Cyprus-Forum.com

[webbo]

I love driving here!

Heaven forbid Cyprus ever becomes like the UK where you can’t fart behind the wheel without getting a ticket these days.

Is that in the "Low Emission Zones"??

No! They string you up if you fart in there!

Quite right too!!


Bubbles x

[purdey]

I have fond memories of the MULTI TASKING CYPRIOT DRIVER.One who killed a family friend two years ago,and another who put a six year old in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.In any other situation Cypriots maybe great multi taskers but behind the wheel of a car they are licensed to kill...

[Crivens]

Nah, I felt safer driving on the M4 through loads of speeding lunatics every morning for 5 years than a year of driving now and again in Limassol (not so bad outside Limassol I find). Complete lack of concentration is the thing.

Plus I seem to get the idea that pedestrian crossings don't mean the same here. Don't ever consider stepping out onto the road unless you are sure the people in the car are looking straight ahead (hardly ever) and their car looks capable of stopping in time (oh, and the person driving actually knows or cares that they have to by law stop the car). A couple of times I've been honked for crossing on a pedestrian crossing and once some guy leaned out of the window and started shouting at me. He soon zoomed off when it became obvious I was going to smack him one through his open window.

Still, 2008 is pretty good so far. On my road (completely straight and slow with great visibility) in Limassol we used to get at least 3 or 4 crashes a month. Several a week when it got really bad. This year there has only been 1 or 2. Come to think of it, the daily screeching (I'm talking emergency stop stuff from high speed on a 50kph road which 90% of the time has quite a lot of traffic going slowly) has come down quite a lot too. What is going on?

It is almost worth seeing if you can get a civilian contract to clock speeders. Might be good money. My road becomes an F1 track from about 11pm. Obviously Police are doing something far more important. Back in the UK used to hate speed camera cop sitting on the edges of estates in the middle of nowhere hoping to catch Mr 31mph, but here it is probably a good idea if my street is anything to go by.

Cheers

[purdey]

My parents lived in Mesa for 20 years,they finally moved when the race track was finally opened.My mother has fond memories of attending to accident victims on Friday and Sat nights.
Re:road rage,Cypriots have not yet over stepped the boundry of fighting in the streets as yet,but there is plenty of shouting,foul language and chest puffing.

[Nikitas]

One way to solve this is to limit all cars imported in Cyprus to a maximum speed of 80 kph at the factory. In a country which is 80 k wide you can still go from one side to the other in one hour. If you take the longest trip on the island, Paphos to Apostolos Andreas it will take you two and half hours at 80 kph.

The other measures would be to regulate advertising as is done for cigarettes- no more emphasis on speed, horse power, acceleration figures, or allusions to military horses and superiority. Cars should be promoted for what they really are, metal boxes that move people and goods. This change in the image of cars will help the transition to electric cars too.

Talking of electric cars, has anyone seen an electric Reva on the road in Cyprus? There is an importer for the car and for electric bicycles, but knowing my compatriots obsession with four wheel image the Reva is not exactly a best seller yet.

[Crivens]

One way to solve this is to limit all cars imported in Cyprus to a maximum speed of 80 kph at the factory

Dunno. I think a lot of accidents happen at quite low speeds in towns when people are not looking at what they are doing. Straight road, slow speeds, loads of visability, moron on phone and not looking straight ahead then ploughs into a pedestrian crossing the street on a pedestrian crossing. Don't have to be going all that fast. As for the dual carriageway then that is laughably empty. You could do 3 times the speed limit and not be too worried. Of course thats the only place where the cops with speed cameras are...

Cheers

[Cheshire Cat]

One incident I remember well, in bringing my daughter home from school one day, I was over taken by a pick up truck which had carpets in the back, standing upright, The inveitable happened in that the wind caught the carpets and they fell of the back of the pick-up truck , directly in my path, I had to break very heavily to avoid them on a very busy highway, bearing down on me from behind was a huge truck. How we avoided a fatal crash I do not know. My child who was then just 5 years old was in the back of the car. Had that truck hit me she would have certainly been killed.

This is all because of a man who not only did not have the common sense to lie the carpet Down, he over estimated his driving skills and over took a car who was already doing just over the speed limit.

He pulled over to the side of the road, and attempted to retrieve his carpets from the highway,

When I tried to call the Police he said No No Dont, I already have been banned from driving. "What could I do he said" My reply, stay of the road you M***ka !!

[Shipwreck]

I love driving here!

Heaven forbid Cyprus ever becomes like the UK where you can’t fart behind the wheel without getting a ticket these days.

i agree! Driving here is great compared to the UK and some other countries. Have to admit though that I like the empty roads of Yemen, no police period and great scenery, just remember to dodge the "Yemeni handbrakes" that are left on the hills when lorries overheat (big rocks to stop the truck rolling back)

[Get Real!]

Well, according to this group it looks like Poland, Greece, and the US, are the worst offenders…

http://www.cemt.org/irtad/IRTADPUBLIC/we2.html

[Nikitas]

I find Cyprus driving like a more careless version of UK driving.

In terms of sheer fright I would think Italy is probably the top. A taxi ride in Milan is enough to restore your regularity.

Greece is a totally different expreience, you really must be ready for everything, never rely on anyone's indicator signals, never trust stop sign in your favor, be ready for the most bizarre driving behavior. And for sheer speed you got to try France or Germany, where you sometimes cannot discern the make of the car overtaking you, it is a speeding blur of color.

Once in a traffic jam in Nice the lady in the car behind me was honking incessantly. We were crawling along at walking pace. I got fed up and got out of the car and went to her, asking why she was honking. "So you will move" she shouted indignantly, I pointed to the traffic ahead, nothing could move. "I honk at you, you honk at them and then we will all move" she said and made a rude gesture at me. What can you say! It is no accident that mainland Greece got its driiving habits and car culture from the French.