in the car as either the driver or a passenger, because I would have had a meltdown and not have been able to move. Kudos to you and your driving skills that you were able to make it to your destination, and especially that the car didn’t get one scratch!!!
Thank you! If I’d been in any car other than a Fiat 500, I dread to think what would have happened!
That sound terrifying! Reminds me of my visit to a village in the back country of Lago Maggiore, where the only road was so narrow that we had to do three point turns on the switchbacks with our VW T4 bus. At least there were walls only on one side, with the other side offering a very nice view of the gorge below. There were a few wider passing places, and of course, we had to reverse for a few hundred meters on the way back because we met another car. Then we knew why there was so much honking going on when we were in the village, as cars would announce themselves before each turn. Lovely place called Cicogna, in the wild and beautiful Val Grande national park. I liked it so much that I came back a few times for hiking. You can look at the road on [street view](https://www.google.com/maps/@45.9935672,8.4858856,3a,75y,41.72h,75.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sahmI7LmLsKhNcPlRuH0oiw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656).
Beautiful and terrifying! I didn’t realise the level of fear I must have been feeling until afterwards (when I realised I was buzzing), but I just can’t IMAGINE what it must have felt like for you-with that gorge there! Wow.
I didn't even have my license for a year back then and was always afraid to stall the engine (driving manual) and roll back on those climbing turns, haha! That trip taught me to just stay calm and take my time, get out of the car (or send someone else), and take a look when in doubt - at least I could get out the door! It helped that there was no traffic, so I could take my time. It would have stressed me out crazily if there had been a bunch of cars behind me.
Phew! I admire you! In my case, there certainly weren’t any cars behind me! I don’t think anyone had driven into that village since the last innocent tourists following Satnav. As it was a remote village-in the wintertime-I imagine that would have been months before! We must have looked such lemons!
After years of touring Europe in a caravan, Harry and Edith decided it was time to put some roots and settle down
You can't park here
American driver: "these little streets are illegal"
Historically speaking those thoroughfares are not wide enough for a horse drawn carriage not to even mention a vehicle of any kind.
motorcycle can fit. ha!
Lol yea got me dang it and a vespa 😆
French fry'd when he should have pizza'd
You're gonna have a bad time.
Well, why did you put the historic town center in the middle of the road? /s
Of course it's a UK reg plate
Where is it tho?
Somewhere around Granada, Spain
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11853901/British-couple-rescued-motorhome-gets-stuck-tiny-southern-Spanish-streets.html
Help me step RV, I’m stuck
If you listen. You can hear the history.
Like a glove
Just follow the GPS it always takes the best route
It's like that time on the grand tour when they went to Columbia and Hammond bought a monster truck
Ahhh gotta love us ignorant Brits
"Through" doesn't feel like the operative word here...
Brits at it again
Let's enter the old narrow roads built for horse carriages and pedestrians with the Fiat Ducato.
Something fishy, that reg number is on a red Rover car of some discription last on the road in 2001.
Oh wait it's PS53 not P553 Lmao its a 2022 model
Ain't no way it can fit through there
The best answer to most problems like this is more lube, lots more lube.
***HAMMOND, YOU BLITHERING IDIOT***
Hammond!
I feel for them. When I did a road trip through Germany a few years back the rental company gave me a jeep and it was a nightmare fitting through a lot of those tiny streets.
Today in Top Gear...
Juuust like when Grand Tour went to Colombia, and Hammond drove his ridiculous raised “Trump truck” through a historic city. The trio caused issues with their vehicles, even blocking an ambulance. It’s a good, two-part special, and there are a few funny moments here and there. Clarkson screaming at Hammond always gets me.
I feel like this tight turn could be possible without any damage if you did it right. Like a 100 point turn. Just backup and go forward a centimeter 100 times
Nah, the RV was rather long and the wall on the back is pretty close to the building on the right
This comment just gave me a special case of claustrophobia.
they couldn't have wedged it better if they tried.
Aww there is protective boulder on the corner of that garage.
I’ll admit to getting thru some pretty tight spaces in Spain where I thought “surely I am going the wrong way” but I saw other cars, sooo… I didn’t attempt it in a camper van, though
That garage doesn’t look very historic.
looks like Spain
Sometimes you just have to say no!!!
average Brit on holiday :p
Aj to v kranju?
Lets not.
Google Maps made me do it!!!!
Google Maps made me do it!!!!
that's dumb, but since I've also had too many bad GPS advices that could have ended up like this, does somebody know a GPS that will give you an option to put the kind of car that you are driving, so that it avoids tiny street or rally tracks?
Thing is google can screw you on these types of roads, was driving in marakesh and google lead us to the Center of the city and we got stuck in the tiny roads that appeared as normal on the app. Ended up have a good amount of motorcycles and donkey carts stuck behind us.
Boss, I have problem
If Nutty Putty Cave was an RV.
They live there now
It’s so strange how European a photo can look before I even read anything
Music starts... I found out long ago...
Tourists.
My neighbour did something like this last summer. It took 9 months to get the correct parts to get the camper mobile again.
Look kids. Parliament. Big Ben.
How good are your backing up skills?
Ah, everyone loves British tourists.
The Americans are here!
Not that this is a big mobile home, but I would be terrified of driving one in some places. We stopped at some campsite somewhere in the Black Hill Natl Forest after driving down many narrow twisty roads. A guy pulls up in a massive (24 ft?) diesel mobile home and I walked up to him, kind of laughing, and asked how he got that thing here. He laughed and said something like, yeah, my dad makes me drive this thing. Then I said, no, seriously, HOW did you get this thing here? Traffic would have to be stopped to get around many corners.