Culture Shock driving in the US: On my second day after moving to the United States I didn't have a Florida Drivers license. I got caught speeding, 60 mph instead of 55 mph. The officer asked for the drivers license, so I handed my "grey german paper license". He looked at it, looked at me and asked: "Where are you from?" ... "Germany" ... He again glanced at me and said: "Okay, you guys over there know how to drive fast. But: This is not an Autobahn, so please slow down ... just a bit. Have a nice day!"
My friend, you can do that in Montana! Generally, you’re safe as long as you’re not over ten miles above posted limits, which is when traffic cops begin to hand out tickets. I wouldn’t advise breaking the law. Its there for good reason but when you’re in a place where sticking to the speed limit means it takes too long to get to where you want to go, going a little faster might be the ticket. That depends on the situation here.
@@NormanF62 You are absolutely right: laws are there to folloe them not to break them. This little event happend 1983, when I moved to the US as an expat. Since 1991 I am back in Germany and have "fun" on the autobahn.
@@urlauburlaub2222 Yes that is our experience too. I wouldn't take this next statement as legally binding but GENERALLY speaking I have always driven 8mph on the interstate and was never, ever pulled over. In both KC, STL and Chicago many drivers go 10-20 mph over on the highways as the general "pace of traffic".
For me, a German living in Las Vegas, driving here is like a nightmare. You always have to look around as you never know what others are doing. This shows the number of accidents you see on a daily basis no matter where you drive. The LVPD records nearly 61 crashes PER DAY and 284 people killed per year in 2019. In comparison, I chose Munich as I thought it has a similar metro population with 21 people dead, however, the metro area of Las Vegas has about 2.3 Million people and Munich nearly 6 Million. In addition, Munich has trams, tunnels, bicyclists and Autobahns and way more confusing traffic patterns than Las Vegas and still has way less people killed on the road. I remember doing the driving test in Las Vegas. The Handbook is like 40 years old as it states "Do not switch gears when driving over a railroad crossing???". Really, that is important? Nothing in there on when to use your high beams but how many drugs will be what sentence. Due to that, you see people driving at night either with their high beams on or with no light at all, it's optional;-)
@@peterpritzl3354 Love it. We have 2 roundabouts here in my neighborhood, maybe the only 2 in Las Vegas. And not a day goes by when I drive to work and see drivers not knowing how to manage a roundabout, creating a traffic jam.
Gear shifting on railroad crossings... Such a rule seems to me like a single incident paranoia driven lawmaker decision. Like one case of accident just claiming to have gone that way... and hoping to fix the world with that rationale now. Of course it won't, but just making life harder for the vast rest of people participating in traffic.
A little addition to the mandatory first aid kit: in Germany, you are required by law to render first aid or at least call for help if you come by a traffic accident. Failure to do so is punishable with up to a year in prison or a hefty fine.
I am German and I once stumbled upon a RUclips video in which someone filmed a German crossroad for several minutes. On this crossroad the signs went off and everyone around the world admired the German drivers for not ending in chaos. Everything was still smooth, no accidents and German viewers tried to explain the rule "right before left" to others in the comments. I was fascinated about how fascinated people could be by a German crossroad. :D
@@framegrace1 I agree. I tend to share the freeway and i dont like to cluster up in a group to avoid accidents. I let people on the freeway and let them get off because that's what we all want get to the destination stress free.
maybe you should mention that discussions about introducing a speed limit in germany are at least as emotional as discussions about gun control in the USA. ^^
I think you are vastly underestimating the level of gun control discussion in the states. I mean, there are people in the states that bring their automatic rifles to church to have them blessed. Granted, speed limit is an emotional discussion in Germany - but certainly not on that level.
@@philipkoene5345 Perhaps mainly due to the reason that the parts of the autobahn which have no speed limit are not more dangerous than the ones with speed limit.
I am German and I like the comparison. In both cases the discussion is highly emotional and less based on facts. Biased as I am course, I like to point out that while cars can kill and do so regularly, guns are built to that purpose.
Two things you forgot to tell about the driver license here. To get the license you have to do a weekend training in first aid to help other people who get injured by an accident (you have to help by law in Germany) and you gave to go to an optical test at the doctor to make sure your eyes are completely fine. Without this two certificates you are not allowed to do the drivers license test. And thanks, you are so right with all you tell about German drivers. It is funny to hear but it is 100% the truth.
guys, it's not just Germany... *in all of EU* you're legally obligated to have the first aid kit, a reflective vest and triangle in your car at all times also, you need to have winter tyres during the winter and in certain parts of countries that often have snow you need to have chains as well 🤷
You're very right - many of these regulations are EU wide. But I hate to group every EU country together and then make mistakes when there are exceptions in other countries. 😬 But we really love the emphasis on safety here - even the requirement and expected training to give basic aid if you see someone in distress.
@@TypeAshton a few years ago the reflective vest wasn`t obligatory. And you are supposed to keep the vest in the Innenraum / passenger area and not in the trunk so that you can put them on before you leave the vehicle
@@TypeAshton And please help to bust the myth that winter tires are the same as snow tyres. They are not. "Lower temperature rain tyres" might describe better what they are.
Long story short : You can service, repair or modify you car yourself at home. There is no regulation that is prohibiting this at all. The "GarVo" mentioned is for construction and tax purposes as well as for security regulations regarding construction and maintenance of garages. So you are welcome to restore your barn find @home :)
I'm swiss, but I have to visit regularly one of our offices in Germany about 400km away. My preferred transport mode is by train, but depending on how much stuff I need to take with me, I sometimes also take the company car which has a max speed (electronically controlled) of 250 km/h. The average speed for the whole trip is never higher than around 110km/h. However, fuel consumption during the high speed sections of trip (220km/h or more) is really very high. I makes totally sense to put in restrictions in my opinion.
only thing you gotta watch is that you don't pollute the environment, but that is regardless of where you do stuff on your car. Like, I do some minor maintenance in the public parking outside my apartment building every now and again
I noticed that one too as a dane shopping ever so ofter on german car part web sites: why would that be so abundant if all cars had to be repaired at dealers. I looked up the GaragenVerordnung too: agree :-)
Sure, you can fix your car yourself in Germany if you can. Nobody asks you who did this work. But they are very strict, so you have to know what you are doing and you can only use for that specific Model legal Parts. Even changing the Power is illegal.
17:30 Doing maintenance and tuning on your own car by yourself is actually legal in Germany. Maintenance can actually be done without approval but tuning your car has to be approved by TÜV.
18:45 This is very specific. Wonder in which of the Garagenverordnungen this origins. These are not federal law so every federal state has another Garagenverordnung even it is part of another regulation. I'm not a lawyer but if you own a garage or double garage (Kleingarage max. 100 m²) you're allowed to repair your car yourself as long the car is in the same garage (if you have two cars and a double garage in the same parking space), the environment isn't affected and the neighbors are not disturbed. Only welding could be a problem due fire protection. On the other hand if you rent a garage or rent a appartement with a garage you usally not allowed to repair your car due the house rules (Hausordnung) which mostly boils down to being a bigger garage (Mittel / Großgarage above 100 m²) were fire prevention is more severe. Depending on the owner these could be very strict to the point were you are not allowed to jump start your car yourself or even change your wipers in the garage.
Of course dangerous tuning is illegal, but you can for example change the suspension of your car on your own and then let it approve by Tüv and it will then be put in the registration of your car. If it is done in the correct way, Tüv will approve it even if it hasn’t been installed by a certified mechanic.
You have to have to enviromental side covered and that can vary from state to state. But in most states you can strip your car to the bare metal and reassemble it again. Tuning is possible too, but it is a little more complex compared to the states. The car have to meet enviromental regulations after the tuning again. External parts (like spoilers etc) have to becertified for that car modell. It is possible to get a part certified, but that is not cheap and time comsuming. Friend of mine an old Fiat 500 Abarth. He wanted a special spoiler-kit, which was sadly never certified for germany. But he really wanted it and went through all the hoops and loops: He was able to achieve a certification, but that was not cheap at all. Those spoilers were from the 70ties and not that easy to get by. To meet the savety regulations the TÜV had to crash one. And it failed misserably. But who knew, what happend with those spoilers in the last fifty years. So they crashed another set and it failed again. The glas-fibre plastic stuff was simply too deteroided. So he took his last set and made forms to make new spoilers with better technology. That worked after all and the TÜV certified his spoilers. That set of spoilers had cost him around 15.000 €. The originals were not that cheap, the TÜV neither. Making the forms was a small fortune. But in the end he had his classic Abarth. Lucky for him, he could sell his certified forms with all paper work to a company in italy still making parts for those old cars.
