Cyprus
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Cyprus
Was watching Wish You Were Here earlier this week and it had a feature on the Greek half of Cyprus. Apart from driving on the left, they also use the same design of traffic lights and even have the same warning sign for speed cameras. However, I was thinking: does the country have a motorway network( Nicosia is quite a large place and there is a huge RAF base at Akrotiri) and what are the speed limits like?
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traffic-light-man
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Re: Cyprus
Well, I thought they did, but I've seen some pics of some to the same spec as ours, just using Futurit heads instead, rather like the Hong Kong types... It may have been Malta come to think of it!Glenn A wrote:they also use the same design of traffic lights
Simon
No, Simon.
Malta doesn't have any Futurits, in fact you were probably thinking of Italian made SILEC, as the majority of Italian & Maltese signals are of this make, which these look similar to Futurits.
However only one junction in Malta has Microsense MSH heads as these were Malta's first ever traffic lights on the island then SILEC was chosen soon afterwards that I reckon Italy was closer and cheaper to purchase than from the UK.
Getting back to Cyprus, they have the same UK traffic lights (Siemens Helios, Mellor, Microsense MSH) as Siemens Traffic are currently the main contractor for the Greek Cyprus government.
In case no-one knows, Cyprus is divided into two - a bit like Ireland - as the northern half is Turkish controlled which traffic lights there are the same as over in Turkey!
Turkish traffic lights, in Turkish Cyprus and Turkey, are generally SILEC types too (same as Italy and Malta) which the heads are in a yellow or orange colour in contrast to the traditional black British types on the other side in Greek Cyprus!
Malta doesn't have any Futurits, in fact you were probably thinking of Italian made SILEC, as the majority of Italian & Maltese signals are of this make, which these look similar to Futurits.
However only one junction in Malta has Microsense MSH heads as these were Malta's first ever traffic lights on the island then SILEC was chosen soon afterwards that I reckon Italy was closer and cheaper to purchase than from the UK.
Getting back to Cyprus, they have the same UK traffic lights (Siemens Helios, Mellor, Microsense MSH) as Siemens Traffic are currently the main contractor for the Greek Cyprus government.
In case no-one knows, Cyprus is divided into two - a bit like Ireland - as the northern half is Turkish controlled which traffic lights there are the same as over in Turkey!
Turkish traffic lights, in Turkish Cyprus and Turkey, are generally SILEC types too (same as Italy and Malta) which the heads are in a yellow or orange colour in contrast to the traditional black British types on the other side in Greek Cyprus!
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traffic-light-man
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Whatever the brand name is, if you look at examples of signal heads of Malta and Italy - it is almost certain you'll find these are of the same design.
I've learnt some signal heads having different brands despite the overall design looking exactly the same - like Mellors and Futurits - making it hard to identify the exact model name hence I simply call one particular design as Mellor even though with so many brands (GEC, Plessey etc) and the same for Futurits or Euro types as horsetan would call these.
Though I have an interest in traffic lights I can honestly say I am not an expert and neither are you...
We all sometimes get things wrong so I won't hold that against you
I've learnt some signal heads having different brands despite the overall design looking exactly the same - like Mellors and Futurits - making it hard to identify the exact model name hence I simply call one particular design as Mellor even though with so many brands (GEC, Plessey etc) and the same for Futurits or Euro types as horsetan would call these.
Though I have an interest in traffic lights I can honestly say I am not an expert and neither are you...
We all sometimes get things wrong so I won't hold that against you
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traffic-light-man
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- Location: Liverpool, UK
Am in Cyprus at the moment, here's my stab at a Guide To:
Population: 800,000
Sticker:CY
Drives: left, litres, km
System:
Motorways are the top level classification, indicated with an "A" number. These are not motorways as we know them, speed limit is 100km/h and they're a lower standard than UK/Ireland motorways. More to the point, apart from a couple of full GSJs, most exits are LILOs!
Other roads are indicated with a B, E, or F.
Urban areas
Marked with a sign reading simply "Built Up Area" No, they don't tell you what the actual name of the built up area is.
Traffic lights:
Red-red/amber-green-amber-red. Pedestrians be warned, while motorists will let you cross the road, they don't wait for the light to turn back to green to go...
Network Numbering:
A for motorways. B is for main roads, the motorway takes its number (similar to Scotland) from the main road that its' bypassing. This leads to wierd situations where the A1 suddenly becomes the A6 and such like.
E and F for other roads.
