After two weeks in Germany, plenty of which was spent on the Autobahn and on various highways and so on, American roadways--full of giant SUV's--put me in mind of Mad Max.
1. We have about 20 different traffic signs in the U.S. My husband went to the trouble of finding and printing a complete packet of German road signs. It was 40 pages long. In addition to street signs and speed limit signs, there are usually two or three warning signs for any given thing (like an upcoming exit or rest stop) to let you know how many meters you have to go before you're there.
2. As a pedestrian, one of my pet peeves is drivers who sneak into the crosswalk while waiting at traffic lights. They're all nice and safe in their vehicle, while I have to walk into the intersection to cross the street. I think it speaks to the American desire to Be There First, even if There is only two yards ahead of Here. In Germany, traffic lights are arranged in such a way that they're only visible to waiting drivers who are safely behind the line, well out of the crosswalk.
3. On the Autobahn, a driver in a BMW will almost always flash their blinker at you, signaling you to get your touristy ass out of the left lane so they can continue on their way at about 200 kph. Once they've passed you, you can get back into the left lane and continue hauling ass at a slightly more reasonable rate of speed (say, 170 kph).
4. How many times have you looked at an 18-wheeler and thought "I bet a car could slide right under that thing." They can. So can bikes. So can people. In Germany, there are guard rails on the sides of all big rigs and large trucks to prevent vehicles and people from being pulled underneath them.
5. Smart Cars! I can't believe I haven't talked about Smart Cars yet. God these things are cool! Not only are they fuel-efficient, they're a lot easier to drive through narrow streets and parallel park in tiny spaces than are regular-sized vehicles. So they look like clown cars. They're smart clown cars.
6. There are a lot more diesel powered vehicles over there, not just big trucks and so on, but regular cars. The great gas mileage makes them a lot cheaper to operate, though I've heard they are more expensive to insure (I don't know whether or not that's true in the U.S.).
7. We saw some pretty colorful vehicles over there. Bright turquise seemed to be a popular color. There were some purple vehicles too. Oddly, all the cabs are a sort of non-outstanding cream color.
8. It takes six months and costs about 900 Euros (about $1,200 USD) to get a driver's license in Germany. Get enough points on that license and it's revoked-for life. Every town we visited had at least two Fahrschule (driving schools). In addition to driving tests and written tests, prospective drivers have to pass medical exams. No wonder they take driving so seriously.
And what do you do while crusing down the Autobahn in a rental car far from your treasured collection of awesome music? You listen to local radio stations and cringe a lot. Next entry: Things I Learned In Germany - Part Two - An Die Musik.
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3 comments:
Hmm. A large percentage of the cabs in London were pink. Bright, in-your-face pink. We also saw a lot of smart cars, which look like big driveable tennis shoes!
I could totally see driving one, and mine would be purple and have flames on the sides (you know, to distinguish it from all the other Smart Cars on American freeways). I'd probably also install a really tall windsock or something, so that some part of my vehicle would be visible over the tops of the hugs SUV's surrounding it (and to play up the RC-carness of the thing).
I wonder how my fellow Americans would react to the presence of such a vehicle in the parking lot of their local Chez Target? I bet I could just about park in the motorcycle spots.
Dude, you could just drive that thing in the front door of Target and right down the aisles! This is a sweet, sweet plan. :)
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