@@donsealion In Austria it goes like this: You or whoever maintanes your car, than it will be controlled. And only IF at the TÜV they find some bad points (in Austria "schwerer Mangel") than you have to prove, that it has be done professionally until next inspection. But of course everybody or lets say anybody who is able to is also allowed to work on your car (at proper places following laws like Umweltschutzverordung...)
What I love about the Autobahn is not so much that I can travel at 200+ km/h but that one can simply cruise without having to constantly monitor your speed. The Autobahn is quite safe and German accident rates are less than many other countries which simply proves .... its not speed that kills but speed in the wrong situation that is the killer.
I have a similar feeling. Constantly watching the speedometer with concern of exceeding it and being blitzed is more dangerous than continuously watching out the windshield.
It ain't the speed. Most people do not drive as attentive as they should while they're put the pedal to metal at 200+ klicks an hour. The other issues are safety distance and that stupid MeMeMeMeFUCKINMe sort of mentality. I drive around 70.000 km per year. I see it every day unfortunately. But nobody's perfect, innit?
8:30 I think a big thing is that in Germany, they're taught to follow traffic rules extremely well, as these rules are there for a reason, to keep traffic predictable and people safe! [Edit] on the first aid kit, you're also obligated to know how to use it, and to aid in any situation in which aid is required!
To be fair, „to know how to use it“ is a hot take when I think about my grandparents who never had any first aid training aside from the one ~40-50 years ago when they did their driver licenses.
Growing up in Germany, we always groaned when we encountered an American car driving (schleichen) on the Autobahn. In our area, there were several U.S. bases and we would encounter lots of American cars and drivers, easily recognizable by their license plates. Luckily, most of them stayed in the slow lanes but sometimes, they would pass very slowly and hold up traffic, and it earned them many honks. Generally, I would say German drivers are much more disciplined and better trained, than their U.S. counter parts. They may be impatient but they're better skilled drivers and more aware of their surroundings. Since I've lived in the States now for many years, I've noticed a change in drivers here. Whereas in the beginning people used to be courteous and patient, this has drastically changed, at least where I live. The passing on the right and left side drives me insane, and frankly it's dangerous as hell. Rarely do people go the speed limit on the highway anymore, and the weaving in and out of lanes is hair raising sometimes. I also notice people who are totally unaware of what's going on around them and drive in their own fantasy lane or middle of the road, oncoming traffic or traffic behind you, be damned. I see a lot of texting or talking on phones, even though it's illegal, it is rarely enforced. I've watched people shave in cars, apply make-up and even reading!!! My husband just got into an accident, while minding his own business in the right lane and the driver in the left lane making a lane change right in front of him and side swiping him. Luckily we have dash cams in our cars, and yes, it is that bad now.
It's gotten worse, that's true and the high speeds make it potentially more deadly, but in the USA it is even worse now. Most people ignore the speed limits, there is passing on the right and left, the highways are less well-engineered to say the least, the drivers are untrained, egotistical and stupid and there is always the possibility or road-rage with a firearm. There also seem to be more drunk and stoned people driving around in the USA! WATCH OUT FOR THEM! In highschool my first girlfriend was killed by a drunk driver. I still prefer driving in Germany even though the influx of new Arabic-cultured drivers may have also injected a pinch of unpredictable "Inshaallah" into the matrix that was not present before. 😂😊
Well, the Autobahn isn't a mystical race way even on the sections without speed limits. The responsibility for the choice of your driving speed is being put on the driver on those sections, instead of being forced by limits set up by the government. It doesn't neccessarly mean, that you can drive as fast, as your car allows you to, but actually as fast as road conditions allow you to do. Depending on many variables, like weather conditions, density of traffic, etc, the driver is meant to choose an appropriate driving speed. This is what Germans do learn in driving school, and it is a freedom, that also comes with a burden. Doing the racing thing and driving faster than the recommended speed of 130 km/h, will put the responsibility for anything that may go wrong, onto the driver who does that. Even for things that may be indirectly caused by you. And even if Germans often get a lot of credit for their driving skills, compared with other nations, especially by Americans on RUclips, you'll still meet a lot of irresponsible idiots on the sections without speed limits, who must have slept during driving lessons or who won their driving licence in a lottery.
Ja besonders auf die egoistischen Idioten, die meinen die Geschwindigkeit vorgeben zu können und die linke Spur nicht frei machen, obwohl die Möglichkeit zum Rechtsfahren gegeben ist und noch besser, keinen Blinker setzen und bei 130 einfach rausziehen, wenn ein sehr schnelles Fahrzeug ankommt und der fast schon ne Vollbremsung hinlegen muss. Am Ende wird dann über die sogenannte "Raser" und :aggressiv Fahrer" gesprochen. Es beruht alles auf Gegenseitigkeit und wenn jeder respektvoll und vor allem mit Hirn im Straßenverkehr unterwegs ist, würde auch weniger gedängelt werden. Vollpfosten gibt es auf beiden Seiten und jeder meint der bessere und sichere Fahrer zu sein.
Totally agree - there is an incredible amount of responsibility that comes with driving a car in general. But then tack on the increased speed and you need to have a great deal of care and appreciation for the power of the car and responsibility for others on the road.
@@TypeAshton I've driven a lot in the USA, across many states, even 'talked' to your policemen! Walked through NY even though it was suggested I take the subway! I was warned, double check your car insurance cover for uninsured drivers, believed to be about 50% of all drivers! Wow! Never believed it could be so high. Overall, I found Americans very friendly and helpful. There seems to be a lot of fear about other people, what they may do, don't understand why you have no ID. My overall impression is that America is not a country but a business.
The average for a driver's license is about 2500€ to 3000€. If you fail your driving test, that alone is about 450€ for the redo, including a couple of hours of forced driving lessons.
My German friend was over the alcohol limit and got his license suspended for two years. The police found out that he wasn't even living in Germany, he had a business abroad, so they emailed him telling him they know this, and that the counting will start when he comes back to live in Germany permanently again. That's heavy.
@@Delibro his grand Ma sadly mistakenly told on him because she wanted to know how will the ban work since he doesn’t live in Germany. They said they’ll discuss it with him, may she please provide them with his e-mail address so they can e-mail him the details. She did 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 so they sent him an email saying the counting will start when he comes back.
I am Austrian, not German, but I am pretty sure that you can do any maintainence on your own vehicle in Germany. There is a big Tuning and Oldtimer Scene, with People rebuilding their Cars completely, of course with a TÜV inspection afterwards.
@@sergeysmirnov1062 I don't think 130 would be a good speed limit for Germany, we are skilled drivers and driving 200 on an empty Autobahn isn't dangerous I think. But at least make the speedlimit 200, so people don't take their Lambo here and go 350. But many germans will disagree and use the #1 american gun argument: "BUT OUR FREEDOM" guns and driving insanely fast is not a part of "freedom" it is just dangerous and stupid
@Kreuhn Kohrman What? Statistics do confirm that germans are skilled drivers. Actually some of the best in the world. Only some northern countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some Asian countries rank better when it comes to traffic fatalities.
I'm an American, but have lived in Munich for more than a decade, so I have car-related culture shock when I go back to the US. Well, the first thing is how hard it is to get around without it. In Munich, I don't need a car at all, so when my US license expired, I just never bothered to renew it. It is pretty limiting in the US, though - in my hometown, basically I can't do anything unless someone gives me a ride. Beyond that, even as someone who doesn't drive anymore, I really feel the differences in driving skill. I was in Orlando once, and I witnessed three crashes in three days just walking around. All cars just running into the car in front of them in traffic.
We also are reverse culture shocked by the car dependence of the US. We sold our car three years ago and just use car share and public transit now. It's super easy since we live in the city center.
