• dmurray 5 hours ago

    Interesting that they're being described as "abandoned" there. I thought they might be getting sold to locals who have plausible deniability that they're using them for construction work.

    Why abandon a working vehicle? Surely the construction projects on Hydra aren't exclusively worked by end-of-life vehicles. And it's only about 3km from mainland Greece so it can't be prohibitively expensive to ship them back (even if they are end of life, they should have much more scrappage value than the shipping cost).

    • dylan604 2 hours ago

      It could be a book keeping thing. Sometimes, it works out better by the pencil pushers if something is written off as a loss. Consider the expense of having to send a barge/ship to the island to transport it back from the island to somewhere else. Then they could attempt to sell it. Would that sale be profitable?

      • pfdietz an hour ago

        Even if that were the case, wouldn't whoever ended up owning it make a profit by sending it back for scrapping/parting out?

        • dylan604 44 minutes ago

          you have to do the math on shipping costs vs how much can be made. i'd venture its not profitable in a reasonable amount of time. you then have to have someone skilled to part it out. store the pieces. line up buyers. all of that comes at an expense.

          • pfdietz 6 minutes ago

            So, how much does shipping a ton 3 miles by water cost? The scrap value of a vehicle is maybe $200/ton.

            Shipping by truck in the US costs somewhere around $0.10/ton-mile.

    • xcskier56 3 hours ago

      One of my favorite things when I was here was seeing an Amazon Prime logo on the saddlebag of a donkey. That struck me as a very weird collision of old and new worlds

      • thazework 6 hours ago

        Hydra is fairly unique in that bikes, not just motorized vehicles, are prohibited on the island.

        • dogma1138 5 hours ago

          Only donkeys, there are a few vehicles tho the garbage collection “truck” being one of them.

          • ndsipa_pomu 5 hours ago

            I wonder what their reasoning is behind banning non-powered bikes? It's got very steep hills, so there's a good chance that bicycles wouldn't be very practical, but seems strange to ban them.

            • dogma1138 4 hours ago

              Narrow streets and very steep slopes there is absolutely no way to safely cycle anywhere there.

              • polonbike 4 hours ago

                Bikes, even muscular ones, can be annoying to pedestrians on thin hiking paths. My take is that even if they allow one/a few/a capped number, then it's out of the bottle, and people will try to game the system one way or another

                • sidewndr46 3 hours ago

                  What is a muscular bike?

                  • RainyDayTmrw 2 hours ago

                    Presumably the poster wanted to differentiate e-bikes (electrical motor assisted) with fully human powered (traditional) bikes.

                    • alexey-salmin 39 minutes ago

                      If Ford Mustang was a bike it would be a Richi Hulk

                      https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/s/qBcUDZ7rqd

                      • dylan604 2 hours ago

                        The type powered by meat motors

                        • loire280 an hour ago

                          I've started calling them "acoustic" bikes, like non-electric guitars. Not technically accurate, but folks almost always get it and smile.

                          • jpalawaga an hour ago

                            Analog bikes

                    • detourdog 5 hours ago

                      Could be a speed limit thing.

                      • ndsipa_pomu 4 hours ago

                        I doubt that they have speed limits if they don't allow motorised vehicles.

                        • detourdog an hour ago

                          I agree, If everyone is on foot there is no need for regulating the speed.

                  • tiahura 2 hours ago

                    Push them into the water?

                    • bell-cot 3 hours ago

                      > “A paradise for walkers and nature lovers.” That’s how the Municipality describes Hydra on its website, promoting the island’s uniqueness, where the movement of all wheeled vehicles is prohibited by law. However, laws are made to be broken—especially when there is no one responsible or interested in enforcing them. Thus, this otherwise beautiful island, rich in archaeological and natural treasures and boasting unique architecture, has become filled with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and of course, scooters, which are trendier than walking.

                      Sounds like the usual "humans want pretended virtues, and laws are for the little people" deal to me.