Free vehicle inspection in Canton Uri

[fishplug]

I was flagged by a policeman in Canton Uri in Switzerland yesterday morning.

He directed me to an area where he and three more of his colleagues checked my tyres, lights, indicators, brake lights and mileage and plugged in a diagnostic tool to my OBD port. They checked passports, driving licence and vehicle docs as well and also gave me a breath test.

They were not remotely curious as to the contents of the van, just with its roadworthiness and legal status.

The final question was about what I had plugged in to the OBD port. "It's an OBD reader so I can see my speed in KM so I can make sure I'm under the speed limit at all times when travelling in your country" I tried not to smile too much while saying this...

They kindly provided a document to state that they were unable to find anything at all that they could use to leverage the large fine that they were hoping to extract from me and I gave them a cheerful 'thank you' and farewell as I drove off leaving them feeling dejected

Just a reminder really to anyone travelling through Switzerland that your OBD port doesn't lie and these people have no sense of humour.

 

[Figaro]

Don't you rely on a sat nav for km speed ?
Seems a bit excessive having something plugged into the obd port ?

 

[fishplug]

It's a cheap unit (£10ish) and I prefer it to my speedometer as it's a quicker and more accurate way of checking the speed.

I flip it over to KMs when in KM countries, but it's my normal method of checking speed whether I'm using a GPS or not so it's instinctive for me to look at that rather than the GPS.

The GPS is more accurate, but the OBD reader gives me the 'safe' number which is always slightly lower than my actual speed.

It works for me!