@@TypeAshtonwhen you were speking about rude drivers in Germany thats probably because of immigrants. Slavs, Hungarians, Arabs, ect. They tend to be agressive.
@@SarsTheSecond Yep. German drivers in Poland are well known of being extremelly "peaceful", especially after a small schnapps in summer time. Ein paar Minuten nachdem deutsche Polizei ist nich da, die verwandeln sich schellstmoeglich in Charaktere aus dem Film "Fast".
To be fair, a four way stop does not exist here. There's the general rule that someone on your right or doing a right turn goes first, and you being "nice" and giving someone your turn just makes everyone slower. Just follow the rules and it'll all go faster 😅
Typically German ;) to put it more precisely one has to do: ......!!! for a driver's license in Germany 12 double lessons (2 times 45 minutes) 5 driving hours overland, 4 hours drive on the highway, at Highspeed or "Higher speed´s" 3 driving hours in the dark. First aid course with 9 teaching units. With an automatic driver's license you can only drive vehicles with automatic transmission.
For me the most surprising moment while driving abroad happend when I was in driving in Iran. I was in Tehran in Winter time and it started to snow and the snow remained on the road. Instantly the complete city went into total chaos and the traffic stopped almost instantly. After almost two hours I managed to reach one of the main roundabouts in the city and there I saw the most shocking thing for me as a German. Several of the drivers just left their cars locked it and went away while their cars where blocking the roads even more. This would never ever have happened here. The second shock I had was in the US when I was stopped in the US for speeding and the officer which was alone in his car told me that I was going three miles to fast and that he has read this from his laser device. So I asked him which measuring tolerance will be deducted and if I can have a copy of the picture he has taken. The guy looked at me as if I am from a different planet and informed me that no tolerance will be deducted and that there is no evidence except his word that I was going that speed. This was obviously long time ago before I saw all this videos about how dangerous my behaviour in fact has been. I found and still find it disturbing that in the so called "Land of the Free" the police can charge you with fines without any proof of the wrong doing. I don't want to say that they do it purposely but mistakes happen and if you ever read figures from a 7 segment display you know how easy it is to read a 8 instead of a 6.
Sie sind Deutscher? Dann haben Sie vielleicht schon vom "geschulten Amtsauge" in Österreich gehört. Dort dürfen Polizisten die Geschwindigkeit sogar schätzen.
@@andreaseufinger4422 ich dachte die hatten diesen Schwachsinn schon vor Jahren beerdigt. Ist mir persönlich aber auch nie passiert, aber von Österreich erwartet man solche Kapriolen einfach. Ich war einfach überrascht das man in den USA einfach so eine doch recht empfindliche Strafe kassieren kann. Das ganze ist jetzt schon mehr als 30 Jahre her. Heute wurde ich mich anders verhalten damals habe ich mich einfach wie in D verhalten und hatte wohl alles in allem noch Glück an einen vernünftigen Officer zu geraten.
LOL! But at least the cop had a gadget to measure your speed. In Austria any cop can just guess your speed and charge you for whatever he thinks fit. This happened to me once in an old Beetle full of camping kit and luggage struggling up quite a steep hill. The officer accuse me of speeding although my car was barely managing the 40K limit. When I told him my car can't do over 40 on that hill he accused me of driving a car unfit for the road. I decided it was useless to argue and paid the fine.
Okay, i am German and life nearly my whole life here. But its the first time i ever heared that its forbidden to work on your own Car in your Home. Maybe, i say Maybe there might be some Law that actually say so. But nobody watch after it. I make everything by my self on my Car. In my Garage, or infront of the Garage. Car washing infront of the House is Critical, and can be punished. But working on your Car ... never hear about that.
My first cultural shock as a German driver in the US was sitting on a picknick ground nearby the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and watching the traffic. It was a nice spring saturday and the highway was filled by bikers. They all stopped by, put off their helmets and roared on in the direction of New Hampshire. Then we learned about the state's motto: Live free or die!
As for the rudeness: you have to see that there are 40 million cars in a country half the size of Texas. So not following the rules is not an option if you want to avoid chaos and inefficiency. I also follow youtube videos on "customer states" topics from mechanics and i swear german technical inspectors would freak out if ever they'd see some of these killing machines driving on public streets. My driving instructor once told me a car is unofficially considered being a weapon wich implies all the fuzz made about it. Made some kinda sense... My culture shocks were in france being a newbie on driving. The style of driving there was more kind of a respectful anarchy compared to what i was used in germany. Congratulations for your anniversary!
My driving instructor told me the SAME THING - you have a vehicle which is capable of an incredible amount of destruction when not used properly. Treat it with the same care and restraint as you would any other weapon.
@@TypeAshton So kept trying to explain that to my ex, even while we were in the USA. “This is perhaps the single most dangerous activity you will participate in during your day. Treat it with the respect and attention that it deserves.” Not sure much of it stuck with him, though, sadly. Once, he had to drive off into the shoulder to avoid crashing into the car in front, and he was like, “wow, thanks to your constant nagging about not following cars so close, I avoided an accident!” and I was like, nearly screaming, “having to drive off into the shoulder _is_ an accident.” But because no damage occurred, his brain didn’t even consider that a possibility.
But to speak honest as a german, control of traffic rules in germany often just means control of the speed limit by machines (so called "Blitzer"). The good old traffic control where a cop stops you and everything is controlled (First-Aid Kit, Drugs, Alcohol, any seriours damage on the car like broken lamps oder old tires) is a rare event. Compared to other countrys the traffic is still very efficent, but in terms of germany the chaos made by confussing and fast changing speed limits, the amount of construction sites (and the even bigger amount of time to finish them) and a ever groing number of senior citiziens who seem to be in no condition to drive still makes it sometimes very difficult to get trough in peace.
@@wilhelmpfusch3699 i think the police adapt to the problems they often encounter. you may have noticed that the first aid kits or warning triangle were missing very rarely during the earlier checks. Most of the time something like this is also checked during the holiday season, because then everything is buried under tons of luggage. now it's more based on speed, whether you're buckled up, load securing (transporter) or use of mobile phones. That will probably be the main problem for us.
In many European countries its more akin to as you say "respectful anarchy". When I worked on Crete, Greece, they guys there can drive. And I mean like they know how to race through super tight alleys, without seatbelt, but traffic rules?... naaaah
Well, Germany has 4.1 traffic fatalities per year per hundred thousand population, the U.S. has 12.1 traffic fatalities per hundred thousand population per year - three times as much. So, it looks like our discipline and strictly abiding the rules is paying off 😉 (figures according to Wikipedia from 2018, number of traffic fatalities might have decreased overall since then). So while you can drive more relaxed in the U.S., you're three times more likely to be killed in the process. Personally, I prefer the "aggressive" German drivers 😉 By the way, this so-called aggressiveness (which is probably more stress than anything else) is also found here mainly in metropolitan areas and larger cities. Where I live - on the North Sea coast - it is much less pronounced. But when I drive towards the Ruhr area, I definitely notice how people start fighting senselessly for every meter of road so that they arrive at their destination 10 seconds earlier. I'm pretty sure that we could reduce traffic accidents and the related traffic fatalities even more than we already have (in 2021 we had the least traffic fatalities in German history) if people would just take a more relaxed approach. I don't think much of a general speed limit. I'm in favor of it in particularly busy or dangerous sections, no question. But why limit the maximum speed when the Autobahn is free? The environmental argument is ridiculous. Two million tons of CO2 savings sounds like a lot, but it's just a calculation and, moreover, an amount that is somewhere way down in the single digits compared to total CO2 emissions. If Germans were to take a day without eating meat every week, considerably more CO2 would be saved. I also don't believe that the majority of German drivers are in favor of a global speed limit. The surveys were conducted among the entire population and not just among drivers. It would be interesting to find out what the situation is like among people who actually drive on the autobahn on a regular basis. By the way, the current average speed on German Autobahns is 120 km/h. There is also a great deal of hypocrisy and double standards. Many complain about the "speeders" on the highway because they are sometimes overtaken by people going 180 km/h or faster. But at home in their neighborhoods, where more than 80 % of all traffic fatalities occur, they have no problem "speeding" through 50 and 30 zones. I'd wish that the entire discussion would be more sober and unemotionally oriented to facts and not be hyped up into an ideological problem.
