Car

A danger of driving in the Czech Republic

According to a news report I read some time ago, the three most common causes of road traffic accidents in the Czech Republic are: First – driving too fast. Second – driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Third – hitting a wild animal, either a deer or a wild boar. Unfortunately, late on the night of Monday 27^th September, I joined those statistics 🙁

I was giving a lift to my friend Kát’a, from a rather late evening appointment in Ceská Lípa, to her home in Decín. Driving through the forested area between Kamenický Šenov and Ceská Kamenice, I had a major altercation with a large deer. It suddenly appeared out of the forest on my left. I only saw it for a nano-second before it crashed into the front driver’s side of the car and smashed the windscreen.

Thankfully, neither of us were physically hurt and, being on a straight stretch of road, I was very easily able to bring the car to a halt. However, we were both quite shaken up by the experience. I was also covered with numerous small shards of glass from the broken windscreen. I thought that I had brushed or shaken them all off me, but then found one sticking out of my left index finger when I woke up in my bed the following morning!

Several people who have already heard this story have asked, ‘What about the deer?’ The answer is that I do not know. Once I had stopped the car and looked in my rear-view mirror, I expected to see a dead body lying in the road. But there wasn’t one. The deer had run off into the forest on the other side of the road from whence it had come. But at around midnight and very shaken by what had happened, I wasn’t prepared to walk into a dark Czech forest to make further enquiries.

Although the windscreen was smashed, the bodywork damaged and my driver’s side door would not open properly, the car was still just mobile. So I eventually decided that the best thing to do was to drive on, very carefully. I could still just about see where I was going and I drove quite slowly to ensure the windscreen didn’t implode any further. Fortunately, it being so late at night, there was very little traffic on the roads and I safely delivered Kát’a to her flat and then drove back to my own home in Stará Oleška. Climbing out of the car via the front passenger-side door, was an ‘interesting’ exercise 😉

The following day was a public holiday so I could do nothing to start the process of getting the car repaired. That evening, I went for a drink at Bar Restaurace U Soni and was greeted on my arrival by Libor, (husband of Sona, the boss of U Soni), and by Karel, (father of a young lady who I have helped with her school English). They both gave me a knowing look and said, ‘Jelen‘, which is Czech for deer. Living in this heavily forested area, what had happened to me is a well-known local hazard.

After conversations with my insurers, much aided by Kát’a, my car was eventually collected and taken to a repair shop in Ústí nad Labem. This was one of three possible repairers recommended by my insurers. The Ústí repairer promised to start work on Monday 11^th October. The other two could only offer a start date later in October.

After much toing and froing with paperwork between my insurers, the repair shop and me, including the demand for a scan of the medical certificate that says I’m fit to drive as I’m over sixty-five, finally on Wednesday 27^th October, I got a text message to say I could collect my car. A journey by bus, train and another bus, got me there. I was required to pay 5808 Kc / £191.00 / €227.00 being 5% of the total repair cost. Insurance has fortunately covered the other 95% – a not inconsiderable sum!

Golf Carly dva duly repaired © Ricky Yates

Being without a car for a whole month was very frustrating. It was also a little expensive as I decided that to get to certain appointments and complete tasks, I needed a car. So I hired one for several days, a Škoda Fabia which, as I said at the time, made me completely Czech 🙂

Once I got my car back, I then had another expense, one that I was expecting. As I explained in my previous post about buying the car in March this year, it came fitted with Summer tyres. As it is a legal requirement here to have Winter tyres with at least 4mm of tread, when driving between 1^st November and 31^st March, on Thursday 4^th November, I drove down to my good friend Adrian Blank in Nepomuk, to have four brand new Winter tyres fitted. Now I’m ready to face the coming Winter, hopefully without any further altercations with deer.

There is a very big hole in my bank account

As I wrote at the end of my previous post, on the afternoon Sunday 28^th February, I was driving back from Decín to my home in Stará Oleška, when the car accelerator went limp and the engine died. I was fortunately able to roll to a halt at the far end of a long lay-by, part of which is a bus stop, which at least meant I didn’t foul up the traffic on route 13 / E442.

A cri de cœur to my neighbour, Lucie, resulted in her younger brother Pavel, driving out to rescue me, accompanied by her daughter Lucka, who I help with English for an hour each week. Pavel and Lucka helped me unload my supermarket shopping and my new toaster from the boot of my car, into Pavel’s vehicle, and then drove me home.