Motorway junctions:
LILOs mainly. These are not motorway junctions as we know them. Junction numbers are similar to UK/Ireland, white number, black background, but on an oval rather than a square. Sequential numbering.
Signage:
Bilingual Greek-English, the Greek being in yellow all Greek script, the English being in mixed case and Transport font (or very similar, at any rate). Watch out though, the English spellings for placenames on most signs are different to that which most people use (so Lefkosia, not Nicosia, Lemoses, not Limasoll, and Pafos, not Paphos).
Signs on motorways are green, there are no Start of Motorway Regulations or End of Motorway Regulations signs. The chopsticks symbol is used but only on the flag sign leading to the motorway. The are however, large white signs saying "No Pedestrians Allowed on the Motorway"
Signs on other roads are blue. While there appears to be no difference between primary and non-primary routes, white signs do exist, but they seem to be for local places of interest (ie like the old blue-border UK signs).
Tourist signs are brown.
Non-directional signs are mostly same as UK, but speed limit signs are in a wierd font, similar but different to the one Ireland uses. Wierdly, both the UK triangle and continental blue/white Pedestrian Crossing signs are used!!!
Final thought:
You need a car for Cyprus, the public transport system is worse than Ireland (and the Irish contigent will know how daming an indicment that is!!!!).
Population: 800,000
Sticker:CY
Drives: left, litres, km
System:
Motorways are the top level classification, indicated with an "A" number. These are not motorways as we know them, speed limit is 100km/h and they're a lower standard than UK/Ireland motorways. More to the point, apart from a couple of full GSJs, most exits are LILOs!
Other roads are indicated with a B, E, or F.
Urban areas
Marked with a sign reading simply "Built Up Area" No, they don't tell you what the actual name of the built up area is.
Traffic lights:
Red-red/amber-green-amber-red. Pedestrians be warned, while motorists will let you cross the road, they don't wait for the light to turn back to green to go...
Network Numbering:
A for motorways. B is for main roads, the motorway takes its number (similar to Scotland) from the main road that its' bypassing. This leads to wierd situations where the A1 suddenly becomes the A6 and such like.
E and F for other roads.
Motorway junctions:
LILOs mainly. These are not motorway junctions as we know them. Junction numbers are similar to UK/Ireland, white number, black background, but on an oval rather than a square. Sequential numbering.
Signage:
Bilingual Greek-English, the Greek being in yellow all Greek script, the English being in mixed case and Transport font (or very similar, at any rate). Watch out though, the English spellings for placenames on most signs are different to that which most people use (so Lefkosia, not Nicosia, Lemoses, not Limasoll, and Pafos, not Paphos).
Signs on motorways are green, there are no Start of Motorway Regulations or End of Motorway Regulations signs. The chopsticks symbol is used but only on the flag sign leading to the motorway. The are however, large white signs saying "No Pedestrians Allowed on the Motorway"
Signs on other roads are blue. While there appears to be no difference between primary and non-primary routes, white signs do exist, but they seem to be for local places of interest (ie like the old blue-border UK signs).
Tourist signs are brown.
Non-directional signs are mostly same as UK, but speed limit signs are in a wierd font, similar but different to the one Ireland uses. Wierdly, both the UK triangle and continental blue/white Pedestrian Crossing signs are used!!!
Final thought:
You need a car for Cyprus, the public transport system is worse than Ireland (and the Irish contigent will know how daming an indicment that is!!!!).
Some pictures now up on the Gallary, though I hadn't realised there were some already up!
Some other observations from having toured part of the island:
* Contrary to my previous post, chopsticks signs (start/end of regulations) do exist. They seem to be limited to terminal junctions however and are rare enough in other places. At other junctions (but it seems to vary from junction to junction) you get a sign outlawing pedestrians and cyclists swiftly followed by a Clearway sign!
* While the font used on all-purpose roads seems to be Transport, the font used on motorways seems to be slightly different, closer to the US font???
* I drove through a British Army administered area on the B6, signage is mostly similar to the Republic of Cyprus, but every street is named - with an English-only UK style street name sign! Speed limit signs are also in Transport font here, but with a plate stating "km/h" underneath. (A taste of what future UK metric speed signs might look like???) Directional signage seemed to be near non-existant but where present was the same as the Republic. You're not allowed take pictures in the SBAs, so I haven't any.
* Entered the North (Turkish) area through Nicosia, but didn't see much in the way of any signage there.