@@shadeburst even then the number in the US would be more than 2 times higher in Germany. Accidents per 100,000 motor vehicles per year are 6.4 in Germany and 14.2 in the US
@@theawolf2478 not motor vehicles. Deaths per MILE(or KM) driven. Excluding pedestrians ideally because the US pedestrian infrastructure is pretty dangerous and people are killed by cars biking or walking pretty frequently.
@@justcommenting4981 thats 4.2 to 7.3 per billion km driven. I dont know if pedestrians are included in thism but exclusion would make no sense. It is very much a matter of driving discipline, no matter how bad your infrastructure is.
I live in Texas but I frequently listen to local German radio. It always makes me laugh when the traffic report mentiones a vehicle stopped on the side of the road all the way across the state because that's a big deal. In the US, there's a car broken down on the side of the highway every few miles.
Thank you for another well-done video! Driving in Germany vs the U.S. is always a great topic. As a driver who first learned how to drive in Germany it was a culture shock to drive in the U.S. You are absolutely right that Germans drive very rigidly insisting on keeping all the traffic rules. That may sometimes feel a bit unfriendly and self righteous. On the other hand, I think it also makes driving a bit safer especially at high speeds. One things that bothers me here in the United States is when someone doesn’t drive when it is their right-of-way but let’s someone else go ahead. That can lead to accidents when another driver is not aware of the friendly driver letting someone else go ahead. I was taught to always be clear with your driving intentions so other drivers can anticipate what you are doing. That often doesn’t seem the case here in America. The worst for me is on U.S. highways when slower traffic uses any lane possible even all the way to the left while people regularly pass on the right. People here in the U.S. also don’t seem to know how to merge onto a highway or how to safely exit. Well, those a just a few of my observations. Thank you for another excellent video post!
the cost of owning and driving a car in germany is actually average for EU standards. you didnt factor in something like car insurance or car tax which are lower in germany than in many other european countries. yes, compared to the us, germany has more expensive fuel, higher cost in maintaining your car (in exchange for safer cars on the road) but germany is relatively low on taxing its cars compared to the european average and the insurance isnt terribly expensive either which are obviously 2 big factors when figuring out the monthly/yearly cost of a car.
That's really interesting! In our experience, the cost of our car insurance is pretty comparable to what we paid in the US. However, we also had to re-establish our driving record in Germany. Although I brought over my clean driving record from the US (a pre-requisite to covert my American driver's license into a German driver's license) - I (Ashton) was still pretty expensive to insure because I didn't have any established driving record in Germany.
@@TypeAshton Compared to the Netherlands, driving a car and buying a car in Germany is a lot cheaper. A BMW 320i touring in Germany starts at 45k, in the Netherlands the same car starts at 54K euro.
@@mordante01 our road tax is a lot higher, fuel prices are higher and monthly road tax is internationally very high... And stupid costs like parking costs everywhere... And driving license costing AVG around 2000 ain't cheap either... Dutch driving is quite expensive... Infrastructure is close to perfect... That's the advantage
I have never heard that it is forbidden to repair your own car. I do it all the time, as do many people I know. Of course you have to follow safety and environmental regulations. For example, you can't dispose of oil in the garden. Also, you can't just run a private workshop for customers. What is definitely not allowed is that you make technical changes to the vehicle. So, for example, a different brake system or a different engine than intended by the manufacturer to install in the car. Of course you are allowed to install aftermarket parts. Such things can be done, but then the car is no longer the model licensed by the manufacturer for road use and therefore no longer allowed to drive on public roads. You would also lose your insurance coverage. The only way to drive such a car would be an individual approval at the TÜV where the car would be completely tested for roadworthiness and safety. However, this costs a lot of money and does not make sense for a normal car.
I'm told motorcycles have to go through that individual procedure all the time, sometimes for example because the tire in the type licensing papers just is no longer available. Any other tire that is not expressly authorized by the manufacturer requires the extra procedure. I'm told they tell each other about TÜV places where there's someone who understands these things and won't make any theatrics about them if they're actually done reasonably because the average ones don't understand it and do that.
It's similar England. You can repair or modify the car yourself, but the insurance cost is based on the make/model. The application form asks if any modifications have been made. Lying on the form would invalidate the insurance and driving without insurance is illegal. most modifications would be easily insured but cost more.
From what we have understood, the garage needs to have a fire extinguishing system and cannot be turned into a workshop. I suppose for us as foreigners the regulations are quite confusing. www.adac.de/verkehr/recht/verkehrsvorschriften-deutschland/garagen-nutzung/ In addition, there could be more legal problems with neighbors who are unhappy that their neighbor is working on their own vehicle. This alone is confusing for us because we do not understand what rights our neighbors might have here. But yes, thank you for pointing out that the TÜV would need to inspect the car right after, however all liability for something going wrong is on the mechanic on the way to the inspection.
You are allowed to work in your car here in germany but you gotta meet the strict safety and especially the enviromental regulations to do so (for example collect all the fluids which you aren't allowed to just throw away. You have to take them to a Recyclinghof = Public Recycling Facility, every German City hast one.) Because of that your home garage has to actually meet the standard of a german car repair shop and thats very expensive not to mention the lack of space private german single standard garages have. Because of that many germans don't do it at home. But germany's car tuning scene is very big (everybody here heard of big VW meet ups, fairs like EssenMotorShow, Carfreitag) because of that they fix their cars at rental repair garages, you can rent a space for like 10€/hour and you have everything there Tools, Heavy machines like a car lifting platform. Most of the German greasmonkeys work on their cars before their TÜV expires so they don't have to pay extra for a check up.
@@TypeAshton Maybe that's the "Garage Regulations", but it is no problem at all, to maintain or even restore your own car in your own (or rented) Garage. We have a huge DIY scene in Germany. So everyone (who is able to do and has an older car) does it.
About the TÜV - for me and probably many others it goes like this: TÜV-inspectors are usually booked by garages for certain days, like once or twice a week or so, so when the next TÜV-checkup is due, I make an appointment at my usual garage on a day when the inspector is there. I give them my car in the morning (or the day before), get a free public transport day-ticket (at least that's a service at my garage, dunno if that's common) and let them do their thing. The inspector then checks my car and in case they have some criticism they tell the garage who then fixes the necessary things. When all is done, I get info by the garage, get back there, pay the bill and get my repaired car with a valid TÜV-checkup plaque. Usually all in one day.
Great idea! I have usually done this at the BMW dealership (for my last car) when the TÜV inspector is present. Then they would handle both simultaneously... and unfortunately charging me more than I would have liked.
I always do it the other way round: I just get my car inspected (after a quick basic check, like, do all lights work?), to either pass or get my "to-do list". I then fix the stuff I need and have them check that I have fixed everything and get my sticker. From time to time they'll add a note for things I should have an eye on and/or are only marginally okay, so I can fix them until I have to go the next time. In my opinion it's the cheapest way to go, especially if you have a simple, older car that is easy to work on yourself.
Interesting fact: the German TÜV was founded when high pressure steam engines became common in the 19th century and so did accidents with blown up steam boilers. So they started by just checking the integrity of steam engines.
When I was on vacation in the US I found that driving on a 2 or 3 lane highway is pretty stressing and insanely dangerous because the US does not have the "overtaking on the right is illegal" rule, even though you must never exceed 90 or 100 or even less kmh. You have to pay attention to both sides of your car all the time. If you ever go to France, note that the rule "right before left" is strictly adhered to, you never look to your left but only to your right, even when you are turning left. Whoever is or comes from the right has right of way. It is the only way to navigate the huge roundabouts in Paris e.g.
I like to say that I feel more comfortable driving 100 mph on the German autobahn than 60 mph on an American highway. In Germany I feel fairly confident that I know what the other drivers are going to do, in the US I haven‘t got a clue what the other drivers are going to do!
overtaking on the right is illegal in the USA - just rarely enforced - cause most drivers dont know the left lane is for passing only and use it same as right lane
In Germany it is perfectly legal to do any kind of repair on your car yourself. This also includes brakes, suspension, motor and whatnot. The greatest obstacles for diy here is having the right special tools and a garage which may have to meet special requirements such as oil seperation.
