For Gerry to wear during his next site maintenance/upgrade session

[linjam]

For Gerry to wear during his next site maintenance/upgrade session:

NEW Sealed Mercedes Benz Factory Yellow Warning Safety Vest A 0005834300 | eBay

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www.ebay.com

 

[gerryvz]

Actually, those "Warnvests" (German for "warn vest") are required in many European countries to be carried in the car, and worn in the event of a breakdown and you are by the side of the road. We always carry them in the trunk on the Alpentours, and yes the police do safety checks!! These are very definitely required in Italy, and I think Austria as well. I don't think they are required in Germany.

 

[linjam]

Actually, those "Warnvests" (German for "warn vest") are required in many European countries to be carried in the car, and worn in the event of a breakdown and you are by the side of the road. We always carry them in the trunk on the Alpentours, and yes the police do safety checks!! These are very definitely required in Italy, and I think Austria as well. I don't think they are required in Germany.

Interesting and informative.

 

[gsxr]

Less than ten bucks MSRP! Yeah, gonna have to order a couple...

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Actually, those "Warnvests" (German for "warn vest") are required in many European countries to be carried in the car, and worn in the event of a breakdown and you are by the side of the road. We always carry them in the trunk on the Alpentours, and yes the police do safety checks!! These are very definitely required in Italy, and I think Austria as well. I don't think they are required in Germany.

Oh yes, the Europeans and the "Warnwesten"

In Germany, you need to have at least one in your car. Controlled at every "Hauptuntersuchung" (MOT) and in police controls.
In Austria, you need to carry as many as your car has seats! Otherwise it gets VERY expensive!

A friend was in Austria with his Fiat van (7 seats) and had 5 seats removed to carry his motorbike and for that reason had only 2 vests in the car.
He had to pay a few hundred Euros fine, because he "missed" 5 vests

For some reason the Austian police is allowed to estimate if you are speeding too...

 

[gerryvz]

For some reason the Austian police is allowed to estimate if you are speeding too...

I never speed in Austria because I try to stick to the B-roads to avoid the stupid Austrian "vignette" stickers. I have been known to hop on the Austrian autobahn for 1-2 km when going from the German border to Bregenz, Austria....hoping not to get pulled over by the Polizei in that short distance for no sticker on the windshield.

Then there was the time in Zurich, when I got a ticket for going 51 km/hr in a 50-zone. ONLY in Switzerland would they do this.

The ticket came in the mail to my house in the US about 2-3 weeks after I got home. I just paid the CHF 30 fine using my debit card, over the internet.

And lastly, the gauntlet of speed-cameras in and all around Stuttgart. It's the speed camera capital of the world, particularly when you are coming into the city on the B10, after leaving the A8. On that flat, straight road along the Neckar River, by Esslingen. I think one camera every 1-2 kms on that stretch of road.

 

[744Brillantsilber]

I never speed in Austria because I try to stick to the B-roads to avoid the stupid Austrian "vignette" stickers. I have been known to hop on the Austrian autobahn for 1-2 km when going from the German border to Bregenz, Austria....hoping not to get pulled over by the Polizei in that short distance for no sticker on the windshield.

Then there was the time in Zurich, when I got a ticket for going 51 km/hr in a 50-zone. ONLY in Switzerland would they do this.

The ticket came in the mail to my house in the US about 2-3 weeks after I got home. I just paid the CHF 30 fine using my debit card, over the internet.

And lastly, the gauntlet of speed-cameras in and all around Stuttgart. It's the speed camera capital of the world, particularly when you are coming into the city on the B10, after leaving the A8. On that flat, straight road along the Neckar River, by Esslingen. I think one camera every 1-2 kms on that stretch of road.

Be careful with this, they mostly check for vignettes direct after the borders!! And the fines are not funny!
Yes, Swiss is very strict! They now have traps for to loud cars too, not only for to fast drivers!

I know the Stuttgart and the B10 very well, it is a pain for sure!! I need to focus more on the speedo than on the road when driving around Stuttgart!

If you want, feel free contact me when you are around Stuttgart the next time!
Depending on how familiar you are with the area, I would love to show you a bit!

