Paphitis wrote:Milo wrote:Paphitis thankyou for kind words and welcome on your earlier post, I would like to put a different scenario to you on the driving here, IF Cypriots were safe and courteous drivers, and the 'foreigners' coming here to live, or as tourists brought dangerous driving skills over to here causing death to the locals, there would and should be a huge backlash, and demands on the Police to counteract it.
Sod the driving in other countries, I would,nt drive in Rome especially, niether Athens. Try driving in SA for instance deaths there are so many on the roads they don,t record all of them especially J'Burg
Worse driving I have ever seen there
But Japan has much lower fatalities which is surprising, so we could go on comparing what does that do?
I don,t believe that you think there should,nt be ways to change the dangerous driving habits here, even in Italy they belt up their kids in the back
By he way I,ve been driving here nearly three years.
Cyprus has to half its fatalities within a set time limit as does all the eu27, how do you propose they do it then?
You are very welcome Milo.
In Australia we also have a massive road toll and you can pretty much put that down to the standards of our roads in rural areas. Australia is about the same size as all EU countries combined, and yet our population is a mere 21,000,000. There are not enough tax payers in order to be able to build the types of roads you have in Britain or Germany for example. Therefore, many of our rural roads are not as good as what you will find in the EU and are less safe.
The same situation applies to Cyprus. The country has built some excellent highways, but the standard of the islands city roads are mostly narrow and very congested, just like they are in Rome and in Athens. This forces people to drive in a certain way.
For you I just advise that you enjoy Cyprus and everything it has to offer. Keep yourself safe on the roads by driving defensively. Always try to anticipate other people errors and drive accordingly. Expect the unexpected. If you do this then Cypriot roads are not dangerous at all.
Cypriots will not change. The EU could make smoking illegal, but Cypriots will still smoke. You just have to accept who we are, and when you do that you will fit in a whole lot more.
I have always felt very safe on Cypriot roads, but I'm also a confident driver and have faith in my driving ability.
I,m too a confident driver
and have had to become much more aware of who/what is around me, so as a women I don,t become 'trapped' in my own piece of heaven here. Yes you are right it gets ME thru.
Many of us ex-pats and other eu citizens melt into the background of society here because that is how we want to be, some never will, they shout the loudest, but there are just a few aspects that as an ex UK driver you can see and it does scare you on the fragility of life here and how the authorities don,t 'protect' you by telling you what can go wrong.
One of the strongest drinkdriving campaigns in the UK on TV screens affected a lot of people,s 'normal' driving habits
Then the speed kills ones are so graphic it does,nt leave you. My OH drives faster and now shall we say 'like a Cypriot' no pun intended, he has had his car in the garage a few times to deal with the corners being knocked off. I love the bones of him BUT when we go out together I drive as I consider myself safer.
I certainly would never put the UK or anywhere else up as a shining pinnacle against Cyprus, I agree Cyprus has its own uniqueness that should be kept, BUT to leave its people out in the cold regarding road safety especially for the young would be wrong and the EU has its duty to perform to its member states. Smoking will be a hard nut to crack here as again the authorities have NOT campaigned against it enough. But this is a civilised world campaign and the no smoking Police will get around to you one day.
I was in the next Village up to Lefkara yesterday forgive my ignorance but it started with a Vas... we stopped at Marias for some Tavas, goats tavas yum, a large group of motorcyclists pulled up outside on a routed ride thru the mountains, we chatted to them as they had some great machines, they were all youngish Cypriots, all suited and booted in leathers and expensive looking crash helmets
They looked the business but one told me they were actually ridiculed for wearing the proper equipment, as a Mum of two boys I told him to carry on doing what he was doing, he looked much better in his gear than the numpty in a vest and no helmet tearing down the roads you normaly see here and his Mum will get to keep him.
Love to come to Oz by the way, don,t know if we will
Its on the wish list to visit. Am surprised that the aussies have such high death rates, I think in many countries it has plenty to do with the increasing car ownership rates, which then brings congestion which then gets you impatient etc etc.
I can,t agree with your ideals for Cyprus paphitis re its drivers, but I,ll leave it there, I hope that things will slowly change, I as a human being worry at what I witness, but no-one listens and your right I just want to enjoy Cyprus while we live here cause its just wonderful
When you see me in future posting any negatives which I,m sure I will give us a nudge.