You don't need an oil separator to do your own oil change in Germany. All you need is to watch out that the old oil doesn't disappear down a drain or mess up the road.
Plus the required TÜV once the work is done and that any accident between the repair and inspection is a risk for the person who did the repair work. However I am very happy to see there are ways to work on our own vehicles... it's more motivation to bring my classic car here and not worry about having to always take it somewhere.
Well there is no requirement as such to get tüv approval of your DIY repairs. If you just repair and/or replace broken parts, fine no need to see a tüv man. If you change safety related parts like brakes you only have to get this checked if the manufacturer does not provide an ABE (allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis) with the spare part. It is getting stricter though. Take motorbike tyres for a start: for years it was okay to use tyres with dimensions different from the tyres the bike was delivered with if the manufacturer of the tyres issued a statement that it is OK to use one of his tyres in specific dimensions on a particular bike. The almighty TŰV hated this of course and after years of putting pressure on politicians this was changed in 2020. So now I have to see a TÜV man with a 30 euro helmet who only rides bikes in the back yard of the TÜV workshop to approve my choice of tyres. Apparently the politicians seem to think that this TÜV clown is more competent when it comes to motorcycle tyres than the manufacturer.
@@theowaigel8588 Oh yeah, motorcycle tyres. My dealer swore blind that the tyres he sold me were certified for my bike, he even sent me papers to prove it. My brother - he's a car mechanic with TÜV experience - told me I'd still better go to the TÜV just to be on the safe side, which I did. And sure enough, the new tyres had to be especially certified again and written into my vehicle registration documents. That cost 46 euros and 2 hours at the TÜV. I get the feeling someone is making a huge profit on all this TÜV stuff.
@@TypeAshton You might want to know that the TÜV doesn't take any responsibility for the road worthiness or safety of a vehicle even straight after it has been TÜV inspected. You can be on your way home from an inspection and your brakes fail and you could still be accused of not keeping your car in a technically road worthy condition. I know, ridiculous, even unbelievable, but this is Germany.
As a German living and driving in the US for over 30 years by now, I must say that the average US motorist is not cut out for driving in Germany - as evidenced by the number of tickets and fender-benders my coworkers collect when over there! In SC, traffic rules like Stop signs seem to be suggestions, the proper use of turn signals is an enigma to most and negotiating a roundabout is sometimes life threatening! Vehicle safety in this state is greatly affected by the fact that no road-salt is being used here but in the other states I lived in the NE, seeing rust-buckets with their muffler dragging or floor boards missing was nothing unusual. Modifying one’s emission control system here is the norm - after all, how else would you be able to ‘coal-roll’ bicyclists or Prius drivers. Look up ‘Carolina Squat’ modifications to Pick-up trucks, which have cost already several lives since the drivers can’t see over the hood anymore! Unthinkable in Germany!
The most interesting part of this video for me as a European was about the lack of car inspection in most US states. That was really shocking. I double checked it and the annual or bi-annual technical car inspection is compulsory in all EU countries, even poorer ones like Bulgaria.
By the way, it is not illegal to do the repairs and maintenance at your car in your private „Kleingarage“ at home. You can swap engines and so on. The „Garagenverordnung“ is the law about parkinglots in small, medium of large. It is more a law about the quality of the building an some regulations about using it (e.g. protection of women). I do my oilchange, breakrepairs and much more for myself at home in Germany. It is correct, that it is no allowed to do carwashing at home.
Your are only partially right about washing your car at home. It actually differs for each city and often depends if rainwater is treated like sewage or if rainwater is drained close by without treatment. For the latter you can say for sure that washing your car on the street is not allowed. In the first case, at least washing the exterior with no or only very mild detergents may be allowed in some cases. Washing the engine compartment or the undercarriage outside of places with special water treatment is a general no go. For repairs it is just that you do them to standards that will pass inspection. So maybe no wildly welding a frame back together. But a brake job among other things is completely fine. You are liable for a safe operating condition of your vehicle anyways. Just if something was not done right it may cause an insurance issue in case something happens.
In many cities there are also "Selbsthilfewerkstätten" where you can do almost everything that is possible in an official workshop. Usually a master and a journeyman are present to help.
@@manub.3847 Advantage of those over doing things at home is that you may have access to tools you typically would not have at home. Also for modern cars, sometimes after swapping parts also requires resetting software, which again requires certain equipment. Two things come into my mind where I am not sure if you would actually be able to do repairs on your own or even obtain all parts. That would be the AC system where I am not sure if you can purchase refrigerant if you are not certified and airbags, which contain explosives. At least in official shops those systems only specially certified technicians are allowed to work on (which in this case may be more for work safety and liability reasons)
@@alexanderkupke920 I know. The electronics in cars are now so complicated that you need computers for certain error analyses. Finally, the official job title has also changed: from car mechanic to car mechatronics engineer.
From 12:00 on: Learning about the concept of safety inspections in the US lifted the mistery of why a YT channel like "Just Rolled In" has so much content so show :).
The Autobahn is very different in parts of Germany. In the south and west all you said applies more or less. But in the north of Germany and also most parts of the A9 away from Berlin and Munich, you got much more of that limitless and not too much traffic feeling.
Agree. My last trip van Berlin to Nijmegen just over the Dutch border (620km) took 3h30min on an early sunday morning. Hardly any trafic, and the car on cruise control at 225km/h (cruise control cannot be set higher in my car for safety reasons) for most of the journey. Very relaxing drive 🙂
The main reason for the strict inspection rules is, that we have to make sure your car is really safe if we allow you to go pedal to the medal on our Autobahn.
And jet, the really important stuff is no tested by the TÜV... Shock absorbers only get a visual ID... And unfortunately the brain of the driver gets completely neglected during this inspection...
If you are capable of doing your own repairs on your car, you can go to rentable garages, that have all the tools and usually some experts around. They are not that common anymore, but they do still exist. When my brother and I were younger, we regularly repaired his car there together. It is great, because you don't need to worry about buying all the tools and where you dispose of some things like used oil, because they usually have disposal systems in place. Just look online for "Mietwerkstatt" or for the "Schrauber" community ("Schrauber" is the German term for "tinkerer")
Good idea! For our old classic car, we would need to have imperial unit wrenches instead of metric... so I would still need to bring nearly everything with me. It would certainly be fun to visit one of these shops to see what they are like. There is nothing like this in the United States.
@@TypeAshton You should definitely ask beforehand, if they have imperial unit tools. They might even have some, if they are in a location, where several american car tinkerers live :) (you don't need to be from there to have a car from there...)
It is allowed to repair the car at home. I repair my brakes at the front door. Also engine repairs no problem. Only engine tuning for example is not easily possible. Do not make any technical changes to the vehicle.
@@Zak_McKracken81 anything "dry" is usually fine - as in everything that doesn't involve opening up the liquid systems of the car, where it is not intended (refilling is ok)
If you think Germans are aggressive drivers, you should have a trip to Switzerland on Friday evening right after working hours. This is a different level.
Im living in germany my whole live and im doing everything on my car by myself. Its new to me that im not allowed to this 😅😄 Btw if you lose your driving license you maybe have to do a MPU (if drugs were involved or you were way too fast) to get it back. A MPU could cost you 1500-8000€ depends on if you pass the first try
Just to clarify what an MPU is, because not everybody may know this: It's short for 'Medizinisch Psychologische Untersuchung' (medical psychological examination) and it is sometimes vulgarly called "Idioten-Test". Its purpose is to find out if you're mentally stable enough to drive a vehicle so that you can be given a drivers licence ever again. It is required if you had your licence revoked repeatedly or because of severe reasons. After passing the MPU you still have to get a new licence from a regular driving school, but I think you can skip most of the training.
You should maybe make a third video about insurance, first aid courses and 'who pays what' after an accident. In my opinion, the effort before driving (learning to drive, keeping the car safe, obeying the rules, getting insurance, etc.) pays off when accidents happen. Maybe you can compare that with the USA. Congrats to 1 year!