* Adherance to colour conventions appears to be as bad as Ireland - I spotted a junction near Kolossi where all the signs were green even though none of the roads leaded directly (or in one direction, at all!) to a motorway.
Some other observations from having toured part of the island:
* Contrary to my previous post, chopsticks signs (start/end of regulations) do exist. They seem to be limited to terminal junctions however and are rare enough in other places. At other junctions (but it seems to vary from junction to junction) you get a sign outlawing pedestrians and cyclists swiftly followed by a Clearway sign!
* While the font used on all-purpose roads seems to be Transport, the font used on motorways seems to be slightly different, closer to the US font???
* I drove through a British Army administered area on the B6, signage is mostly similar to the Republic of Cyprus, but every street is named - with an English-only UK style street name sign! Speed limit signs are also in Transport font here, but with a plate stating "km/h" underneath. (A taste of what future UK metric speed signs might look like???) Directional signage seemed to be near non-existant but where present was the same as the Republic. You're not allowed take pictures in the SBAs, so I haven't any.
* Entered the North (Turkish) area through Nicosia, but didn't see much in the way of any signage there.
* Adherance to colour conventions appears to be as bad as Ireland - I spotted a junction near Kolossi where all the signs were green even though none of the roads leaded directly (or in one direction, at all!) to a motorway.
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Chris Bertram
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... and on the M6 between Stoke and Crewe.IanA414 wrote:They also have them on the M11 between junctions 8 & 9.
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PeterA5145
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The M62 ones are at Scammonden, westbound only:Gareth wrote:And somewhere along the M62, I think in the Pennine area. They're not exactly a rare sight, these days.Chris Bertram wrote:... and on the M6 between Stoke and Crewe.IanA414 wrote:They also have them on the M11 between junctions 8 & 9.
The northbound ones on the M6 between J18 and J19 have now been burned off, but the southbound ones are still there.
There are also some on the M56 between J12 and J14 (or were last time I was along there).
(btw, mods, this thread could do with splitting as it's veered wildly off the original topic
)“The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Some further notes on Cyprus
On first arrival it is apparent just where the engineers learned their trade - from Britain, and with a copy of TSGRD taken home in their bag. So many things look so familiar, starting with driving on the left, then you come across just little differences. Road signage fonts are definitely familiar, mostly bilingual/bicharacter in Greek (yellow) and English (white). Likewise markings and other signage is just as at home. It's the little detailed differences that eventually strike you - pedestrian crossings are identical, except that the Belisha Beacon poles are shorter, probably about 6 feet tall. Likewise signage background is green for motorway, blue for main road, the opposite of Britain (but seeming to use the same shades).
There is a straightforward and perfectly adequate motorway system, two-lane throughout, a simplistic inverted-T in plan form, all along the south coast passing the major cities, and with a northward branch to Nicosia, the capital in the centre of the island. This, together with a couple of short spurs, caters well for all inter-city movements. They have developed their design standards over time, and on much of the network there are very lengthy acceleration and deceleration lanes compared to Britain, 0.5 km or more. Exceptionally, the Limassol to Nicosia rote, the busiest, was probably done first, and in contrast has notably short accesses - a problem of spec enhancement we know from the UK, where the lowest spec are often the busiest.
Paving standards are good, completely blacktop everywhere (surprising that a country with so much limestone rock has not dome any concrete surfacing). Rumble strip edge lines are straight from the UK. Probably the most spectacular section of motorway is the west end, from Limassol to Paphos. This looks recent, and has been done with very extensive rough-excavated cuttings and embankments through the bare limestone hills, which make Twyford Down look small scale. It is a textbook example of engineers' cut-and-fill calculations, and probably cost only a fraction of what a comparable UK road would. There is one tunnel on this section, about 1km long, twin 2-lane bores, unlined, and to UK eyes seeming extremely high to the apex.
The motorway past Limassol probably went around the urban area when first built, but new development has inevitably been attracted to both sides and it now forms Cyprus' only Urban Motorway, still just 2 lanes on the main carriageways. A new neo-Byzantine Greek Orthodox Cathedral was under construction alongside at one point, interesting to see how the crowning large cupola which was still under scaffolding is readily formed in reinforced concrete. The lesson of getting too close to the city was learned by the time the section past Larnaca was done, which loops well outside the urban area.