 

[gerryvz]

Be careful with this, they mostly check for vignettes direct after the borders!! And the fines are not funny!
Yes, Swiss is very strict! They now have traps for to loud cars too, not only for to fast drivers!

I know the Stuttgart and the B10 very well, it is a pain for sure!! I need to focus more on the speedo than on the road when driving around Stuttgart!

If you want, feel free contact me when you are around Stuttgart the next time!
Depending on how familiar you are with the area, I would love to show you a bit!

I'm a n00b with Stuttgart — I was there maybe one time in my life.

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This is my thread documenting my trip this year. At the beginning of Day 2 (Saturday) I'm in the vicinity of Munich/Freising and enjoying a relaxing morning. Today will be a day to prepare the cars we'll be taking on the Alpentour, leaving for the mountains next Thursday afternoon. Among the...

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GVZ Euro Tour 2012 | Events, Meets and Get-Togethers

All, A very quick update..... I have some really good news to share with everyone, that happened today. I will share it very soon, but it has to do with Porsche and the 500E production history. I spent part of today at Porsche HQ in Zuffenhausen. Last night (Tuesday night) I spent the...

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The annual GVZ Euro Tour 2011 is kicking off imminently. This year's vehicle will be the brand-new 2011 MB SLK. I'll be in Belgium at the Van de Velde Benz wrecking yard the entire day on Monday June 20, and now have formed tentative plans to get together with Talbir at his London home on...

www.500eboard.co

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Ah, OK!
I see you already were at AMG, the Classic Center, the Sindelfingen-plant and the Porsche and Mercedes Museums. They all did not change much during the last 10 years!
Do you know the Daimler birthplace in Schorndorf (20 miles from Stuttgart) and his "greenhouse" (where he and Mr. Maybach developed their first engines) in Stuttgart too?

 

[ace10]

I keep a fair amount ANSI hi-viz hlgear in the vehicles and around the property. Nothing with a Merc logo on it, though.

The vest in my truck has (unfortunately) been put use two times. Both were bad rural road vehicle accidents where I stopped to aid with traffic control. Out here it can take a while for true first responders to arrive on scene. And if an accident isn't a deer strike, they tend to be pretty serious. Narrow, two lane hilly windy roads.

Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[gerryvz]

Ah, OK!
I see you already were at AMG, the Classic Center, the Sindelfingen-plant and the Porsche and Mercedes Museums. They all did not change much during the last 10 years!
Do you know the Daimler birthplace in Schorndorf (20 miles from Stuttgart) and his "greenhouse" (where he and Mr. Maybach developed their first engines) in Stuttgart too?

Ja, jedes Jahr in Stuttgart, seit 1999....

I've been to the Greenhouse, but it has been a long time (15+ years). The A8 between Ulm and Stuttgart is one of my favorite autobahns, but unfortunately it is always under construction. That one section with the change in altitude and the hairpin turn ("GEFAHR!!") is my favorite. Have you driven much in the "Schwäbische Alb" area?

 

[linjam]

Oh yes, the Europeans and the "Warnwesten"

In Germany, you need to have at least one in your car. Controlled at every "Hauptuntersuchung" (MOT) and in police controls.
In Austria, you need to carry as many as your car has seats! Otherwise it gets VERY expensive!

A friend was in Austria with his Fiat van (7 seats) and had 5 seats removed to carry his motorbike and for that reason had only 2 vests in the car.
He had to pay a few hundred Euros fine, because he "missed" 5 vests

For some reason the Austian police is allowed to estimate if you are speeding too...

Outrageous. I guess the high taxes aren't enough for the police state.

 

[linjam]

I never speed in Austria because I try to stick to the B-roads to avoid the stupid Austrian "vignette" stickers. I have been known to hop on the Austrian autobahn for 1-2 km when going from the German border to Bregenz, Austria....hoping not to get pulled over by the Polizei in that short distance for no sticker on the windshield.

Then there was the time in Zurich, when I got a ticket for going 51 km/hr in a 50-zone. ONLY in Switzerland would they do this.

The ticket came in the mail to my house in the US about 2-3 weeks after I got home. I just paid the CHF 30 fine using my debit card, over the internet.

