Fahren - Driving

Because Sean is heading back to Philly next week to take the next round of all-day tests we are not traveling for a couple of weeks, so I thought I would take this time to just write about some of the other aspects of living here …

Fall colors of my walking/running trail

As I listen to the news reports about the snow socking in the east coast, I am thoroughly enjoying our little “Indian summer” as it were.  The days have been climbing into the low 60’s, the trees are ablaze with red, yellow and gold; and the days are definitely shorter now.  We fell back this past weekend (Oct. 30) so the sun is coming up around 7:15 and setting 5:15ish.  I know that by the time Dec. 21 rolls around it will be dark more than I really like, but that is ok – just need to remember that the summer days will be long, really long! 

So onto driving!  There are some aspects to driving that are harder to get used to than others: 1^st 4-way intersections.  You don’t pay attention to who got there first, but rather is there someone on your right?  The person to your right has the right-of-way, ah, yes, it can be confusing if there is a car at every entryway, then it is the person who is turning right, but only if they are to your right. Right? Right!  You can also wait for many cars to go until every car to your right has gone.  So, I have pulled up to an intersection, been there first and noticed another car entering who is to my right and yes, I do sit and wait for them to go first, mainly, because they don’t slow down until they are in the intersection checking to see if there is someone to their right. 

Autobahns or highway – no yield signs.  Speed up and get in.  The first time I tried to slow down a bit I was almost hit by the guy behind me who was speeding up to 120-130kmH for the merge.  That was a bit of a shocker and the last time I put my foot on the brake when entering the Autobahn.  Now, everyone hears that there is no speed limit on the Autobahn.  True!  There is a suggested speed when traffic is moving over 130kmH (81mph).  In construction areas they will post lower speed limits and when a lower one is posted 99.9% of all the drives adhere to that speed.  The real incentive to not speed, if you are in an accident and found to be going over 130kmH you are automatically at fault, no discussions.  Because a lot of accidents do happen at these speeds the insurance you carry here is HUGE!!  Bodily injury = 7.5 mil. Euros per accident and property = 1 mil. Euros per accident.  That equals $10.3 mil and $1.4 mil.  Pretty good coverage if you ask me.  The best part about driving here is that using your horn is considered rude, actually, making any loud noises is considered rude, so honestly unless there is a serious situation that needs immediate attention you don’t hear horns.  The people who tailgate are generally other Americans.  I can be in very heavy traffic and everyone is giving a nice cushion of room unless you are going under 50kmH which is about 31 mph.  So, it is really a very pleasant driving experience. 

Entrance to walking trails

I don’t know what it is going to be like driving in the winter weather.  We have ordered snow tires, because it is illegal here to drive in the winter with all-weather tires unless they have a snowflake on them.  Yes, we do have the snowflake on our tires, but we have heard that once the snow starts to fall we will have it on the ground up here until March, while at the bottom of the hill it will melt and the streets will be clear.  So, we figure get the real deal and better be safe than sorry. 

The area for driving reminds me of Pennsylvania.  We live on the side of mountain, an Appalachian size mountain.  So, I understand why German immigrants would have felt very comfortable settling in PA, it would have reminded them of home.   Major differences - the hillsides here are covered in windmills, and the houses (more than 50%) have solar panels on their rooftops.  Germany is transitioning from fossil fuels and nuclear to all renewable resources.