There is a speed limit of 100 km/h on the motorways, signed periodically, paired with 65 km/h minimum speed limit signs, which look unusual. Also signed are height limits on each motorway overbridge, although these are significantly high, well over 5m being common. Radar speed limit enforcement is heavy, you often pass several in a day, which they perform on the motorway by a PC stationed ahead stepping out in front of you and signalling you to stop on the open motorway - definitely not the British way ! Likewise works, even fast lane closures, are just done with a simple sign like on a UK city street. One thing you notice is a notable quantity of witness marks from accidents on the motorways for their light traffic density and moderate speeds, tyre marks up the barriers, smashed Armco, major fire marks, etc, along with the inevitable Mediterranean roadside floral tributes.
Central reservation construction is unusual, twin thin concrete barriers about 1.5 m high, with a thin high hedge planted down the middle between the two walls, which forms a good headlight screen at night. On one section those plastic headlight deflectors mounted on the central barrier, which used to be installed on the M6 between Birmingham and Coventry where the M6T now comes in, have been used instead. They appear to be of exactly the same type.
We got to some Roman remains in the country, quite isolated, where a new access road was half constructed but now deserted alongside. As we stood under the midday sun a surveyor appeared, trying (somewhat) to manage in the warm breeze a large A0-sized drawing he had brought with him. Well-bronzed, and with extensive rough-clothing covering against the sun, he stormed up and down, muttered some Greek oaths, marked up the drawing, and stomped off again in disgust. The job probably doesn't pay too well, but is a pleasant open-air lifestyle if you are into that sort of thing. The access road, which was just at the base course stage, to UK eyes appeared to have no drainage installed whatsoever, so in the odd thunderstorm would surely be awash at the bottom. It looked like an question from an ICE Chartered Engineer exam - "What would you now do to complete this part-complete and abandoned project?".
For vehicles themselves, there is a typical modern-day non-major Mediterranean country mix. Standard cars have as ever gone over extensively to Asian manufacturers, with the Koreans having established a firm base - our rental car was a Kia. Vehicles seem to last a bit longer than the UK, but you don't see old relics on the road like in Malta. Premium vehicles are extensively Mercedes, who completely dominate the taxi trade (although Ayia Napa has one ex-London FX4 which lines up with all the Mercs in the town square, our own taxi driver said it is driven by a Bulgarian !). A notable number of the taxi Mercs are 6-door long wheelbase models. There are also more than a few current model Jaguars and Land Rovers around, which must keep several dealers going. In Ayia Napa, certainly, Quads, etc, are allowed on the public highway, with these and motor cycles often ridden without safety helmets, especially by Cypriots.
Numberplates look absolutely British, with the same font and colours, except that the most recent vehicles, as in the UK, have slightly different European-style plates. Format is XXX999. There are also different plates on taxis and hire cars, coloured red, with an additional character prefix, T for taxi, Z for hire car, etc. It was surprising that the numberplates use the full set of UK Latin characters, as of course the standard language in Cyprus is Greek, with Greek characters; they have not done what the Russians have done, which is to use only those characters which look the same in Cyrillic and Latin. In tourist areas English is widespread (altough Russia seems to be taking over as the main tourist source), but in rural areas there must stll be non-English speakers who would find it difficult to give their registration.
The public bus service is probably the worst I have encountered in a developed country, what there is run with coach-type vehicles (the normal German and Swedish types) which are also used for extensive tours, airport transfers, etc, and with very little apart from a small board inside the windscreen to show any destination. They are run by independent operators, as they see fit, at wide intervals which need a timetable and are just not convenient. We never used them. There is one operator of open top double-deck sightseeing buses, operated with old Leyland Atlantean buses which must have been imported from a city somewhere in Britain.
Road maps are poor and annoying. Of the couple on sale I bought what looked like the best one, a large folded sheet with the country on one side and several city street maps on the other. Unfortunately the two sides just didn't seem to align with each other, time and again I couldn't make out where the entry road to a city actually came in on the city map. Likewise when leaving a city it was not possible to identify what was signposted - the main motorway westward from Nicosia is signed Troodos, an obscure village in the mountains way beyond the end of the motorway network. It just happens to be the highest point on the pass over the mountains, but you would never know. The mountain roads in this area are great to drive, not narrow, 2-lane throughout, but substantial gradients, continuous hairpins, and occasional spectacular views. The nearly get up to the 6,000 foot elevation of the main mountain in the centre of the country. At the end of this substantial journey is a Monastery, which is well known for it's brandy. Now that we are home again, maybe this evening I will get the chance to try a glass !
