VAN Management 75

It happens at most three times a year, but there are those Friday evenings when the Brussels ring road is still a smooth ride. Recently I had the privilege of being in the right lane near Grimbergen at the wheel of a Fiat Doblo Cargo on such a Friday evening. Completely wrong of course, because all vans are supposed to tear along the left lane at a not exactly legitimate speed at such a special moment. As if the laws of physics no longer exist on such an exceptional Friday evening, you see the Sprinters and Movanos whizzing past bumper to bumper, only interrupted by a few overloaded trailers that can barely keep up with the pace and a few fast guys in a heavy BMW that could eat their steering wheel in frustration. And who pass swiftly on the right a moment later. A caricature, but believe me, it exists. The European Parliament has now decided – at the instigation of the Environment Committee – to limit all new vans to 120 km/h from next year. “To curb the rapidly increasing emissions of light commercial vehicles”, it says there, “and to eliminate unfair competition with trucks, which are limited”. May we add that it is primarily road safety that will prevail? An argument that our editors, who annually present a Safety Award to road-safe transport companies, are not indifferent to. Not to mention your fuel bill. And your maintenance costs. In short, 120 reasons to celebrate during your well-deserved summer holiday.