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They’re doing this in Reykjavik as well which is great, although enforcement is poor so on the larger roads that are now 50km/h everyone is still driving 70km/h

They’re doing this in Reykjavik as well which is great, although enforcement is poor so on the larger roads that are now 50km/h everyone is still driving 70km/h as they were when the limit was 60km/h. Going back to the UK where a twisty road through my parents village with tiny pavements was 30mph was pretty shocking with how much more dangerous that felt.

sebazzz 3y ago
> They’re doing this in Reykjavik as well which is great, although enforcement is poor so on the larger roads that are now 50km/h everyone is still driving 70km/h as they were when the limit was 60km/h. The car speedometer is conservative so it is several kilometers behind, and the speed camera allows in the Netherlands about 3 kilometers margin. In practice this means you can drive about 107km/h indicated car speed on a 100km road. That said, lowering the speed on a road should not only be achieved with different signs but also with traffic calming - so redesigning the layout of the road.
macleginn 3y ago
As an aside, speed-limit enforcement in Iceland outside of Reykjavik is almost nonexistent. On the ring road, which goes around the whole country and has a strict but reasonable limit of 90 km/h (few cars but tons of bumps and sudden turns + a lot of low visibility due to bad weather), there are no more than 10 speed cameras, so everybody is driving at their own discretion.
- xenospn 3y ago
  Speed traps don’t make people drive slower. They’re just another way for the municipality to generate revenue.
  - ben_w 3y ago
    The stats I've seen say that they do both, to varying degrees depending on the quality of enforcement. If you're absolutely certain to get a ticket for speeding, and you are somewhere that will take your licence away for breaking road traffic rules too often, you're not going to do it again — not twice more, anyway. Back in the UK, there was someone I knew who absolutely loved to go fast. He had a story about red-lining his (Lexus?) across northern France to get back to the ferry before it's last crossing for the day (and how he wasn't caught in France, but almost immediately hit a speed trap when back in the UK). I was in his car for a two-vehicle "convoy" from a restaurant to an indoor race track for a mutual friend's stag do, where the other car was driven by someone who followed the speed limit, and when I asked this guy why he was doing 97 mph on the A14, his answer was "if I was going faster I might have to waste time in court proving that's not dangerous driving" rather than to slow down. But that guy, when he was on the maximum number of points on his licence before they'd take it away, was very careful to… not get caught.
- meheleventyone 3y ago
  The only place I’ve got a ticket was in the countryside so YMMV!
  - macleginn 3y ago
    Yes, they do exist, but they are clearly marked, including on the maps, so you need to do only a minimum amount of adaptation. On the other hand, most of the examples of egregiously bad driving I noticed were in Reykjavik, and in the countryside drivers are generally very careful (modulo tourists who suddenly slow down, stop, or even reverse a bit to take a photo or smth).
    - meheleventyone 3y ago
      There are also regularly police sitting out running speed traps in a more adhoc style which is what got me.
kmlx 3y ago
from my experience the level of perceived dangerousness is proportional to your most recent experience. drove in the center of Bucharest, Romania, where drivers constantly go over 70kmh (yes through the city center). then drove in London where 20-30mph felt ridiculously slow.
- momirlan 3y ago
  congratulations, you survived driving in Bucharest. your life will be boring after that.
- pjc50 3y ago
  For those who haven't seen it, may I present https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilR93GwSYEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilR93GwSYEA : "C'ETAIT UN RENDEZ-VOUS" - Claude Lelouch (1976), a short film of driving from the north of Paris to Montmartre in eight minutes. The title card says "no trick photography and the film has not been sped up". Don't try this at home.
  - mcv 3y ago
    What an absolute maniac. But Paris in 1976 looks a lot quieter than I remember it from 10-15 years ago.

sebazzz 3y ago

> They’re doing this in Reykjavik as well which is great, although enforcement is poor so on the larger roads that are now 50km/h everyone is still driving 70km/h as they were when the limit was 60km/h. The car speedometer is conservative so it is several kilometers behind, and the speed camera allows in the Netherlands about 3 kilometers margin. In practice this means you can drive about 107km/h indicated car speed on a 100km road. That said, lowering the speed on a road should not only be achieved with different signs but also with traffic calming - so redesigning the layout of the road.

macleginn 3y ago

As an aside, speed-limit enforcement in Iceland outside of Reykjavik is almost nonexistent. On the ring road, which goes around the whole country and has a strict but reasonable limit of 90 km/h (few cars but tons of bumps and sudden turns + a lot of low visibility due to bad weather), there are no more than 10 speed cameras, so everybody is driving at their own discretion.

xenospn 3y ago
Speed traps don’t make people drive slower. They’re just another way for the municipality to generate revenue.
- ben_w 3y ago
  The stats I've seen say that they do both, to varying degrees depending on the quality of enforcement. If you're absolutely certain to get a ticket for speeding, and you are somewhere that will take your licence away for breaking road traffic rules too often, you're not going to do it again — not twice more, anyway. Back in the UK, there was someone I knew who absolutely loved to go fast. He had a story about red-lining his (Lexus?) across northern France to get back to the ferry before it's last crossing for the day (and how he wasn't caught in France, but almost immediately hit a speed trap when back in the UK). I was in his car for a two-vehicle "convoy" from a restaurant to an indoor race track for a mutual friend's stag do, where the other car was driven by someone who followed the speed limit, and when I asked this guy why he was doing 97 mph on the A14, his answer was "if I was going faster I might have to waste time in court proving that's not dangerous driving" rather than to slow down. But that guy, when he was on the maximum number of points on his licence before they'd take it away, was very careful to… not get caught.
meheleventyone 3y ago
The only place I’ve got a ticket was in the countryside so YMMV!
- macleginn 3y ago
  Yes, they do exist, but they are clearly marked, including on the maps, so you need to do only a minimum amount of adaptation. On the other hand, most of the examples of egregiously bad driving I noticed were in Reykjavik, and in the countryside drivers are generally very careful (modulo tourists who suddenly slow down, stop, or even reverse a bit to take a photo or smth).
  - meheleventyone 3y ago
    There are also regularly police sitting out running speed traps in a more adhoc style which is what got me.

kmlx 3y ago

from my experience the level of perceived dangerousness is proportional to your most recent experience. drove in the center of Bucharest, Romania, where drivers constantly go over 70kmh (yes through the city center). then drove in London where 20-30mph felt ridiculously slow.

momirlan 3y ago
congratulations, you survived driving in Bucharest. your life will be boring after that.
pjc50 3y ago
For those who haven't seen it, may I present https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilR93GwSYEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilR93GwSYEA : "C'ETAIT UN RENDEZ-VOUS" - Claude Lelouch (1976), a short film of driving from the north of Paris to Montmartre in eight minutes. The title card says "no trick photography and the film has not been sped up". Don't try this at home.
- mcv 3y ago
  What an absolute maniac. But Paris in 1976 looks a lot quieter than I remember it from 10-15 years ago.