Cyprus-Forum.com

[sirox101]

just a thought no road manners at all am i wrong ?

[Get Real!]

Nope and we're proud of it...

[sweetie pie]

Its not the fact there are no road manners its that the drivers have absolutely no sense of anything/anyone around them.

To some their macho image is all. Look at me and my wide bore exhaust!!
Lets see how fast I can drive up Limassol coast road and how many red lights I can go through and see if I can make the most din.

Look at me don't I look good on my bike with no helmet. I maybe won't look so good when they are scraping my brains off the road but hey!

Others just do not look. I can open my car door at any time anywhere! If it gets swiped off by a car coming down the road well doesn't matter!

Of course I can turn left across a little old man on a scooter and almost swipe him from the road. No problem! Oops sorry officer I was focussed on where I wanted to go not what other vehicles were on the road and of course if I want to go there then I have the right above all others!

All incident in the last week by the way!

If these drivers only understood as much about where their mirrors or indicators are as they do about the horn on the car they would drive much better and maybe just maybe they would not have the worst accident statistics in the EU

[raymanuva]

Well, the amount of cars, lack of public transport and extreme lazyness created a special type of driving environment here.
I been driving here for 12 years and i have to say, u gotta start thinking like cypriots in order to avoid dangerous situations.

Stop even if HALT is on the other road and you have a priority...
Slow down on traffic lights even if you have green light.
Always expect a parked driver to open his door right in your way, slow down make sure he sees ya.
Warn the motorbiker on your right that is a 1 lane turn and is that he gotta follow the others and not drive in tandems. Well, always expect a motorbike turning in your way.
If there is a secondary road junction and the corner (as always) is blocked by a parked 4X4/VAN/DoubleCab and you drive on the main road, always expect a car turning onto the main street since he cant possibly see you + he expects you to slow down aswell...well, its never perfect, but helps.

I mean, i got an immunity to this... it comes naturally.

[Niki]

I think guys in Cyprus turn 18 and all sense disappears until they reach 25 ish. You don't mind looking like a complete pratt and causing accidents. Get Real is proud of looking like a pratt - good for him!

[Get Real!]

After driving for nearly 25 years and in about 5 different countries I've never had an accident, not even a scratch.
I do however feel that my driving experience in Cyprus has more than any other place prepared me for the absolute worse. I can say that I'm a better driver today after driving in Cyprus than I would've been, and actually enjoy the daily lunatics coming at me and myself having to figure out how to avoid them. It's like a "Dodge' em" game really. You've just got to get into it.

[stuballstu]

I had a friend visit me last year and let him drive my car around. Before he got in the car he asked me to show him the indicators, wipers, lights etc. I said to him that he only need to know about the lights as he will be the only one in Cyprus using either his wipers in August or his indicators at any time.

[Crivens]

Yeah, you need two hands to count the number of screeches we hear everyday from where I work/ live (just past Bodyline in Limassol). Really unbelievable. It's got better recently but when we first moved here (about 5 months ago) then you could expect to pass at least 3 accidents on a walk to my parents (by the big Carfore).

What annoys me though is the Barryboy (look up the uk website for laughs) shopping trolleys (eg. 1.1 litre Clio with massive body kit, Halfords spoiler, and exhaust that should be on the space shuttle). Nothing against them (apart from a Polo could probably leave them at the lights), but roaring down the road at 1am is well annoying. I mean if it something with an ounce of speed (I used to own a Subaru Impreza turbo nutter effort) then fair enough as it would pass in no time, but these sheds *slowly* go by with full blast exhaust. I mean I'm sure they have their foot down (Barryboys rarely actually add performance to their buckets) but annoyingly they are so slow it takes ages to get past my window. Luckily I tune it out now...

Heh, and I think all the bikers with no helmets think they are in Terminator 2. Just see how they ride. Just need a shotgun (I mean for them to complete the look, not for me... although...)... Scooters are just a european thing (ie. not UK). I mean a bloke shouldn't be seen dead on one, but most of Europe seems to love them. Complete opposite to the Barryboy attitude (look at my fast looking powerful car!!!). Although the groups that gather together seem ultra-effeminate. Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't beep their horns in unison all the bloody time at 3am. Luckily natural selection seems to be culling their number. Accidentastic. Wonder why?.....

Apart from that I love driving here. Drove near London for years, and it is a doddle here in comparison. I mean have you ever driven in Paris? Frightening... Plus the speed limits here are so slow that it is practically impossible to do much damage

Cheers

[sweetie pie]

Well, the amount of cars, lack of public transport and extreme lazyness created a special type of driving environment here.
I been driving here for 12 years and i have to say, u gotta start thinking like cypriots in order to avoid dangerous situations.

Stop even if HALT is on the other road and you have a priority...
Slow down on traffic lights even if you have green light.
Always expect a parked driver to open his door right in your way, slow down make sure he sees ya.
Warn the motorbiker on your right that is a 1 lane turn and is that he gotta follow the others and not drive in tandems. Well, always expect a motorbike turning in your way.
If there is a secondary road junction and the corner (as always) is blocked by a parked 4X4/VAN/DoubleCab and you drive on the main road, always expect a car turning onto the main street since he cant possibly see you + he expects you to slow down aswell...well, its never perfect, but helps.

I mean, i got an immunity to this... it comes naturally.

Thanks Ray that last comment made me chuckle

I have to say though that the amount of traffic in such as Nicosia and Limassol is small cheese compared to the traffic in the UK towns and cities especially in the rush hour. (And I am not getting into 'my dad is better than your dad scenario either).
I honestly do not know how some of the so called macho drivers over here would cope. It must be more of a culture thing
Plus the policing could be improved especially over bad parking which blocks the pavements and also the road ie Makarios Avenue

[G.Man]

Why if the traffic is so light, and cypriots are so laid back, do they insist on queue jumping ad making it worse for everyone else?

Seems to me that a right turn lane, mean drive 200yds (metres) over crosshatching, oncoming right turn lanes, and push in at the front of a lkeftturn or straight ahead queue..

Its not one odd car either, usually 5-6 of them...