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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maribor, Slovenia.
Portoroz, Slovenia.
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Slovenia has been revamping its traffic laws and that means brutal penalties are on the way in 2005. Speeding, for one thing, will be costly.
In residential areas, the current speed limit is 50 km/h. If you’ve ever driven through Slovenia, you know that people pretty much ignore that number. But next year, the gig is up. A pleasant 61 km/h drive through town may earn you a 30.000-tolar (125 euro) ticket. If you drive 80 km/h, it’s hammertime: a 120.000 tolar (500 euro) ticket, plus you won’t be sitting behind the wheel for a while.
There will also be zero tolerance when it comes to drinking and driving. Even if your blood alcohol level is effectively zero, there’s still a chance you’ll pay a fine and get 3 points on your driver’s license.
I don’t know what they’d do to this guy, but I’m guessing it would be harsh. Here are some other traffic violations and their penalties. For perspective, I also included how much the fine is as a percentage of the average monthly wage in Slovenia.
| Violation | Penalty (SIT) | Penalty (Euros) | % of monthly wage |
| Exiting Roundabout Incorrectly | 20.000 | 83 | 7% |
| Using a Radar Detector | 120.000 | 500 | 44% |
| Abandoning your car w/o Locking | 10.000 | 41 | 4% |
| Bad Tires | 100.000 | 416 | 37% |
| Radio Too Loud | 20.000 | 83 | 7% |
| Disobeying Police | 40.000-120.000 | 166-500 | 14-44% |
Download Zakon o varnosti cestnega prometa (2005) (Word Document, 17k)
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Radio too loud? Do they have a decibel-level for that?
Does the fine depend on the music, too?
I guess they didi this so the cops will be able to fine those who are playing loud yugo music in their cars. He he he
BAh, they passed a decently strict law about 8 years ago and for 1 month everyone was driving very nicely, because the police actually enforced it. Then they said “OK, seems to be working, we don’t have the manpower to keep this up” and chaos ensued again.
As someone who’s been stopped by the police five times already (including on 9/11) I take great comfort in crni’s story. May his predictions come true!
So, you like chaos, Mike?
I love chaos. I also love the creeping sense of disaster I get whenever I enter a Slovenian roundabout, where traffic laws have no meaning and it’s every man for himself. Trying to guess how people will drive in those things is a bit like playing Russian roulette, except with less bullets.
The proper way of entering a Slovenian roundabout is ramming in at full speed. Do not look to your left to check for oncoming cars, they will see this as a sign of weakness and intimidation. The speed limit has to be exceeded by at least 50%. Once in the roundabout, keep pressing the gas pedal until the centrifugal force makes you get out at a random exit. It is irrelevant which exit you take, since you will be lost on the next crossroads anyway.
BTW, years ago there was a review of Slovenia in NY Times and it was very positive, except for the bit about driving, which went kinda like this:
“Everyone drives at breakneck speed, passing whenever there is a car-length of space”
Hm. Have I been driving in a different Slovenia? To me neither roundabouts nor straight traffic in SLO have ever had seemed to be unusual. One can go LJ - Vienna in less than 3,5 hours, that’s ok.