BELGRADE, Serbia (ViaNews) – According to the daily newspaper, Blic, driving through the fast lane on the highway can cost the driver 5.000 Serbian dinar, which is about 1/4 of the country’s monthly minimum wage. Also, traf, and drivers are surprised this rule even existed.
The Director of The Traffic Safety Committee, Damir Okanovic, suggests drivers, especially those travelling long distances, to keep a safe distance between vehicles, comply with the speed limits, fasten their seatbelts, stay calm, and most importantly, never drive tired. He stresses that drivers, in their desire to arrive at their destination sooner drive faster than the allowed speed limits.
Highway safety
When using the highway, Okanovic said, drivers can’t use the left lane for fast driving. The left lane in highways. is to be used exclusively when overtaking another vehicle. The police are now fining drivers with a 5.000 Serbian dinar penalty.
According to Mr Okanovic, drivers think that when using the left lane at the maximum speed and staying there even after overtaking all the vehicles is doing it right. And since they’re driving at the maximum allowed speed they believe they are allowed to drive in the left lane for the entire ride. This way of thinking is wrong, the left lane is only to be used when overtaking vehicles or if the other lanes are being used.
Roundabout rules
The same misconception happens when drivers use the roundabout. The Director of The Traffic Safety Committee notes that there is an alarming number of drivers who don’t yet know how to behave in the roundabout. He mentioned that the roundabout is the weakest point for all Serbian drivers. They have trouble with all of the aspects of it: how to move inside of it, how to leave it.
According to Damir Okanovic, when it comes to the rules of behavior inside the roundabout, drivers cannot “cut” traffic lanes and they have to use blinker at all times. This includes using the blinker when leaving the roundabout and it’s forbidden to leave the roundabout directly from the inside circle.