Hesitance is the act of waiting before doing something.

hes·i·tate 

intr.v. hes·i·tat·ed, hes·i·tat·ing, hes·i·tates

1.

a. To be slow to act, speak, or decide.

b. To pause in uncertainty; waver.

2. To be reluctant.

3. To speak haltingly; falter.

I love Norway... I really really do.  And I love the less than especially sunny state of Sunnmøre even though it rains almost every day.

I am however discovering exactly why the OFT figures stating that Norway has a worse road safety record in terms of death by road traffic accidents than we do in Britain.  I should explain that while I have driven around most of the southern part of Norway and visited all of the major cities that most people know, I am referring to the driving experience in and around where I live in Ålesund which of course includes a increased variety of agricultural and haulage vehicles and ergo 'country drivers'.

Before you say it, I am no perfect driver.  I speed, I am sometimes a victim of my frustration and I do have what some would describe as an overconfidence in a cars ability to maneuver and stop.  I do however, take a lot of pride in the way I drive, and take a great interest in driving itself which probably spurs from a love of motoring from a young age.  Additional to this, being a newcomer to this country I studied up the local highway code and probably have it fresher in my mind than others might.

The displays of driving I seem to be subjected to almost every day seem to almost always fall into the same category of late decision making or as the title suggests 'hesitance'.  This seems apparent almost everywhere, almost like the driver does not want to make too much of a fuss to some people, but then the irritation of waiting takes over and they drive into roundabouts and junctions without looking.

Just this week, I had two such displays:  the first in which the driver in front was trying to overtake a mobile home, he waited and waited until the road markings spread apart and the view ahead became clear and importantly safe.  So he should have overtaken him here right?  Well he had a look, then pulled back in... and then had another look, and pulled back in.  While all this was happening the gentleman behind me decided he was sick of waiting, overtook me and decided to over the hesitant chap as well... only to be forced to brake while he was overtaking because the chap in front finally decided to overtake ON THE CREST OF A HILL!  Anyway, no one was hurt, but the chap who was behind me maybe needed a change of pants after said experience.
Almost poetically after this incident we were met with this:

http://www.smp.no/nyheter/alesundogomland/article377936.ece

This truck driver narrowly avoided somebody who was overtaking too slowly and on a corner through an area of reduced speed (60km/h).

Today, as myself and a colleague were returning home from work we were overtaking a truck in the tunnel near my home and yet again hesitance struck... gentleman in a Tafjord van decides to merge with the overtaking traffic.  Except he managed not to see me, hit his indicator on after he moved and then consequently didn't overtake the truck.  Still having his indicator on, he continued not to move around while I was holding up the overtaking traffic behind me because this numpty cannot use his mirrors.

Like I said before... I do love Norway, but I will love you even more when your countrymen learn the rules of the road better.