[LAU] How to drive a car in Germany - Was: Job - Germany - Multimedia Hardware Technician

[jonetsu at teksavvy.com]

On Sun, 5 Jul 2015 23:41:35 +0200
Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net> wrote:

> On Sun, 5 Jul 2015 15:36:34 -0400, jonetsu at teksavvy.com wrote:
> >On Mon, 6 Jul 2015 03:19:30 +1000 (EST)
> >"Patrick Shirkey" <pshirkey at boosthardware.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Ok, Maybe it should just say driving round the country and getting
> >> paid for it. However I was under the (false) impression that all
> >> y'all Germans love blasting your way around the country at top
> >> speed so that would be a positive not a negative. I mean you guys
> >> invented the concept right?

> >AFAICT, no such thing.  If you only do 160 km/h you stick on the
> >middle lane.  People in the left lane drive faster and will blink
> >the lights towards slower drivers.  On portions of the highway that
> >are made for this (not all). But this is not "auto mania" as in
> >English countries, USA for instance.  Although some exists in
> >Germany (witness products sold in stores) it is not representative
> >of people doing 190+ km/h.  It just makes sense to drive at these
> >speeds.  160 km/h, at least when I lived there, was family speed.
> >In English countries this would be outrageous.
> 
> Please, it's off-tropic, but a really serious topic.
 
> I'm a 48 years old German, owner of an unlimited bike and <= 7.5 tons
> car driving licenses for 30 years now. Your claim isn't true and
> never has been true. 

I lived years in Germany, got a VW Kombi and a Peugeot (whose number I
forgot - why do they name their cars with numbers ?). My driving speed
on portions of the Autobahn where applicable, was 160 km/h, leisurely,
with family. And that was the middle lane.  And yes, 130 km/h is a
Richtgeschwindigkeit, a recommendation for the correct speed.  Apart
from trucks (which very politely stick to the right lane - not so in
North America !) many, many people were driving in the vicinity of 160
km/h. This is experience.

> A lot of cars owned by Germans don't reach 160
> Km/h, the Wiki claims, 

Wiki ??

> that assumed it's allowed to drive as fast as
> you want, 30% drive faster then 150 Km/h. 

I guess we were always driving along with that crowd ! :)

> Blinking the light against slower drivers is borderline. If
> you're doing it being under minimum distance it could become an
> offence.

I've always seen it done from a distance.

> Keep in mind
> - Laws of physics are the same all over the world and we only have got
>   one life
> - Costs and environment protection
> - Driving experience and boast

In short, when it is safe, then it is safe.  And that means a calm
driver, not a nervous one.  A nervous one narrows his/her (well, let's
keep only 'his' I presume :) attention and reflexes.
 
> Only German idiots drive as idiots do. Usually very stupid people,
> inexperienced people, tuning their cars, regarding audio e.g. with
> 2 * 275 Watt car hifi.

I would not agree.  Many sober, middle aged BMW and Mercedes owners
drive at high speeds.  Did not see that much "car fanatics" doing
that.  They prefer showing off.  If you go too fast, you show off much
less.

> http://www.duw-tuner.de/CarHifi/Endstufen---Verstaerker/

He he. They even have a lady posing for Verkabelung.  Let's see, ah,
they got also one for Alarmsyteme.  And of course, one also for
Lufterfrischer !  Aber keine fuer Scheibenwischer und Pannenhilfe ! 

One thing with Germany, there's a lot, a lot, of very intelligent people
but, it seems this is balanced by seeing from time to time some
abysmal, and I mean deep, Dummkopf or Dummkoepfe.

> I guess the seminude women lead to the target group.
> A lot of those young illiterate men, who drive rockets kill others and
> them self in car accidents and before they die, they often are already
> deaf when around 20 years old.

So, one of these guys would not be right for Patrick's offer.  (Now
this is on topic :)  Although he did not mention anything about the
hearing capabilities of the candidate.  Maybe he should.

> Please, when ever driving on the German Autobahn, don't risk to kill
> yourself and especially don't risk to kill others. Drive in the sane
> way you are used to drive.

Absolutely.