LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The cost of driving off without taking time to clear your car in Switzerland can be high: you risk losing your license. Police in canton Vaud 12, with TCS (Touring Club Suisse) December launched their early winter road safety campaign 12 December to remind motorists they are obliged to keep windshields, mirrors, […]
Archives for December 2013
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a … Rinspeed car!
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – One of the world’s most creative car inventors – for he is far more than a designer – is about to bring the driverless car to the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. Granted, it’s not ready to roll out, but Frank Rinderknecht, head of the Rinspeed Swiss “Think Tank” and “Mobility Lab” says […]
Holiday drinking – don’t drive! Call Nez Rouge
Telephone in case you need help to get home: 0800 802 208
Nez Rouge (photo, Roger Meier / Bist)
Nez Rouge (photo, Roger Meier / Bist)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you’re partying during the holidays, have the sense to stay off the roads. That said, if you find yourself in a situation where you can’t drive home because you’re over the alcohol limit, call Nez Rouge.
Note that 1 glass of wine = 1dc could put you at the Swiss legal driving limit of 5/1,000.
It’s not just drinkers who should consider this: “Fatigue, alcohol, drugs and medication are just some of the reasons to phone the free number, 0800 802 208, and hand your car keys over to one of the volunteers on our team,” says the non-profit group.
Nez Rouge, whose focus is on preventing accidents, started in Canada and arrived in Switzerland in 1990; it’s now become an important part of the holiday season here, with more than 24,000 people driven home in 2012.
The holiday season for Nez Rouge began this weekend in most parts of Switzerland and runs until early January. It kicks off 13 December in Fribourg, Geneva, Gruyère and Ticino and 20 December in Bern.
The group has 8,000 volunteers and does not charge for the service, but anyone using it is expected to make a donation. You can phone the free number or a local one, listed in the Nez Rouge dates and hours pdf.
Swiss taxis are not cheap but … know where you’re going!
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND / EDITOR’S NOTEPAD – Swiss taxis have a reputation for being expensive, but I was taken aback when Google News came up with an alert for a Lausanne taxi ride from the main train station to Ouchy for CHF141. You can walk it in 20 minutes. Do you see anything wrong in this […]
Taxis given standards for measuring a fare
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss taxi drivers until now have now been obliged to use standard metres to measure the distance for their fares, but Bern has just approved technical standards that will apply starting in January 2014. Under the new standards drivers will make their own reports, in an effort to keep the administrative workload […]