Cyprus-Forum.com

[devil]

Ah! but tachographs won't say if you have the seat belt fastened or are using your mobile. Frankly, I can't see them going mainstream for mobile cars. In Europe, PSVs and HGVs are mandatorily fitted with them but they are rarely used for speed controls except where a driver contests a radar control. Their main function is to ensure the drivers do not exceed the number of hours they are permitted to drive and they take the necessary number of breaks. Taxis have to be fitted with them in a few places, as well. AFAIK, nowhere is it necessary for private cars to be fitted with them.

It is NOT true that cameras are being generally decommissioned. In fact, they are springing up like mushrooms in most places because they are an excellent means of generating revenue. I know one relatively small area (much smaller than Cyprus) where they have just ordered 150 cameras and 300 housings.

[Mikros]

Devil the increasing number of cameras has more or less to do with UK and not other eu countries like germany, where the use a different system.... adjustable speed limit in motorways according to the actual traffic... 'Cose i find it a silly idea to drive on the Larnaka- Ayia Napa motorway at 100km/h at 2 o'clock in the morning with a large family car that has a max speed of more 200km/h...

[devil]

Devil the increasing number of cameras has more or less to do with UK and not other eu countries like germany, where the use a different system.... adjustable speed limit in motorways according to the actual traffic... 'Cose i find it a silly idea to drive on the Larnaka- Ayia Napa motorway at 100km/h at 2 o'clock in the morning with a large family car that has a max speed of more 200km/h...

Not at all! It is CERTAINLY not confined to the UK. Germany, as a rule, except in a few urban stretches, has NO speed limit on the Autobahnen. And just because your car can do 200 km/h does not mean that the clapped-out diesel Isuzu pick-up without rear lights that suddenly veers into the overtaking lane can do it, because the driver has three sheets in the wind. No Cyprus motorway is physically built to take traffic at high speeds and the average Cypriot driver is totally unable to cope with it, anyway. I believe, with the standard of driving we see on the roads, it was a very wise decision to limit the motorway speeds to 100 km/h; maybe even 80 km/h would have been wiser still.

If that is your attitude, the sooner you reach 12 points, the better it will be for all the others.

[Mikros]

Devil, my friend you are wrong, Autogbahnen is not totally without speed limit... Our motorway is suitable for more than 100 or 80 Km/h as you said above. Speed is NOT the only reason of accidents, at least in Cyprus, but people ignorance to everybody else on the road, like changing lanes without checking who the h... is behind, not well maintained cars, (no lights at back, or even worse driver forgets to switch on the lights...) I'm doing between 30-40,000km each year and I can give you thousands of cases that I avoided fatal accidents because of other people's ignorance, not because of driving at 80 instead of 120 but because the condition of all the cars I've been driving so far and my driving skills. If you have an unskilled/ignorant driver, irrespective he is driving 50 or 120, he WILL create an accidenet irrespective of the speed he is driving.
If people like you cannot handle high performance (and I don't speed rally cars, but any car big can be valued as such), then they should stick to moppettes or drive at slower speeds. You cannot prevent any driver that has better skills or a better/more stable car to drive like you, just because you cannot handle a proper car! My car has a top speed of 200km/h, BUT this does not mean that it is possible to drive continuously at that speed on our motorway, due to traffic conditions. I always adjust my speed according to the traffic ahead, hence I may drive at 80 or 160 if the conditions allow it; Same like in autobahnen.
.
...and just for your info I do not have any points.

MY 2c worth

[devil]

I agree speed is not the only cause of accidents, but it does make them far more likely when you have other idiots on the road AND, when it does happen, the consequences are more serious. IMHO, the most frequent cause of accidents is being unable to anticipate what the other idiot is going to do.

And I am a fast driver. I've frequently driven at 200++ km/h in Germany. I first obtained a driving licence 50 years ago, on this island (cost me 550 mils), and never once have I dropped any no-claims bonus.

But, even if a Cyprus motorway were closed off for my exclusive use, I would never drive at 200 km/h on it. I know of none that would tolerate this as a safe speed because of the very variable quality of the surface.

[Mikros]

So, true.... I have a couple of friends that have have cars with max speeds 250km/h, but if you ask them they cannot drive at those speeds on our motorway for the reason you said above....variable quality of surface. Still with a decent car you can easily drive at 140-150, traffic allowed of course which is my point. I have also driven at those speeds in Germany, and as you can recall, many drivers drive at this speed, but all of them are aware of the other drivers, etc, hence the number of accidents they have compared to the average speed is quite minimal.

[keti]

I went back to Cyprus last weekend (got back yesterday) having not been since last year, to visit my mum. I couldn't believe that we've got speed cameras there now - madness! And they're white which doesn't help, so I don't see them! I wonder how many times I was flashed in my lovely sky blue Fiat Punto rentacar over the weekend?

[Mikros]

Nah don't worry, they are just for fun there for the time being, they are still not used... While you are in the UK, buy a nice speed camera detector and lent it to all of us here!

[keti]

Doh! Oh well, it kept me behaving well so I suppose they do work somehow.

Slightly off topic, but what I don't understand however is the traffic police "out in force" on weekend nights asking people whether they've been drinking.

I was dropping a friend home on Sunday morning about 3am after having been out. I'd had one pint of beer and orange juice the rest of the time. I was stopped by police that were routinely stopping folks - I didn't have my licence with me (I'd left it in my other handbag, typical!). When I explained that (in Greek), the policeman didn't seem to care either way. He then asked if I'd drunk anything, I said I'd had a pint. Again, he didn't seem very bothered. He sort of said "ok, off you go" and that was it.

What exactly are they checking, if not alcohol consumption? :S

[Mikros]

I bet you know what they were checking... if you were a nice good-looking girl, and from your description of their reaction, you seemed to be one One pint the whole night out???? How can you achieve that????