There is a straightforward and perfectly adequate motorway system, two-lane throughout, a simplistic inverted-T in plan form, all along the south coast passing the major cities, and with a northward branch to Nicosia, the capital in the centre of the island. This, together with a couple of short spurs, caters well for all inter-city movements. They have developed their design standards over time, and on much of the network there are very lengthy acceleration and deceleration lanes compared to Britain, 0.5 km or more. Exceptionally, the Limassol to Nicosia rote, the busiest, was probably done first, and in contrast has notably short accesses - a problem of spec enhancement we know from the UK, where the lowest spec are often the busiest.
Paving standards are good, completely blacktop everywhere (surprising that a country with so much limestone rock has not dome any concrete surfacing). Rumble strip edge lines are straight from the UK. Probably the most spectacular section of motorway is the west end, from Limassol to Paphos. This looks recent, and has been done with very extensive rough-excavated cuttings and embankments through the bare limestone hills, which make Twyford Down look small scale. It is a textbook example of engineers' cut-and-fill calculations, and probably cost only a fraction of what a comparable UK road would. There is one tunnel on this section, about 1km long, twin 2-lane bores, unlined, and to UK eyes seeming extremely high to the apex.
The motorway past Limassol probably went around the urban area when first built, but new development has inevitably been attracted to both sides and it now forms Cyprus' only Urban Motorway, still just 2 lanes on the main carriageways. A new neo-Byzantine Greek Orthodox Cathedral was under construction alongside at one point, interesting to see how the crowning large cupola which was still under scaffolding is readily formed in reinforced concrete. The lesson of getting too close to the city was learned by the time the section past Larnaca was done, which loops well outside the urban area.
There is a speed limit of 100 km/h on the motorways, signed periodically, paired with 65 km/h minimum speed limit signs, which look unusual. Also signed are height limits on each motorway overbridge, although these are significantly high, well over 5m being common. Radar speed limit enforcement is heavy, you often pass several in a day, which they perform on the motorway by a PC stationed ahead stepping out in front of you and signalling you to stop on the open motorway - definitely not the British way ! Likewise works, even fast lane closures, are just done with a simple sign like on a UK city street. One thing you notice is a notable quantity of witness marks from accidents on the motorways for their light traffic density and moderate speeds, tyre marks up the barriers, smashed Armco, major fire marks, etc, along with the inevitable Mediterranean roadside floral tributes.
Central reservation construction is unusual, twin thin concrete barriers about 1.5 m high, with a thin high hedge planted down the middle between the two walls, which forms a good headlight screen at night. On one section those plastic headlight deflectors mounted on the central barrier, which used to be installed on the M6 between Birmingham and Coventry where the M6T now comes in, have been used instead. They appear to be of exactly the same type.
We got to some Roman remains in the country, quite isolated, where a new access road was half constructed but now deserted alongside. As we stood under the midday sun a surveyor appeared, trying (somewhat) to manage in the warm breeze a large A0-sized drawing he had brought with him. Well-bronzed, and with extensive rough-clothing covering against the sun, he stormed up and down, muttered some Greek oaths, marked up the drawing, and stomped off again in disgust. The job probably doesn't pay too well, but is a pleasant open-air lifestyle if you are into that sort of thing. The access road, which was just at the base course stage, to UK eyes appeared to have no drainage installed whatsoever, so in the odd thunderstorm would surely be awash at the bottom. It looked like an question from an ICE Chartered Engineer exam - "What would you now do to complete this part-complete and abandoned project?".
For vehicles themselves, there is a typical modern-day non-major Mediterranean country mix. Standard cars have as ever gone over extensively to Asian manufacturers, with the Koreans having established a firm base - our rental car was a Kia. Vehicles seem to last a bit longer than the UK, but you don't see old relics on the road like in Malta. Premium vehicles are extensively Mercedes, who completely dominate the taxi trade (although Ayia Napa has one ex-London FX4 which lines up with all the Mercs in the town square, our own taxi driver said it is driven by a Bulgarian !). A notable number of the taxi Mercs are 6-door long wheelbase models. There are also more than a few current model Jaguars and Land Rovers around, which must keep several dealers going. In Ayia Napa, certainly, Quads, etc, are allowed on the public highway, with these and motor cycles often ridden without safety helmets, especially by Cypriots.
