A case for a moody plate?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/29%
2fndriving29.xml

Foreign driving convictions to be chased up.

 

In

Bugger ..

Never knew this one though

"Using cruise control in Belgium is against the law."

It seems a little unreasonable to expect people to know all the varying
legislation in effect in all of Europe, I know it has to be that way it just
seems a little harsh.

Perhaps we need a more Europe wide traffic legistlation rather than
independant countries setting their own?

 

There seem to be two aspects to this. The first, that of tracing drivers
so they can be prosecuted for offences committed abroad, is reasonable.
The second does not seem at all fair or legal:
"But things are changing and there will soon be no chance of keeping a
clean licence after committing an offence on foreign soil."
So you can get points on your UK licence for doing something which is
not an endorsable offence.

 

The standardisation of traffic laws in Oz was A Good Thing. e.g.
in Victoria, a car turning right had right-of-way over a car coming from
its opposite direction whereas elsewhere (at least in NSW) the car turning
had to give way -- led to lots of near misses if you travelled to Vic
until you realised the difference, or when a Victorian tourist in NSW
suddenly turned across your path. Queensland had a concept of Major Roads
without explicit Give Way signs, which led to lots of near-misses and
fender-benders in Byron Bay at Christmas time. Sometimes a Stop sign did
not mean "Give Way"...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Champ says...

I used to drive to Honda Europe in Ghent quite a bit. I'd always set the
cruise to about 100 on the motorway through Belgium, I had no idea that
it was illegal and it wouldn't have stopped me doing it.

 

That's not exactly news, this is and it's been on the cards for a long
time.

 

Jeesh, news to me as well !

Belgian motorways are so fucking tedious that cruise control is a must.

 

How can something so bumpy ever be tedious?

 

Do you mean "Bollocks!" as in "Rubbish!", or "Oh, bollocks" as in
"Dearie me"?

Anyroadup, while I appreciate Loz's point, I wouldn't want to be in a
furrin country with a moody plate, get pulled and be bound to produce
a certificate of insurance there and then.

Being done for speeding abroad and having to cough up a few quid and
wear some points for a few years is one thing - having an InsCert with
a different registration on it when produced to a copper whose
language I don't speak could well end in tears.

They crush vehicles with no insurance in the UK now, you know - let
alone what they might do abroad.

Heh. That was me, that was. JM must be the same age as me, 17 in
'77. I had a C90 at 15/16 (coughoffroadonlycough) and the Fizzie was
indeed the object of desire to me and my peers. Until one of the lads
got a Puch Maxi Grand Prix, that is - that was quicker than the
Fizzies, and it was in black.

 

I reckon it's a good thing for bikers riding like twats. The plod
won't feel obligated to chase them because all they need is the reg
number yet before they had to escort them to a cash point to get their
money.

I'll be changing number plates at Dover when I'm waiting to board the
ferry then change back at Calais on the return.

 

Mainly because Vic roads were better -- similar population in a
_far_ smaller area so the money didn't have to spread so far. E.g.
reflective white lines at the edge of the roads were restricted to the
major highways at best in NSW, but ISTR even minor roads having them in Vic.
Then there was all the fuss about prima-facie speed limits, etc. Victoria
tightened up its drink-driving limit well before most of the rest, too.

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

I've always said it's a matter of time. I believe that the EU has been
working on something like this for years, but has never come up with
something feasible.

Little things like standard fines, standard points throughout Europe,
etc, will need to be sorted out first.

 

I never knew that either.

Did you know that driving in Spain, you need two warning triangles and
a hi-vi vest? In France you need only a warning triangle and spare
bulbs. (Well, at least Spanish plod are fairly flexible to foreign
visitors). In Poland, you're meant to use your lights between Nov and
March during daylight. In France, two wheelers are meant to have their
headlights on all the time.

I remember when my mum took her driving test in Germany. She had to do
a road sign test that incorporated Benelux and German roadsigns.

There are some many inconsistencies between countries that you cannot
be expected to know all the rules and regs.

Well, seeing as Europe has got that little bit bigger, it'll be harder
to implement something like this. For now, at any rate.

 

*dingly *ding*

 

I know there are "crusie control prohibited" signs on some motorways[1].
I wasn't aware that there was a complete ban. Maybe for lorry drivers?

This spare bulb thing is getting to be bollocks. Last time a headlight
bulb blew in my car, I had to take it to the garage for replacement. The
mechanic was last seen fumbling around under the wheel arch and it ook
him 20 minutes.

[1] For Belgian values of motorways.

 

You get used to it after a while.

The bumpiest road in the world is the N67 from Eupen to Monschau, even after
they resurfaced it, you can't get much above 40mph - which is a shame as its
straight as a die for about 2 miles.

The A10 & A3 either side of the sprout capital get my vote for the two most
boring stretches of road anywhere in the world.

 

Well, yes. After a bit of googling I see they wanted to ban it for trucks
after seeing that the drivers put their feet up on the dash.

On http://www.wegcode.be/actueel.php?nr=92 there are the signs for cruise
control. It's not illegal as claimed by the beeb but is banned in certain
places and sometimes for vehicles over a specific weight.

The signs shown were new in April 2004.

 

....or as claimed by the Telegraph. Oops

 

That made me blink, too. Especially considering Belgium's appalling
driving safety record.

Little bruvver's wife is Belgian, and her driving is enough to scare the
devil himself. She's never actually taken a driving test. She was
brought up in Zaire, formerly a Belgian colony, which has (or had)
driving licence reciprocity with Belgium.

A few dollars gets you a Zaire licence, which can be exchanged for a
Belgian one. And under EU rules, that can be exchanged for a UK one.

 

And if you wear specs, you must carry a spare pair with you.