Comments on: Traffic Laws, Spain vs. Venezuela

By: Private Pilot License

Private Pilot License — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:22:00 +0000

This was very good article.
Traffic laws have to severe enough so that they could actually be enforced. People have to be fearful of the punishments of breaking the traffic laws or they will be lightly overruled by careless drivers.

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:44:40 +0000

Little things like way-tinted windows in cars, or needing any special paperwork or anything-at-all to go anywhere with a concealed weapon on you, or such, have no place in law here (i.e. are allowed)

I guess it’s just a matter of perceived need. Not a lot of gang-related drive-bys up there, huh?

and I thought California would be the first US state that to attempt to succeed from the Union – now Im not so sure.

You mean “after the 19th century”, presumably. The Europeans are amazed at, confused by, and a little jealous of the extreme lack of separatist sentiment in the US.

Venezuela might be a lower point in your travels Erik, but without those trips think how much lesser your travel-successes will be!

Don’t worry, the value is not lost on me. I love having experiences like that to help me not take what I have for granted.

By: simon

simon — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:22:39 +0000

I’ve seen bad driving everywhere.
In Brussels, some roads are a little wider than one lane (in each direction), but not quite wide enough for two lanes, and there are no markings, so there’s a constant shuffling of traffic into a loose arrangement of anywhere from two to four ad hoc “lanes”.
On holiday in Jaipur, our host drove us around the city, explaining to us that “In India you can drive without brakes, but not without horn”…

By: Alaskan Uncle Steve

Alaskan Uncle Steve — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:31:05 +0000

You say “The number of enforced traffic laws a country has is positively correlated with how mature the country is.” but I think you might mean “region”, “area”, “borough”, (or if you want to be North America-specific, “state”) instead of “country”.

The locality of this can be lesser than that of country.

I’ve just in the past 2 years learned how fewer laws there are in Alaska, vs. the half-dozen other US states I remember living in.

Traffic laws are just one example of course. Common is to see a wrecker pulling a (former) car partially on the road, a-sparking a-plenty along the way. Like you said about some of the things you saw in Venezuela Erik, …. just not used to seeing that….

“Little things” like way-tinted windows in cars, or needing any special paperwork or anything-at-all to go anywhere with a concealed weapon on you, or such, have no place in law here (i.e. are allowed) …. some Alaskan laws actually disagree with US laws, being more liberal…. and I thought California would be the first US state that to attempt to succeed from the Union – now I’m not so sure….

Venezuela might be a lower point in your travels Erik, but without those trips think how much lesser your travel-successes will be!

Steve

By: jane

jane — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:49:31 +0000

On the opposite end of the spectrum, and not limited to traffic laws, the state of Maryland must value ~~managing everyone else’s~~ life disproportionately because it has proved to be the most officious domain in the universe.

My evidence is not empirical. It is anecdotal based on the local news reports that inevitably remind me that Maryland is officious, Virginia is archaic, and DC is damn near lawless.

Also, my father said that the week or so he spent in Puerto Rico, and more specifically in Puerto Rican traffic, several years ago was the most terrifying experience of his life.

By: sgazzetti

sgazzetti — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:38:49 +0000

I once read that in Argentina traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in our demographic, and from what I observed there I would believe it. I almost never drove there, which was lucky. It sounds like you observed a similar sort of life-is-cheap attitude where driving is concerned in Venezuela. I made passing mention of the phenomenon in a post back before you and I 'met', here. From what I could tell, the only traffic law anyone at all respected was, "BE FIRST".