It took me two bus journeys to return to the car the following morning. The bus that goes through Stará Oleška, doesn’t take the direct route to Decín but instead goes through the upper part of Huntírov and the village of Dobrná. So I had to take that bus all the way into Decín and then another one back out again to Ludvíkovice where the car was stranded. Fortunately, by being over 65, each bus journey only costs CZK 5 / £0.15 🙂

My blue VW Golf loaded up to be transported for repair © Ricky Yates

My Czech friend Kát’a, kindly made the necessary phone calls to arrange for a tow truck to come at 11.00 and it duly arrived on time, about ten minutes after my arrival. After some necessary paperwork, a few photos on the drivers mobile phone, and paying CZK 1400, my blue VW Golf was loaded up and we drove to the premises of Gerhard Horejsek a spol., s.r.o., the VW dealer in Decín.

That day was the beginning of an even stricter period of lockdown, trying reduce the spread of COVID-19. So whilst the service and repair centre was still working, I was met outside by the service manager, Mr Kocour, rather than in his office. Whilst I normally go to my friend Adrian Blank at Nepomuk, for the car to be serviced, my details and those of the car, were already on the Horejsek computer as I’ve twice previously got them to replace a headlight bulb when it failed.

I was just about to complete my third bus journey of the day, making my way back home, when my phone rang. It was Kát’a. Mr Kocour had rung her, rather than me, with the bad news. The cause the car breakdown was the failure of the cam belt or timing belt, which had totally wrecked the engine. It would cost in excess of CZK 50,000 to repair, roughly what the car was worth with a functioning engine. In simple terms, my car was a complete write-off 🙁

My failed cam belt with half of its teeth missing © Ricky Yates

On Thursday 4^th March, I once more took the bus into Decín, met up with Kát’a, and we walked to the VW dealers’ premises to meet Mr Kocour. He showed us the wrecked engine and presented me with the failed cam belt. He again confirmed that the car was really beyond repair.

The one small spot of good news was that one of the mechanics working there, was interested in having my car as he could use some of the parts. He would give me CZK 2000 and also take responsibility for eventually legally disposing of it. I later learned that the mechanic had a VW Golf similar to mine, which he had bought off a man who was a dog owner. He wanted the seats out of my car, as they were in excellent condition, to replace those in his car which had suffered at the hands/paws/teeth of the dog 🙂

Although, because of the lockdown, all car sales showrooms were meant to be closed, Mr Kocour said we could go and walk around to the other side of the building and look at the used vehicles that they had on display for sale. Before our visit. I’d had already had a perusal of their website, to have some idea of what might be available.

I eventually settled on another VW Golf, first registered in 2015, but with only just over 21,000 km on the clock. Mr Kocour gave me the business card of the used car sales manager, Mr Hajný, and said I should drop him an email expressing my interest.

That evening, I compiled my email in English, including asking if it would be possible to swap the wheels and winter tyres on my old car, for the wheels and summer tyres currently on the new one. I sent this off to Kát’a who, in turn, translated it into Czech and sent it on to Mr Hajný the following day.

On Monday 8^th March, Mr Hajný replied to both of us, offering me the possibility of a test drive, but first wanting scans of my ID and my driving licence. Having received them, I was then offered the opportunity of a test drive on Wednesday 10^th.

Late in the morning of Wednesday 10^th March, I arrived with Kát’a, for my test drive. Mr Hajný spoke to us from the door of the showroom, seeking to keep appropriate social-distancing. He told us that the car was ready with the key in the ignition, on the forecourt of the used car sales area. I did wonder about the risk of somebody driving off in it but apparently the area is fully covered by security cameras 😉

The test drive was more than enough to convince me that if I was going to get mobile again fairly soon, then this was my best opportunity. So on our return, I confirmed that I wanted to proceed and purchase. Then came the one item of bad news. The wheels and tyres on my old Golf were not the same size as those on the new car. So swapping them over wasn’t possible.

In anticipation of agreeing to purchase this new car, I had arranged to transfer a large part of the contents of my UK bank account, into my Czech bank account. This is money that I was either going to spend on having further major work done to my house, or going travelling, once some form of normality returns. But needing to once more be mobile again with a reliable car, it had to be done.

