Driving in Germany...

[mdsalemi]

My point was made around the fact that in Germany you actually have to acquire skills that you have to prove to get a drivers' license, while in the U.S., you have to commit suicide in order NOT to get one. That's why most of the drivers you encounter on public roads are dangerous.

Ah, Mike, the truth is always relative. Yes, there are bad drivers in the USA, and there are bad drivers in Europe too. Yes, in Germany. Not every German is a good driver. Regardless of license or education, when they get within millimeters of your bumper (as you are trying to pass someone on the autobahn) flashing their lights (how DARE you impede my driving you dumbkopf!) in their fast Porsche or whatever at 140 km/h, sorry, that's totally irresponsible, reckless behavior. I've been there and done that so many times...

They don't just give driver's licenses out in the USA. Let's take one state, how about Ohio, for example. As a youngster of 15 or 16 you first get a permit to learn. Then before you get behind the wheel with your permit you must take a driver's education program. That's 24 hours of classroom time. Then, you must complete 50 hours (10 of them at night) of supervised driving before you can apply to take a test, which is both written and on the road. Once you do that, you get a probationary license, which limits you to driving under certain conditions only (with parent, guardian). You have other rules in the probationary period: no mobile device use, no friends in the car. After you've had the probationary license for a year and you then turn 18, you can earn your full unrestricted license. Michigan was pretty much the same. I'm sure some states are looser and some tighter but that's getting to be pretty much the same these days. I would hardly call that just handing it out. All the classroom and on road education during the early stages and probationary period is designed to make better drivers.

Each year they make these requirements a little harder not easier.

And yes, you came under a work visa. But you stayed. So life must not be that bad for you, even in Ohio!

[mdsalemi]

Here's a sincere question for you, Mike Simon...since you brought up driver training etc.

In the USA, some very interesting and peculiar driving habits have developed on a regional or local basis. While I have not been everywhere, here are a few of them of my observation.

1. In OHIO they do not like to drive in the rain. Often on the Ohio turnpike, when it starts raining heavily, flashers come on, and often many drivers simply pull over and stop driving. I've never seen this anywhere else.

2. In PITTSBURGH, at a 4-way stop, the drivers are incredibly courteous taking their turns without issue. Amazing.

3. In PHILADELPHIA, if you are at an intersection red light, waiting to turn left (an intersection without a green left turn arrow) it is EXPECTED of you to "jump the gun" and zoom quickly to make that left hand turn before the oncoming traffic goes straight. If you don't understand that quickly, boy will you ever as people yell expletives at you, honk their horn, or even go around you! Nowhere else have I been where this is expected or allowed...even the Police do it. It's a Philly thing.

4. In VIRGINIA, on interstates, drivers love to hang out in the left hand lane, below the speed limit, completely oblivious to the buildup of traffic behind them. While this rude behavior exists everywhere, and is actually illegal in most places, it's overtly done in Virginia.

5. In MASSACHUSETTS directional signals are not used as often as they should be, but the real danger with generalized Massachusetts driving is nuts. If you are on a main road and there is little traffic ahead of or behind you, and you see a car on a side street waiting to turn on the main road, they will wait until the last possible second to do so...sometimes with disastrous consequences like getting T-BONED if you are not careful enough to know about this.

I'm sure other states and locales have other issues, but these are places I've either lived or spent a lot of time driving in or through and can make those observations.

So my question is: In Germany, do they have any different driving characteristics in say, Hamburg vs. Munich? North vs South? East vs. West? Or is it all pretty uniform?

[WRe]

So my question is: In Germany, do they have any different driving characteristics in say, Hamburg vs. Munich? North vs South? East vs. West? Or is it all pretty uniform?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcpOdbpRsKA
https://youtu.be/D3u_294obMQ

[mdsalemi]

Unfortunately I cannot understand those videos...

[MikeSimon]

I have not lived in Germany for almost 35 years now and a lot has changed. Every time I go back, traffic seems to be more dense than the time before. I would think, however, Germany is too small and driver ed is too uniform for different habits to develop in different areas. I find that in busy metropolitan areas, drivers are less patient and more aggressive than in the country, which is probably the same all over the world. It always takes me two to three days to get acclimated again and used to the high speed driving on the "Autobahn".

[Benz Dr.]

We have graduated license in Ontario but we also have zero alcohol level for drivers under 22 years old. And they mean zero!

[rwmastel]

1. In OHIO they do not like to drive in the rain. Often on the Ohio turnpike, when it starts raining heavily, flashers come on, and often many drivers simply pull over and stop driving. I've never seen this anywhere else.

I've seen it in Ohio as well (where I have lived my whole life).  Perhpas us Ohioans are cheap and don't replace our bald tires!   

3. In PHILADELPHIA, if you are at an intersection red light, waiting to turn left (an intersection without a green left turn arrow) it is EXPECTED of you to "jump the gun" and zoom quickly to make that left hand turn before the oncoming traffic goes straight. If you don't understand that quickly, boy will you ever as people yell expletives at you, honk their horn, or even go around you! Nowhere else have I been where this is expected or allowed...even the Police do it. It's a Philly thing.

Well, that is simply insane.

4. In VIRGINIA, on interstates, drivers love to hang out in the left hand lane, below the speed limit, completely oblivious to the buildup of traffic behind them. While this rude behavior exists everywhere, and is actually illegal in most places, it's overtly done in Virginia.

Every time I drive in/around Detroit I see the same behavior.  I thought it was bad in Ohio, but in Detroit it is SOOO frustrating!