Numberplates look absolutely British, with the same font and colours, except that the most recent vehicles, as in the UK, have slightly different European-style plates. Format is XXX999. There are also different plates on taxis and hire cars, coloured red, with an additional character prefix, T for taxi, Z for hire car, etc. It was surprising that the numberplates use the full set of UK Latin characters, as of course the standard language in Cyprus is Greek, with Greek characters; they have not done what the Russians have done, which is to use only those characters which look the same in Cyrillic and Latin. In tourist areas English is widespread (altough Russia seems to be taking over as the main tourist source), but in rural areas there must stll be non-English speakers who would find it difficult to give their registration.
The public bus service is probably the worst I have encountered in a developed country, what there is run with coach-type vehicles (the normal German and Swedish types) which are also used for extensive tours, airport transfers, etc, and with very little apart from a small board inside the windscreen to show any destination. They are run by independent operators, as they see fit, at wide intervals which need a timetable and are just not convenient. We never used them. There is one operator of open top double-deck sightseeing buses, operated with old Leyland Atlantean buses which must have been imported from a city somewhere in Britain.
Road maps are poor and annoying. Of the couple on sale I bought what looked like the best one, a large folded sheet with the country on one side and several city street maps on the other. Unfortunately the two sides just didn't seem to align with each other, time and again I couldn't make out where the entry road to a city actually came in on the city map. Likewise when leaving a city it was not possible to identify what was signposted - the main motorway westward from Nicosia is signed Troodos, an obscure village in the mountains way beyond the end of the motorway network. It just happens to be the highest point on the pass over the mountains, but you would never know. The mountain roads in this area are great to drive, not narrow, 2-lane throughout, but substantial gradients, continuous hairpins, and occasional spectacular views. The nearly get up to the 6,000 foot elevation of the main mountain in the centre of the country. At the end of this substantial journey is a Monastery, which is well known for it's brandy. Now that we are home again, maybe this evening I will get the chance to try a glass !
Re: Cyprus
I've just returned from a week in the sun in Cyprus - north and south. As others have noted, the prevalence of TSRGD across the island is quite strange, down to pelican crossings with zig-zags, push buttons and older-style British traffic signals.
In the south, there is plentiful signing in Greek and English, with road numbers, advance and confirmation signs. Across the border in the north, the level of signing drops off dramatically, and there is usually only a sign at the junction itself. There are also no road numbers or a way of distinguishing destinations - so Lefkosa (Nicosia) is signed in the same way as a small village. What signs there are usually disappear in urban areas as well, which makes for interesting navigation!
We had some great driving on both sides of the island, especially from Kyrenia/Girne along the north coast to the north-east tip on Karpaz. This 100 mile drive includes about 50 miles of brand new road (wide S2) along stunning coastline which is as yet completely empty, although I assume it has been built to stimulate more development. I definitely recommend getting over there before it's all built up!
In the south, there is plentiful signing in Greek and English, with road numbers, advance and confirmation signs. Across the border in the north, the level of signing drops off dramatically, and there is usually only a sign at the junction itself. There are also no road numbers or a way of distinguishing destinations - so Lefkosa (Nicosia) is signed in the same way as a small village. What signs there are usually disappear in urban areas as well, which makes for interesting navigation!
We had some great driving on both sides of the island, especially from Kyrenia/Girne along the north coast to the north-east tip on Karpaz. This 100 mile drive includes about 50 miles of brand new road (wide S2) along stunning coastline which is as yet completely empty, although I assume it has been built to stimulate more development. I definitely recommend getting over there before it's all built up!
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Vierwielen
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Re: Cyprus
This is not very surprising - many smaller countries find it convenient to "borrow" regulations from a larger county and to adapt them - in the case of Cyprus they probably cross out "Great Britian", "Her Majesty" and "London" and replace it "Republic of Cyprus", "The President" and "Nicosia", make a few more cosmetic changes, check that it makes sense and then translate it into Greek. Hey Presto - instant legislation. (I know that South Africa did rather a lot of that).ChrisH wrote:I've just returned from a week in the sun in Cyprus - north and south. As others have noted, the prevalence of TSRGD across the island is quite strange, down to pelican crossings with zig-zags, push buttons and older-style British traffic signals.
I believe that the Isle of Man did something similar, but removed the section in speeed limits.
Re: Cyprus
Couldn't agree more, Vierwielen. There is probably a thesis to be written on the way in which regulations and administrative / performative practice "percolate" from one country to another (especially -- presuming the absence of any major cultural hostility -- from the larger to the smaller). This obtains as much in broadcasting (my other main area of interest) as it does in transport.Vierwielen wrote:This is not very surprising - many smaller countries find it convenient to "borrow" regulations from a larger county and to adapt them...