That afternoon, I received an invoice to be settled by bank transfer. Mr Hajný also put me in contact with an English-speaking friend who works for Kooperativa, an insurance company with whom my house and contents are already insured. As I discovered, the contact is actually the Russian wife of his sales colleague 🙂 On Thursday 11^th, by a succession of emails, she arranged insurance for the new car. Because of being an existing client of Kooperativa, I got an additional discount!

Therefore on the morning of Friday 12^th March, after eleven days without a car, I became the proud owner of the one in the photo above.

There are two footnotes to this tale.

Much to my surprise, my new VW Golf doesn’t have a handbrake. It has an automatic brake which comes on as soon as the car stops and is released as soon as my foot touches the accelerator. Whilst it works perfectly, I still find it rather strange and frequently find myself reaching for a handbrake that doesn’t exist.

On Saturday 13^th March, the day after I collected the car, I drove into Decín to go shopping at the Kaufland supermarket. Just as I was leaving the supermarket car park to drive home, there was a ping and the petrol warning light came on. Therefore on my way home, I drove into the petrol station that I frequently use, located four kilometres from my home.

I went to press the button between the two front seats to open the flap covering the petrol cap. However, unlike in my old Golf, there wasn’t a button. Nor could I see any other means of releasing the flap. Inevitably, the manual for the car in the glovebox, was in Czech. I had already asked for an English manual and Mr Hajný has promised to order one from Volkswagen HQ in Germany and provide it free of charge. But he said it would take at least ten days to arrive.

I ended up driving home and googling my problem. Fortunately, I found this video. It is American, so it inevitably tells you how to access the ‘gas cap’ 😉 But after discovering the secret, I drove back four kilometres and filled up.

Stanice technické kontroly – STK

STK 1 — The ‘Carly’ at Nepomuk having a new crankshaft sensor fitted © Ricky Yates

In order to legally keep a car on the road in the United Kingdom, it has to have an MOT certificate. This shows that it has passed its MOT test, proving that it is mechanically sound and its exhaust emissions are within the accepted limits. The abbreviation MOT comes from ‘Ministry of Transport’, the then government department which first introduced the test in 1960.

In the Czech Republic, the equivalent of an MOT test is also known by a set of initials – STK. These stand for Stanice technické kontroly / Technical Inspection Station. Whilst in the UK, once a car is three years old, it has to pass an MOT test annually, in the Czech Republic the STK test only has to be undertaken once every two years.

As I wrote in my June 2009 post entitled “Driving on the ‘right’ side of the road”, my RHD Renault Scenic underwent its first STK test in December 2008, as part of the complicated procedure of obtaining a Czech registration document and Czech number plates for it. But as I explained in a subsequent post entitled ‘Check this Czech car out!’, I didn’t successfully achieve this until 25^th June 2009.

Knowing that any vehicle has to have an STK test once every two years, I had assumed that the ‘Carly’, as it is affectionately known, would need to be tested again in December 2010. But when I asked my good friend Adrian Blank of Nepomuk, who helped me negotiate the minefield to get the car registered here in the Czech Republic in the first place, he assured me that the date the authorities would use would be two years from the date of registration, meaning that it did not need to be tested again before 25^th June 2011.

Theoretically, I could have taken the ‘Carly’ to any STK centre in Prague for its test. But being aware of both my limited Czech and recurrent expression by many Czech people of their belief that you cannot register a RHD car here, I decided that it would be wise to once more work through Adrian, even though it would mean a journey out into the south-western Bohemian countryside. Therefore last Thursday, two days before the second anniversary of the ‘Carly’ becoming Czech, I set off.

Adrian suggested that, rather than travelling via Nepomuk, I should drive directly to the test centre at Horažd’ovice and he would meet me there. Fortunately, this worked out perfectly as we arrived at the centre within thirty seconds of each other. There is no system of booking a test at Horažd’ovice – you just turn up and wait your turn. Adrian discovered that there were two other cars in front of us so, having paid the test fee and handed over the car’s paperwork and keys, we went off and enjoyed coffee and cake together in a nearby outdoor coffee shop.

STK 2 — Stickers on the rear number plate of the ‘Carly’ showing the validity of its STK tests © Ricky Yates

Upon our return to the test centre, I was pleased to discover that the car had duly passed both its emissions and mechanical tests and my papers had been dated and stamped for a further two years. But, much more importantly, I had two new little hexagonal stickers on my rear number plate – one green for emissions and the other red for the mechanical test.

