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I remember once spending a weekend in the Alps, near the Italian / french Border and close to a road that goes above the mountain. This is the road to the Galibier mountain, above 2500 m I believe.
It's not far from the Frejus tunnel.
It was late october, so at this point of the year the upper side of the road that led to the Italian border was closed because it was covered in snow, and only the beginning of the road (where we were staying) was open.
We saw a car coming with a dutch plate, and asked us in English how to get to the other side of that mountain range because they had seen a sign that the road was closed and had simply followed the directions provided by the GPS.
We just answered that they had to turn back, drive down to Grenoble and take another road starting from the lower part of the valley where they wanted to go, which would take approximately 3 hours.
Of course, GPS and Dutch people are not necessarily aware that mountain roads may be closed from october to may or june.
In practice I live on the other side of the Alps, near the pass of Mont Cenis and the pass of Mongenèvre. Also on our roads I've seen really funny scenes even with people who were just from Turin. A lot of them nearly stop at every hairpin turn, and they brake a lot when the road descends (and I won't talk about the rainy or snowy days). My dad always laugh a lot when he sees them.
Anyway, for us instead is usually quite difficult to get used to the way of driving in the cities (we are not used to all those traffic, and neither to all those traffic lights that oblige you to stop every two minutes.)
Actually I'm one of those who slows down in the mountain. I easily get sick with all this turns.
I don't drive super slow either, but I get uncomfortable when people insist in driving at 70 km/h on steep roads. Sometimes it is just not safe driving at a regular speed in the mountain.
I have no problem with driving in the cities / highways. I used to live downtown, so...
Actually I'm one of those who slows down in the mountain. I easily get sick with all this turns.
I don't drive super slow either, but I get uncomfortable when people insist in driving at 70 km/h on steep roads. Sometimes it is just not safe driving at a regular speed in the mountain.
I have no problem with driving in the cities / highways. I used to live downtown, so...
No, the point is not the speed, the point is that they brake all the time for maintaining the speed low. This can be dangerous too, because you risk to overheat your brakes. There is nothing wrong at drive slowly on the mountains, but if you want to go slower it is better to pass at a lower gear before braking.
Anyway, it is true that we often drive faster than the others on the mountains, but just because we know the road. so we know where there are difficult turns and you have to slow down, and where the road in more straightforward and so you can drive a little faster. On a new road we would drive slower too.
I always shift to full time 4x4 (I drive a Jeep) for more traction and shift down instead of braking to lower the speed when going down. And also shift down before bends and accelerate when coming out of the bend. That usually works pretty well.
I always loved driving in the mountains, but i know it can be risky too, being not used to those conditions. So depending on the conditions i always try to maintain a "normal" speed and if there are other cars, just go with the flow.
Location: Segovia, central Spain, 1230 m asl, Csb Mediterranean with strong continental influence, 40º43 N
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I was driving for a while through southwestern France last week, and I noticed everything has been improved as now apparently they use indicators more often than four years ago.
I guess there are not speed cameras in such road, otherwise he would have been fined so much.
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