Another very typical "Swiss thing" is the so-
called Velovignette (velo = bicycle) . Many
people in Austria (and probably also elsewhere)
mistake this with a number plate , so I 'm going
to spend some time elaborating what it really is.
It's not at all a number plate although , of
course, it contains numbers. The little sticker is
simply a mandatory liability insurance for cyclists
covering third- party claims of up to 2 million
CHF. It has to be replaced every year (indicated
by the largest two digits one the colored
background), lasts from the 1 st of January to
the 31st of May in the following year. Since
every Swiss cyclist has to have such a sticker, the
insurance is really cheap - - it costs about 6 CHF
(that's only 4 € for more than a year!) .