Ferrari Mailing List: Clemens Gleich's Traveller Guide to the German Autobahn, Part 2 | The Truth About Cars

[Dennis Liu (bigheaddennis]

Many excellent quotes here (as well as insight into German character).   "In Germany, we love rules. The only thing we love more than making The Rules is explaining The Rules to the ignorant, which I shall do now."

"As the French expect visitors to know their history and culture and speak their language, the Germans expect you to know the unofficial rules without being told."

"In Germany, it is forbidden by law to go so slow that traffic is hampered without a good reason (see §3 Abs. 3 Nr. 3 in our holy traffic bible StVO). Traffic will immediately be hampered the nanosecond you fall below the current speed limit. The law is not often enforced, but when it is, we celebrate like Americans when they have found another terrorist. Pray that the offender doesn?t pay his fine, as this will provide you with the rare opportunity to attend a (public) trial of a Peugeot driver where he will be condemned for his sins of slowness. The memory will last you a lifetime."

"On a more serious note, I have encountered tourists having a debate about their alleged whiplash on the leftmost Autobahn lane, our overtaking lane. I?m afraid this is not tolerable behavior in Germany. In fact, it is a criminal offence over here (dangerous intervention into traffic). If you get screamed at by a policeman who kicks you so hard his jackboot will stay stuck between your buttocks and then writes fines full of numbers you didn?t know existed, you will have been very lucky."

"On a more serious note, I have encountered tourists having a debate about their alleged whiplash on the leftmost Autobahn lane, our overtaking lane. I?m afraid this is not tolerable behavior in Germany. In fact, it is a criminal offence over here (dangerous intervention into traffic). If you get screamed at by a policeman who kicks you so hard his jackboot will stay stuck between your buttocks and then writes fines full of numbers you didn?t know existed, you will have been very lucky."

"You see, in general, Germans don?t care much about freedom. They will happily trade freedom for more order every time. But the Autobahn is the one exception. The freedom to drive as fast as we want is the only one we are prepared to fight for.  To the German, speeding is like owning guns to the American. A general speed limit seems un-German to us, has a socialist stench, maybe even something French about it."

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/01/clemen-gleichs-the-travellers-guide-to-the-german-autobahn-part-2/

Vty,

--Dennis