Safe Speed Forums

I have just had great 2 weeks in the sun in southern spain, and return to the realisation of just how much of a nanny state we live in over here!

In Spain there wasnt a forest of gatsos, and the most I saw in 3500k of driving was some gantry signs telling me how many people had died since the beggining of the year (~1800), or messages asking drivers to respect the limits please. Most other signs, were truly helpful in determining the road ahead along with any possible hazards.

They seem to drive generally faster over there and dont get hounded about by acres of traffic cones, just because a few workmen, (yes and these were actually working in blistering heat!) were stood beside the road making repairs. The majority of road use I saw I would call spirited, (the sort of stuff we get clobbered for).

Another thing I noticed was that while a main road would be anything from 80-100kmh, you would see a reduced speed sign nearing a possible hazzard, like a blind junction etc, which was enough to make you ease off until you saw your way through the area. However, I rarelysaw a further sign informing you of the increase after the hazard. It seemed to make perfect sense and allowed the driver to use some good old driver instinct. Here of course youd get hammered if you crept over the reduced limit before the obligatory increase signage, because you have to be told when its safe to speed up, and cannot be trusted to use your own judgement. Cleary the Spanish way would not work with cameras, unless they installed the unecessary increase speed lollipops. They clearly beleive that most drivers would be able to descern the correct speed.

A note on the death count signage, I wonder why they dont do that here? I guess its because it migth make peole curious as to why it isnt going down, with all those nanny state cameras we have, whereas in spain, they havent (yet) covered their landscape in cameras and so dont have to hide the number of casualties (which seemed low to me?), and instead can get on with the job of informing the driving public, in the hope that they may make some be a bit more careful.

I just felt the whole network seemed to be where we should be. I know they, like many other Europeans, can be a bit gun-ho on the roads, but then thats what we have lost, and are so adverse to risk these days, that many on the road are losing (or have lost) the ability to drive.
In 3500 kms I only found myself getting a bit irate at 1 (ONE) driver who cut me up, yet I had barely left Stansted on the way home this evening and was cut up twice on roundabouts before I got to the Motorway!

Returning here just makes me realize how utterly crap our roads really are, for all the signage, rules, limits, cones and so called safety divices that litter them. But then as we all know, its got little to do with making the roads safer.

Jules

I think it helps that Spain is getting on for twice the area of this country but only has about (?) 2/3 of the population. Everyone just has so much more space that they are generally a bit more laid back about things. Over here, I increasingly feel like a battery hen (and that's AFTER moving away from Manchester)!

I've driven a fair bit in Spain over the years and the changes there have been interesting. When Franco was still running the place it was a pretty poor country. As a kid going over there, I only ever used to see small Fiats and SEATS - the rich people had the odd Peugeot maybe.

Then Spain started to turn around after Franco and everyone seemed to discover "credit"! Suddenly, ours was the oldest crappiest (and slowest)car on the road! I also have a (pretty hard to justify) theory that their accident rates soared around about then as they got to grips with the faster cars. Since then, things have levelled out but they still have worse (at least for the time being!) accident rates than us. Mind you, if you took out all the accidents involving kids on mopeds with no helmets, maybe they wouldn't be too different. Over here, we have a lot of rain, ice and poor visibility. Over there, they have kids in T shirts on mopeds.

I know what you mean about road works too. About 15 years ago, my wife and I took a car over to the North for a wee "jolly". The roads in the North are a lot quieter than the "Costas"! There I was doing (rather a lot of speed ) along one of those roads like you see in the 'States - dead straight with telegraph poles down one side. You can see where you're going to be in half an hour (almost)! All of a sudden, with almost no warning, we ran out of tarmac - they were re-laying a couple of miles and we were just running on rolled aggregate. That gave me a bit of a brown-trouser moment!

Anyway, on the whole, I agree with you. They tend to let you get on with it there and take responsibility for your own actions. Nice idea but I don't think it'll ever catch on over here!

I was there in July, and I was going to start a similar post but simply forgot.

Returning to the UK after going abroad really makes you realise what an absurdly absurd nanny state we live in and the completely ANAL attitude towards enforcing speed limits.

Somehow, I just could not invisage spanish police enforcing a speed limit, hiding behind the last sign in the village before the limit increases, after the hazzard has been passed, and handing out tickets to drivers who are increasing their speed quite safely after they have passed it. It just wouldn't happen.

Interestingly, I like their policy of dropping speed limits only on the APPROACH to the hazzard. It makes sense.

I think new laws in the UK are often a bad thing, as the the British just cannot be trusted to use discretion any more.

You Quote

"I think new laws in the UK are often a bad thing, as the the British just cannot be trusted to use discretion any more. "


How true, laws and regulations abroad, 10 pages long: These are rewritten in the UK and become 350 pages long.

We are a joke

its all about raising revenue.

I like the N340 road between Malaga airport and Marbella!

I've not been to mainland Spain for a few years now, but I'm a regular visitor to Tenerife. I hardly ever see a speed limit sign there, and I don't even know what the speed limit is in the town of Los Cristianos where I stay. And you know what? It doesn't matter in the slightest! I can see what the appropriate speed is just by looking at the road and any hazards that might be on it. I don't need a sign to tell me that. They don't need these arbitary "one size fits all" magic numbers which are the designated speed limit. The safe speed can vary with the time of day. No cops with hair dryers. I like it!

As an aside, other countries have the nanny state - I've been Gatsoed in Holland, and got six months of letters, always written in Dutch (which I don't speak). The letters looked like a demand for some sort of payment.

I also got flashed by a speed camera in France this summer in my UK registered car - never heard anything about it.

And, in parts of France, they do have those yellow Route Alert signs, telling you how many people have been killed in the next 10km etc.

Thanks for the replies.

It seems its also the norm with go-karting over there!
I once went to Red Lodge Karting in Suffolk, and remember being told you had to wear strong footwear, (you certainly wouldnt be able to wera sandals) , was given a boiler suit, helmet sock , crash helmet and gloves and given a 1/2 hour lecture on how to drive on the track.

While in Spain we went with some friends to a go-Karting track West of Antequera, and were allowed on the track with shorts, t-shirt and sandals (note: no socks , I was given a helmet and after wheeling the kart out of the garage to me, the Spaniad pointed at each pedal and simply said, 'Go, Stop'.

Great fun was had by all

In all, the whole holiday has really put a downer on coming back to Nanny state UK and the roads filled with areseholes, (and that not just the coppers!)

I like the 'dipped beam + queston mark' signs you get on exiting tunnels.

Having told you to put them on on the way in to the tunnel, they then ask you if you still need them, rather than telling you.

On French and Spanish motorways when you want to move over to the outside lane to overtake the cars on the outside lane back off a little and make a gap not like the uk where they close the gap to block you in.