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Driving Drunk: Legal Limits vary by Country in Europe

by Neil Woodburn on

So much a part of touring Europe is enjoying the fine wines and beers one can find there.

One shouldn’t, however, enjoy these libations if they happen to be touring in a rental car.

Back home you probably know exactly how much you can drink while remaining under the legal limit for driving. In California where I live, for example, the legal limit is .08 Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Every time I renew my car registration I get a little chart that tells me I can have three drinks and still be under the limit. Personally, if I’m driving, I never take the chance; I either drink Coke, or cut myself off after one beer.

But in Europe, the laws are different. And, they vary by country. Those same three drinks that are okay to consume in England, for example, will put you behind bars in most other European countries. And, in places like the Czech Republic and Hungary, a single drink will do the trick.

Certainly the best advice is DON’T DRIVE if you are drinking–especially on the unfamiliar roads of a foreign country. If you are dumb enough to do so, here is a short list of legal limits by country. But please, let me know when you’re visiting so I can stay off the roads.

0.08 = UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta (same as the United States)
0.05 = Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain
0.04 = Lithuania
0.02 = Norway, Poland, Sweden
Zero tolerance = Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary

Want more information on Europe? Check out our Europe destination guide.

Honk Kong Prints First Plastic Dollar

by Justin Glow on

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has announced that a new $10HKD note, made of a thermoplastic polymer called polypropylene, will be released for a 2 year trial period. Banknotes made of polymer are longer lasting and have the ability to incorporate advanced security features that paper banknotes can’t, such as transparency.

Hong Kong isn’t the first to use polymer bank notes, however. Other countries with these colorful notes in circulation, according to Wikipedia, include Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Western Samoa and Zambia, with the first being Costa Rica in 1983.

I’m jealous. Why isn’t the U.S. more adventurous when it comes to printing money? We’ve got a lot of it, might as well make it colorful and harder to counterfeit.

[via growabrain]

Best Places To Grab A Beer (in Eastern Europe)

by Willy Volk on

Certainly, everyone has their own opinions about where to get the best beer. It may be a local hang-out. It may be an eclectic pub in a faraway city. According to Fodor’s, 7 of the best places to grab a beer in Eastern Europe are:

  1. Pivovarska Restaurace, Czech Republic
  2. Harnas, Poland
  4. Carul cu Bere, Romania
  5. Chichovtsi, Bulgaria
  6. Shinok, Russia

Related:

[Photo: Today is a good day]

Witchcraft in EU Courts?

by Iva Skoch on

Just as soon as Romania has been let into the EU, there’s double, double, toil and trouble brewing. A Romanian judge has been fined and demoted for practicing witchcraft in her court.

Elena Simionescu is alleged to have splashed mud, water, “other liquids,” as well as salt and pepper, on fellow judges’ desks. Should one think it was a simple culinary event, she admitted to sprinkling “holy water” on her co-workers’ desks, “in the spirit of good Christians’ rituals.” Other folks are more concerned: some were “convinced that she was casting spells.” The official line was that she used “unorthodox methods” in her court.

But, I guess it’s not too surprising, considering (according to the Sofia News Agency) that that country legalized witchcraft as an official profession last year.

The Most Dangerous Roads in Europe

by Willy Volk on

Although they may not be as terrifying as some of these roads, a new report (PDF) by Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistical office, claims that roads in Eastern Europe are the most dangerous in the EU. Conversely, the safest roads are found in the northern member states and in Malta. Other paranoia-inducing trivia includes:

  • Latvia, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia had the highest number of persons killed in road accidents.
  • Death rates on the roads in Greece are 5 times greater than death rates in the UK.

If you’re looking for some good news, you can rest a little easier in the big cities. According to the report, urban regions are the safest. Th report even singles out Berlin, Vienna, Stockholm, and Brussels as among the safest capitals in the EU.

If you’re planning on driving in Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland, and you want to know which roads are the safest, you may want to visit EuroRAP. EuroRAP lets you check the safety rating of roads in those countries before you actually hit the on-ramp.