And lastly, the gauntlet of speed-cameras in and all around Stuttgart. It's the speed camera capital of the world, particularly when you are coming into the city on the B10, after leaving the A8. On that flat, straight road along the Neckar River, by Esslingen. I think one camera every 1-2 kms on that stretch of road.

Europe was fun to drive through before the tax collecting cameras. No longer.

 

[LWB250]

Europe was fun to drive in before the tax collecting cameras. No longer.

When I was in the UK some years back I was driving with a coworker out in a rural area. We came up and over a rise that sort of curved to one side to see what appeared to be a pole with a mass of flames on the top of it. Thoroughly befuddled, we pulled over to get a closer look.

It was a speed camera that someone had thrown a tire over that was full of something flammable and lit it. The tire was fully involved, and the speed camera enclosure was totally torched. My coworker, a Brit, just chuckled to himself and called the fire brigade. They arrived a few minutes later and put out what was left of the fire. I found a picture of one similar to what we saw:



As we pulled away, my coworker told me of all the social discord being created by the placement of speed cameras all over the country, and the resulting rowdyism from some parts of the populace who were less than enamored of such incursions on their rights.

Dan

 

[linjam]

When I was in the UK some years back I was driving with a coworker out in a rural area. We came up and over a rise that sort of curved to one side to see what appeared to be a pole with a mass of flames on the top of it. Thoroughly befuddled, we pulled over to get a closer look.

It was a speed camera that someone had thrown a tire over that was full of something flammable and lit it. The tire was fully involved, and the speed camera enclosure was totally torched. My coworker, a Brit, just chuckled to himself and called the fire brigade. They arrived a few minutes later and put out what was left of the fire. I found a picture of one similar to what we saw:

View attachment 103571

As we pulled away, my coworker told me of all the social discord being created by the placement of speed cameras all over the country, and the resulting rowdyism from some parts of the populace who were less than enamored of such incursions on their rights.

Dan

That is a truly inspirational story!

 

[msq]

When I was in the UK some years back .....

It was a speed camera that someone had thrown a tire over that was full of something flammable and lit it. The tire was fully involved, and the speed camera enclosure was totally torched.
.....
Dan

Whoever did this that deserves a medal

 

[LWB250]

My coworker regaled me of stories of various acts of social rebellion regarding these things. According to him, the government was going so far as to place them in locations much like the one we saw in a very rural area where the likelihood of someone speeding would be high along with not being able to see the camera. He said people would throw paint balloons at them, rendering them "blind" as well as climbing up the poles and spray painting over the windows where the camera lenses were located, too.

Dan

 

[msq]

total BS the UK does this....when I saw some US counties putting up drones for COVID to basically spy on people I thought "if you give them an inch on this they will take a foot and soon those drones will be up for other reasons"....total BS

 

[TerryA]

I never speed in Austria because I try to stick to the B-roads to avoid the stupid Austrian "vignette" stickers. I have been known to hop on the Austrian autobahn for 1-2 km when going from the German border to Bregenz, Austria....hoping not to get pulled over by the Polizei in that short distance for no sticker on the windshield.

Then there was the time in Zurich, when I got a ticket for going 51 km/hr in a 50-zone. ONLY in Switzerland would they do this.

The ticket came in the mail to my house in the US about 2-3 weeks after I got home. I just paid the CHF 30 fine using my debit card, over the internet.

And lastly, the gauntlet of speed-cameras in and all around Stuttgart. It's the speed camera capital of the world, particularly when you are coming into the city on the B10, after leaving the A8. On that flat, straight road along the Neckar River, by Esslingen. I think one camera every 1-2 kms on that stretch of road.

In 2013 my wife and I were on a 45 day tour of Italy. We were supposed to go to Venice but the weather turned bad and we decided to go thru the Bremer Pass into Austria. So I'm tooling along at 120km per hour when a Truck/Lorrie apparently blocked a reduction to 80km per hour sign. Next thing I knew we were pulled over for speeding by two Austrian Cops. These guys split me from my wife apart and they both started interrogating us separately. Anyway the guy talking to me said this was a very serious violation and could be a 500 Euro fine.