In the US it is different from state to state. There are "no fault" states and "at fault" states when it comes to car accidents. And US car insurance - especially if you have less than 5 years of insurance history (e.g. being a new immigrant) is ridiculously expensive. Can be $4,000 per year easily!
Have you heard of the Czech millionaire who recently drove 417 km/h (260 mph) in his Bugatti on the Autobahn? The case against him was just dropped because it was not considered an "inappropriate" speed in the specific situation (i.e. 5am on a Sunday morning, on an almost empty road with good weather and several people scouting the road for him)
which proves that you really can legally drive that fast on an Autobahn... but you also really have to be very careful with doing so, in order to avoid trouble.
Yes we've watched it before and it was an experience by itself to see out the windshield from a computer screen. Apparently he had spotters up the road checking traffic. Still, so dangerous and irresponsible for an entitled billionaire.
@@tobyk.4911 that is the main ruöle pf $1 of the street regulations. no other people must be endangeresd or hindered in any qay. mutual consideration and carefulneys is the main rule
I love the lack of greeting in Germany. It's a culture of not wasting your energy and time greeting people you will never see again. Everything is about privacy and efficiency. I love that. The culture is similar Austria and I've been loving it, even coming from Africa.
Regarding the speed limit: this kind of majority discussion is always difficult. A huge part of people answering just use the highway once or twice a year. It's easy for them to say "we need a speed limit", because they just don't care. That can be quite a difference though for people who basically "live on the road", "im Außendienst". If you're on the road daily, and you would lose 30-60 minutes each day -- that sums up for almost a whole working day by the end of the week. Ask those 60% "pro limit" voters, how many of them would agree working EACH Saturday for free? I'd guess the answer will be 0%... I'm often using an example with football/soccer. If you ask me, you can forbid playing football. I'm not interested in it, I don't play myself and I also don't watch or otherwise follow it. So it's very easy for me to vote "pro forbid football". And probably, country-wide you could get more than 50% support for this idea. And think about all the CO2 we could save by not having all these stupid stadiums, transferring people back and forth for games, etc. So, should we forbid football now?..
I'd like to see a real world example how you lose 60 minutes because you can "only" drive 130 km/h at maximum. Most of the time you "lose" on the slow parts: driving to the autobahn, accelerating and decelereating, speed limits, congestions, ... - and especially congestions would be minimized if everyone drove with the same maximum speed. I once tried to "put the pedal to the metal" on early saturday morning with nearly no other cars around me - and gained two minutes or so on a hour long drive.
@@Engy_Wuck Well, of course it depends highly on your conditions. Driving full speed in congested traffic or in places where you have lots of interchanging limits is not going to increase anything, besides maybe your blood pressure ;) But there are still long tracks with good visibility, more or less straight road and no limits. Saving time on those doesn't look like a very bad idea to me. And if you look at alternatives - if car driving will be slowed down, then many business people will fall back to airplanes even for local trips. So it will actually backfire on CO2 emissions... It's all much more complicated than just thinking "if we all drive slower, we'll save the world". It's partially true - and if you can drive slower without sacrificing much, then please do. That's what I'm always doing on my vacation or if it fits the schedule on business trips. You don't need a general limit to drive slower yourself, right? What's really highly confusing to me is the amount of people who want to pose restrictions on *the others* . Like, if I'm not doing this, then let's prevent everyone else from doing it... Instead of just doing it yourself and leading by a good example, people are getting quite aggressive in trying to forbid it for the others - and the others answer with the same aggressiveness. That's why I find the current political decision to avoid this kind of discussion a good decision. BTW, not adhering to the distance rules is causing much more crashes with deaths on the highway than driving at high speeds (even including driving at high speeds in the already limited zones). Have you ever seen a politician arguing for better control of distance? Think about it.
@@Engy_Wuck What? I don't quite understand your point. When I drive to work normally it takes me about 30min on the Autobahn. If I am in a hurry I usually can reach work in 20min or even less. So yeah, there definitely is time saving potential (!) when driving fast. Of course the conditions need to be good but how can going faster = arriving earlier be a controversial point? Not arriving earlier when you drive faster would be an exception not the rule.
So instead of renegotiating your work contract so the increased cost is shifted towards your employer you want to keep externalising the cost of the pollution to the public? Your example is also VERY misleading. A better analogy would be that Football stadiums are required to have a stop for public transport and require/allow less parking space for cars so viewers are more likely to go watch a game using public transport.
My culture shock was about driving India. To be precise, we had a local driver, fortunately. You had cows everywhere on the roads, even on the highways, and you're not supposed to heart them. In India, you're supposed to drive on the left side, which doesn't exclude you'll find cars on your side going in the opposite direction. And we also saw overcrowded cars with people sitting on the roof.
Hey guys, good video. What is the definition of a nanosecond in Germnay? The time between the light turning green until someone honks their horn. During my last trip to the States, I was shocked to see many vehicles that would definitely not pass TÜV! Regarding own repairs on cars, you can rent a bay at an ATU to do your own maintenance if you really wanted to. I think part of the point of making the driving license so expensive is to keep people off the road, because the roads are so crowded. I think € 1.800 is closer to the average (having paid for 3 family members to get their licenses).
The driving license isn't expensive to keep people off the road. That makes no sense at all :) It's expensive because it takes a long time to learn to be a good driver. And for slow learners and/or people without the ability to exercise with parentes, this tends to be very expensive.
1800,- is on the cheap side. We have paid 2200,- and 2700,- with self learning in out own cars and one repeat. The additional small lorry license for up to 7.5 tons costs us in Austria 900,-
@@picitnew the German transport system and cycle lanes is in another world to the US and even UK (where I live), so keeping people on the transport system means fewer cars on the road. In some regard that works. Same can be said for big cities like London where some peoples cars do less than 2000miles a year because public transport is so good you only need a car to leave the city!
some women do their makeup in the rear mirror, Not paying attention at all, some text. One driving exam candidate looked up her smartphone at a traffic light stop-fell through, of course. Please park for that. Streets and roads are for driving. No multitasking please. I guess that's the other side of punctuality, you are in a hurry and someone pondering what and where to go driving just half the allowed speed makes me mad, I'm not defending road rage here eg. Mercedes with alleged "built in right of way" (eingebaute Vorfahrt)
Fun fact: Taxis in germany are required to get the inspection every year, no matter how old it is! One of the reasons why Taxis are much safer than Uber, which are according to the law are actually illegal because none of the Uber drivers is insured!
I like this kind of videos because it builds a significant counterpart to the endless numbers of videos of Germans who live in the US and report about their live there
18:00 You are actually allowed to do repairs yourself in germany, but if something goes wrong you are fully liable for all damages and your insurance might not pay. Licenced mechanics have liability insurance.
Happy Sunday! Just a heads up, we realized during editing that the audio isn't the "greatest" but we tried our best in post production. We are working on fixing it for future episodes. But to repeat the question at the end of the video: What's a culture shock that you have experienced when driving abroad? Let us know below!
Hello Ashton, Hello Jonathan, please have a look at the RUclips video of James Bray from 6.04.2022: „THE FASTEST MAN ON THE GERMAN 🇩🇪 AUTOBAHN!!“ 😁😁 😅😅😅 🙋🏼♂️
Congratulations for your first year. Hope to see you much more years here. It`s so interesting to learn, how you see and feel Germany. All the best to your little Black Forest Family.
Having driven in Germany numerous times, you need to be damn careful when changing lanes. In the US, most people are traveling roughly the same speed +/- 10 mph. However, in Germany you encounter tremendous variations in speeds. In fact, speed differences between lanes can be as much as 30 - 50 mph. When you look over at the far-left hand lane, those cars are traveling so fast that it's as if they were shot out of a cannon. I used to call it the 'power lane'. It's not a passing lane like it is in the US. So, not only do you need to see who's around you. You need to know how fast somebody is going, otherwise they may catch up to you far, far faster than you would expect. As noted in the video, driving in Germany is hardly low stress. It's stressful driving in either country - but for very different reasons.
yup that is correct. That's why you watch the traffic behind you constantly and not only when you change lanes. And if you want to change lanes, look in the left mirror and see a car in the left lane, look a second time. so you can see how fast it's approaching and if you might obstruct it.