As in many continental European countries, the way the police can easily check as to whether a car has a current STK test certificate, is to look at these two stickers as illustrated in this photograph. On the outer rim of each sticker, is a hole between ‘5’ & ‘7’ indicating June, the sixth month. Then on the inner part of the sticker, there is a hole in the same box as ‘13’. My STK certificates are now valid until June 2013.

Adrian had also kindly ordered a new sensor for the crankshaft to try and resolve the occasional recent problem of the ‘Carly’ not wanting to start, despite the starter motor turning over. So after the STK test, I drove across to Nepomuk where it only took one of Adrian’s mechanics half an hour to fit before I was able to drive on back home to Prague.

Check this Czech car out!

This morning, I walked out of the offices of ‘Praha Hlavní Mesto’ in the centre of Prague with an incredible sense of satisfaction. I had achieved what I had been told so many times, by a whole variety of people, was impossible to achieve. In my rucksack were Czech number plates and a Czech registration document for my previously British registered right-hand drive (RHD) car. Today my red Renault Megane Scenic has legally become a Czech car!

It should really be what we have achieved as I would never have managed to do this without the help and support of Sybille, the knowledge of the whole variety of procedures to obtain the appropriate protocols which came from Adrian Blank of Nepomuk, together with being accompanied through the final stages by Gerry Turner speaking in Czech on my behalf.

In my previous post entitled “Driving on the ‘right’ side of the road”; I explained how Gerry & I had gone to the imposing offices of the Czech Ministry of Transport on Wednesday 3^rd June, to submit my application and accompanying papers for a ‘Certificate of Exemption’ for my RHD car. Adrian of Nepomuk had said that I should receive the certificate a week to ten days after submitting the application. When after two weeks, I had neither heard nor received anything; Gerry made a phone call asking what was happening. “Oh it will be in our system and we can take up to four weeks to process it” was the somewhat unhelpful answer given to Gerry. However, on Monday 22^nd June, a registered letter arrived at our flat containing the certificate of exemption. The fact that the certificate was dated 17^th June 2009, the date of Gerry’s phone call, does seem a little more than coincidence!

On the afternoon of Monday 22^nd, I duly delivered the certificate to the Magistrát office in Vysorany, Prague 9 where all my other papers were already lodged. I had to return to the office on Tuesday to put two signatures onto the completed paperwork. Then it was a third visit in three days to collect the completed file on Wednesday. On this third occasion, Gerry accompanied me to ensure I discovered correctly what to do next.

We were told to go to the offices of ‘Praha Hlavní Mesto’ in the centre of Prague, pay 3000 Kc (about £100) environmental fee as my emissions are only ‘Euro 2 standard’, and there I would finally be issued with a Czech registration document and Czech number plates. We hopped on the tram, changed onto the Metro and arrived at the correct office. Through the good offices of Gerry, we explained to the lady on the information desk, what I had come to do. She checked through all the papers giving her approval to everything I had until she asked, “Do you have your insurance certificate with you?” What was the one thing I had not got with me????

So it was that Gerry and I reconvened at the offices of ‘Praha Hlavní Mesto’ at 9.30am this morning. We took our numbered ticket and waited for our number to come up on the electronic board to tell us which kiosk to attend. After about a half hour wait we were summoned.

The lady at kiosk 35 was perfectly friendly. We presented all my papers, including my insurance certificate. “Did I have my passport and residency document with me, not just the photocopies in the file?” Fortunately I had anticipated that one! “Had I personally imported the car?” This question reflects the concern of the Czech authorities of a glut of cheap second-hand British RHD cars being brought into the Czech Republic by unscrupulous dealers. “Did I have 3000 Kc to pay the environmental charge?” I went off to the cash desk, handed over the cash and returned with a receipt.

Then the magic moment came. Number plates were produced from a drawer. Stickers were attached, marked to show the end date of the validity of my mechanical and emissions protocols. A registration document in two parts, showing my new car registration number and my full name and address, came out of the computer printer. All these were presented to me. As a parting gesture, the lady then said to me in Czech, “May God bless you”. Gerry replied by telling her in Czech, how appropriate her words were as she had just said them to the English-speaking Anglican Priest in Prague. The poor lady nearly fell off her chair both with shock and with laughter!

This afternoon, the car underwent it’s transformation from being a British car to being a Czech car. Off came the British number plates and the ‘GB’ sticker. Using the British plates as a template, I successfully drilled two holes in each of the Czech plates and then proudly screwed them onto the car before, of course, posing for the photograph!