The cop kept on talking about this fine and after about 15 minutes of listening to him I finally said "Well lets get on with it! What are you going to do?" Expecting to get taken somewhere and having to pay the fine and get it over with so I could continue my trip. So the next thing he tells me to step over by his car. Once there he says we can settle this right here if you want. Just give me 35 Euros. I said OK and started fumbling around in my wallet looking for 35 Euros. Long story short I came up with 30 Euros in paper bills and told him wait I have some coins for the other 5 Euros.

He says to me "That's OK don't worry about it you can go" I asked for a receipt and he scribbled out something on a piece of paper with no official writing on it.

After that exchange, I thought these guys were just screwing with me and shaking me down for beer money.

Also in that same stop they said my rental car which I picked up in Rome, Italy did not have a sticker of some sort on the wind shield. I said this a rental car I should not be responsible for it. They said I had to have the sticker and directed me to go to a "Rest Stop" there I could purchase a sticker. The Damn sticker cost me about 50 Euro.

Anyway, a very interesting experience.

 

[gerryvz]

There are stickers ("vignettes") for Austria you can buy that are good for like 7 or 10 days that are pretty cheap, somewhere around 15 Euros. Or you can get an annual one, which of course is much more. I think for Switzerland, that only annual stickers are avaialble, and last time I bought one it was something like 50 or 60 CHF (about $40-50).

The rental car company is NOT responsible for providing vignettes, though. I have had rental cars in the past with a sticker already on the windshield from a former renter, but that is pretty rare. Most of the time I have to just get them myself. You can get them at any gas station or rest stop near the border (either side). Or do what I do, just use a "local" crossing (B-road) to cross the border and get out of the area, and hop back on the autobahn when you are 5-10 kms inside the country.

I always leave my vignettes installed on the windshields of the cars I rent, to pay it forward. Or I'll only install it lightly or half-way (with the backing half removed) and then peel it off and give it to a German friend who will be taking a holiday later that year in Switzerland. I have always bought the 7- or 10-day Austrian stickers. If the authorities see that you have only partially installed a sticker (with half of the backing removed), they will stop you and make you press the whole thing onto the windshield. The stickers have special pre-cuts in them (in a circular or wavy pattern) that make them peel off (if well stuck onto the window) in pieces. It's REALLY difficult to remove a sticker as a whole piece if it is pressed onto the windshield, which is why I try to just lightly install them at the corners or edges when I can.

Of course, France and Italy have toll stations (like the Eastern US) where you have to toss money into the bins to pass, and in recent years you can insert a credit card. I used to carry about 100 Euros of change with me when I would go to Paris from Germany, as it costs abourt EUR 60 one way to drive from the German border to Paris in tolls. None of the individual tolls are more than 7-8 EUR, but they add up. Italy is the same -- it's a PITA to pay the damn tolls all the time. Belgium and Germany, no tolls. You just GO !!! Switzerland and Austria -- you get a sticker and then you go !

All of those GVZ Euro Tours over the years in every country teach you these small lessons, ins and outs, and ways to get around the system when you can.

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Ja, jedes Jahr in Stuttgart, seit 1999....

I've been to the Greenhouse, but it has been a long time (15+ years). The A8 between Ulm and Stuttgart is one of my favorite autobahns, but unfortunately it is always under construction. That one section with the change in altitude and the hairpin turn ("GEFAHR!!") is my favorite. Have you driven much in the "Schwäbische Alb" area?

Yes, the "Schwäbische Alb", of course. Lots of fun back roads there!

Of course, France and Italy have toll stations (like the Eastern US) where you have to toss money into the bins to pass, and in recent years you can insert a credit card. I used to carry about 100 Euros of change with me when I would go to Paris from Germany, as it costs abourt EUR 60 one way to drive from the German border to Paris in tolls. None of the individual tolls are more than 7-8 EUR, but they add up. Italy is the same -- it's a PITA to pay the damn tolls all the time. Belgium and Germany, no tolls. You just GO !!! Switzerland and Austria -- you get a sticker and then you go !

Better use money instead of a credit card in Italy. During my last few visits in Italy a few times the box took the credit card but refused to give it back.
Glad it was always the person in the car in front of me, but seeing this a few times I now prefer using "real" money.

 

[Allgonquin]

The company I work for gave us each as many "day-glo" vests as we wanted. I have one in each of my cars, and I've used mine when I changed a flat.