I drive on the A7 at the end of July every year. Motorhome and trailer total 15 metres. My experience of driving on Autobahn is that the change of lane is not that difficult. Most drivers are really helpful. The real difficulty in the lane changing are all of these "race drivers" that suddenly find out that they are leaving the Autobahn on the next Ausfahrt but desperately need to overtake you first. And we experience the same challenge in Denmark.
Another great video! Regarding the Autobahn, when my mom came to visit us in Germany she was totally freaked out about driving on the Autobahn. But I when I drover her around I never got faster than about 85mph. Granted there were cars passing me doing 100+, but she said that it really wasn't that bad at all, and not what she expected!
Our parents said the same thing. My dad even said that he probably would have felt comfortable driving around if he had a better understanding of road signs. I think the biggest hurdle for him would be the "rechts vor links"
12 (per 100.000) traffic death in the USA compared to 4 (per 100.000) in Germany. There is a reason for all those inspections, regulations and the longer divers license training i´d say ;)
Above age 25 the statistics are closer. In America using turn indicators is a sign of weakness, even if you are a highway cop and a supposed upholder of standards. The speed limit is taken as the lowest allowable speed. I think that what our presenters are trying to say, without saying it and giving offense, is that German drivers are pretty anal.
Note: I studied German in college for 3 years and was suprised to find I had little difficulty understanding traffic signs in Germany. Until I went to Germany I'd lived most of my life in Boston and NYC, cities apparently known for crazy traffic & crazy drivers. I spent two weeks driving around Hamburg with day trips requiring 2-3 hours on the Autobahn. It was almost disappointing. Yes, everyone drove about 20mph faster than on the same roads in the US, but everything was much more calm. The only time there was excitement was when I looked at my speedometer and realized I was cruising at 110mph. Other than that driving in Germany was positively relaxing. There was one thing that stood out: I was there shortly after reunification. There were all these Trabi jokes about east Germans getting onto the autobahn in their Trabants and driving 45-50mph. They weren't jokes! You're cruising at 100+ mph and suddenly there're all these brake lights and traffic evacuates a particular lane. Sure enough, there was a Trabi in the middle lane doing half the normal speed. Crazy!
Giving up your priority is actually a fineable offence in a lot off western europe. So I'm not surprised people are annoyed when you just stand there at the intersection going "You go first, I'm not in a hurry.".
I remember multiple cars in the US missing a car door or a windshield. I was particularly shocked when a guy showed me he replaced the oil tank with a big plastic Coke bottle…
You don`t get a license plate, if you haven't got a liability insurance for your car; Maybe the obligatory insurance is also different. Thanks a lot for your videos; as a german people i learn english and also a lot about the culture differences.
Afaik an insurance is not required to get a license plate in the USA. You are required to have one by law, but it is still possible to drive without one. I remember an episode from Gas Monkeys where an employee made a test drive with a just finished custom car for a show and somebody else crashed in the car and had no insurance and there was a damage of over 100.000$
While you need a liability insurance to be able to register a car (and get a license plate or the official "seal" on it) you could still "lose" coverage later on, e.g. if you just don't pay the dues. The insurance company will report this to the vehicle registration office (Zulassungsstelle) and they will in turn ask you to either deregister the car or to give proof you have a new insurance ‑ and if you don't respond they will send someone out to your home to seize the registration certificate and remove the seal from the license plate. So it is possible to drive a car in Germany without having an insurance ‑ at least for a short period of time. One of my friends managed to "hide" his car from the authorities for 7 or 8 months while he kept driving without having a liability insurance. (That was about 15 years ago but I think it wouldn't make a great difference if someone really "wanted" to do this today… and doesn't care about the consequences.)
In most US states you need an insurance to get a car registration (and hence a license plate). Only New Hampshire and one other state (forgot which one) allows non insurance - but only if you can present $100,000 as available assets to pay for damages. But that would still be like suicide as in the US the costs of a car accident rapidly surpasses that. In New York, the insurance is marked electronically at the DMV computer system. The insurer puts the insurance there for the car - distinguished by the vehicle number VIN. In case the insurance lapses, the DMV automatically withdraws the registration. Moving the car is then a crime.
My Driving Teacher was 68 Years old, and in the past Always the Teacher of my Dad. He was a Rallye Driver in the Former GDR and his Motto was "learn to drive fast, and you become to drive safety" For an example, his wish Speed to get on the Autobahn was Minimum 140km/h moving from the Beschleunigungsstreifen 😂
Well, you can cut costs for your driver's licence when you have a driver who takes you to a "drivers' kindergarten" where learners can practice parallel parking (!!) or stop and go on a slope or parking backwards etc. I took both my children and apart from a fee it cost me a few grey hairs and a quarter of my life expectancy, lol !
Moin! Erstmal Glückwunsch zu einem Jahr RUclips. Eure Videos sind sehr professionell gemacht. Zum Video, so schlimm fahren wir Deutschen nicht. Ja, wir fahren gerne schnell, aber wenn ihr einmal in Paris gefahren seit und das überlebt habt, dann wisst Ihr wie angenehm wir Deutschen fahren. Liebe Grüße aus dem Norden! Emma
My driving culture shock was in France, regarding one thing: multi lane roundabouts. In Germany, all roundabouts are single lane (with sometimes a bypass between two neighbouring exits). In France, most roundabouts are dual lane, and three lanes are still common, especially when more than four roads are connected. I am used to it by now, but the first few times I was completely lost how to navigate this
Driving in Germany is a privilege. If you don't have a drivers license in Germany there are still ways to get to your work, to the grocery store etc. Where in the US not having a license really impacts your way of living just the "how do you get groceries without a car?" question that keeps popping up is a sign of this. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard people from the US say they rather lose their home than their car since their car allows them to make money.
Hey everybody, I'm at the point in your video where you're talking about the cost of a driving licence in Germany. I'm doing the driving licence myself and I can tell you that it can cost between 1500 and 2400 euros. Of course, it always varies a bit because everyone needs different amounts of driving lessons. On average, you usually have between 15 and 18 driving lessons until you take the test. Of course, there are also people who need far more driving lessons, which makes the whole thing more expensive. Failing the theory and practical tests also costs more money, of course, because you have to pay a fee every time you take the test. That's why it's good to pass at least the theory test the first time, it saves money and time. The theoretical exam in particular is a pure learning matter, which you can definitely pass the first time. The practical exam is a completely different matter, because it depends on several things that all have to fit on that day, for example, you suddenly get into a situation that you haven't been in before, you make careless mistakes, etc.pp. All in all, I think the driving licence is very expensive. But you can also save costs, but I would say 80% of the sum is already fixed at the beginning. So, have a nice Sunday and thank you for your videos. I generally don't write much under videos, but here I wanted to say something :)
I know alot of people in Germany that failed the practical test at least once, myself included after quite intensiv lessons. My two practical driving tests were both almost one hour long through the inner city, rural roads and the Autobahn, including parallel parking, three point turns, and so on. It is quite brutal. They fail you even for minor mistakes in any of that. I failed because my instructor grabbed my steering wheel on a double-laned left turn, because he felt like I was cutting of the car next to me (I don't think I was). If your instructor sitting next to you (the tester sits on the back seat) interferes in any way, by grabbing your steering wheel or braking, the test is automatically failed. They only passed me the second time with a very stern warning to drive more carefully in the future. They made me feel like I was a completely hopeless basket case in terms of driving skill. Funnily enough, today I would consider myself one of the better drivers of all the people I know.
yes i was also shocked when they said how much it cost. mine is quite a while ago but it was less than 2000. tho i only got the minimum required amount of driving lessons and passed on first test with 0 mistakes. (to my suprise because i barely studied at all)
Thats Olds mobil is such a beauty well done Jonathan. Also back to self repare: YOu can do it in German, look for Selfmade Werkstätten, most old car enthusiast use those or rent their own industrial space/old barn which they than modify to be a Werkstatt, friends of mine did that.
Yeah we are looking into that. We would need a place to store all of my tools from the US since everything in the car uses imperial. We can't use the normal wrenches, for example, in a German Werkstatt.
@@TypeAshton I know of a huge American car scene in Baden-Württenberg, so you may not have to get all that equipment over here. The scene the last I looked was around Stuttgart kr the other way on thr autobahn Munich also has an american car scene and of course every place were there ever was an American military base. You even can get german manufactured spare parts for some old american muscle.
i have got my drivers licence 15 years ago.. it took me 24 driving hours including driving in the city, driving in a residential area, driving at night, driving at the countryroads and of course driving at the autobahn. all beginners have to get their eyes checked and pass a basic first aid exam. after you signed in youll get a book or access to an app to start learning, and you have to attend those theory lessions mentioned in the video. there are about 1000 questions you have to know, but just 30 randomly choosen questions will be asked at the exam. The exam takes place at the Tüv site. After you passed the theoretical part, you can go straight for the driving exam. i did my driving exam 5 minutes after the theory exam. A Tüv examiner will take a seat at the back on the car. for 45 minutes you have to follow the orders he gives to you. i found it quite easy, he basically just wants to see if you know what you are doing, not driving to harsh, not to slow, not agressiv, not to fast.. In total i paid a bit more than 2000 euros, including the fees for exams at the tüv site.
I was stationed in Germany for most of my 20’s and I loved driving over there. I hate dealing with crappy American drivers. And we wonder why we have a problem with road rage.
6:55 I have to concur: Your example of honking 1 Second after the light turns green is f.e. not in line with the actual rules. The horn is only to be used in case of eminent danger.
As a german, living near Karlsruhe i love your videos, but the "I can't work on my own car" is absolutely not true. As you said, the TÜV is just looking, if your car fits the regulations, like, are the lights are working, are the brakes in a specific tolerance and so on. But you can fix your car self if you are able to. What you misunderstood maybe is the fact, that you are not allowed to modify your car with any 3rd party addon, like bigger wheels. For this you need an ABE (allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis). You can do this changes by yourself, driving to the TÜV and they will test if it's ok and they will do a "Eintragung" (or not) and it will be expensive. You can also buy stuff like bigger wheels where the ABE is already included for your specific car. TÜV also don't care about "changing oil" only for security relevant topics. I'm driving a Tesla and if for example the yellow high voltage label in the the frunk is not viewable, they can deny the TÜV label.. Many people think it is rude when someone flash the light when coming from behind. It is allowed and only shows you that a very fast car is coming from behind. If the driver continues flashing when he has the same speed, because you are also overtaking, then this is behavior is too rude and he can get a penalty. Using the left signal light to tell "let me pass, now!!" is forbidden, and to overtake on the right side is absolutely prohibited (exception: Munich city Autobahn, where passing right is common :P). Yes, german Autobahn could be very nerve wracking, if you have too look all the time in the mirrors. You need the experience when changing to the left lane, especially when someone is coming with 250km/h from behind. Always expect the worst driver, in any situation, then you are good :)
No what they said is true. They said you cannot fix you car at your garage. And that is true, you can do at at a official "Werkstatt" on you own if you want.
@@Blackbirdone11 yes, of course your garage has to fit environmental requirements, like a oil separator, but you are allowed to change brakes. And like you said, there are rentable "Werkstatt" where you are able to do anything at your car.
@@mfkman i also have a Model Y. The label is on the right side, between the cover. The purpose for the label is, that after an accident, they (fire department, or who is arriving first) can find and cut the high voltage cable.
As others here have said, our confusion is what we are allowed to do in our own garage. From what we understand, regulations prohibit us from working on our own vehicles. But others have said this is often not followed and would really only be enforced if a neighbor complains.
Just like driving in the USA, it's high stress, even on remote interstate highways. I just did a tour of the USA towing a Fifth Wheel Camper that was the most stressful experience in my life! I decided to avoid the interstates entirely where possible. Because of how aggressive people are. Calling Americana non aggressive behind the wheel is far from the truth. Decades ago yes but today???
I just want to point out 2 things: 1. You can do any car repairs or maintenance by yourself in a properly equipped garage. There are planty DIY garages available across the country. 2. You can wash your car at home if you have a driveway build in a way that garantueis no waste water will be able to enter the environment. So it is a water proof surface where water can only escape to the drain. Also about point 1. this is as you mentioned in big part to make sure no oils or other liquids enter the environment.
6:21 In my country, German drivers have these stereotypes attached to them: - German drivers are mostly safe drivers, - German drivers will break at curves and on straight roads, - German drivers follow the traffic rules to the T and - older German drivers ( 60+ ) cannot drive in reverse ( and some stubbornly don't want to even if by the rules of traffic they are the ones who have to do it ) Witnessed all of those every year ever since I was a child. From time to time I've come across some odd ones though like those who don't let you overtake them and those who drive really slow until you catch up to them and they speed up and after a few minutes slow down and repeat the same process. No idea what that's all about, to me it just seems rude.
Regarding the last paragraph: I can only speculate, because I didn't witness the situation, but they might have felt you didn't keep enough safety distance to them. Driving in the US, I experienced the other side of the coin: Sometimes when driving exactly at the speed limit, I'm having cars behind me that drive up so close that they would 100% hit me if I had to brake for whatever reason. So I am forced to accelerate beyond the speed limit just to put some distance between me an them, but they always catch up (because of course they don't stick to the speed limit in the first place) and once again drive behind me in an unsafe distance, forcing me to repeat the process. I'm not saying you didn't actually keep enough distance, because obviously I wasn't there, but something like that might have contributed to the other driver's behaviour.
@@ILoveBees I get that point of view but I think I didn't explain it well. These situations were more like when those in front of you try to purposely make you crash into them by really slowing down all of a sudden but when you don't they speed up but then repeat the same process. It's just odd.
@@mxm7647 Thanks for explaining in more detail, I think I understand better now. Yeah, that is indeed odd behaviour by those drivers. (And highly dangerous.)
For that last part: I find it terribly annoying when driving on a motorway (Autobahn) at the speed limit (or in some cases also 10-20 km/h lower, for some reason) and a car drives behind me at a distance I find uncomfortable, but without overtaking when having the opportunity to. In that case, I only have two options: either increase the distance by accelerating, and then reduce to my desired speed, or slow down even more, hoping to incite the tailer to remove himself from my trailer hook and overtake. Maybe you should consider that. But for sure there are some drivers who are just incapable of keeping a steady speed.
There is a vivid "Schrauber"-community in Germany, reassembling classic domestic and foreign cars. So, you can do maintenance. But if you have a car crash, and they can point to you djng something wrong, your insurance might fold. So, it's not advisable, in general. That said, no account of driving in southwest Germany can be complete without mentioning the "Alsatian aspect". Driving in France can be a whole cultural shock in itself, especially here next to Straßburg.
Sorry that Jonathan was yelled at in the garage! I share your observation that US drivers are way more calm, and kind of flexible, albeit on a flip side: unpredictable at times. Regarding TUV: it is very common to have your car inspected by the car dealer. I did so regularly, never again to go to TUV. On the flip side, the DMV in the US is a horror experience. The lines here in Santa Clara, CA are sometimes 2 blocks long. Parking impossible. My wife had to renew her license and make a written test due to age. That required an appointment, with months of wait time. We chose a DMV in a smaller town, to avoid said horror lines in Santa Clara. That took anyways half a day, and around the DMV compound on every parking I found warnings "Not for DMV parking, violators will be towed." I found a Starbucks some 10min away and waited there for my wife.
I spend some time in the U.S., most of my driving though was in smaller towns and the countryside. Except for the four-way stops that I never fully got used to, I found things to be quite mellow. It was there however that for the only time in my life I almost ran out of fuel after driving for a few hours without coming across a gas station. Even in Europe’s periphery, that never happened to me.
The other thing to be aware is autoroutes, autostradas and autopistas in other countries are usually toll roads and toll fees for driving on them can add up fast!
I got my German driver license in March 1952 in Hamburg. Since that time lots has changed in Germany. Also the Autobahn in Germany was rather empty in the 50s. In 1957 I got my first American drivers license in Chicago, but I never had the feeling of a culture shock - only that the American cars were at that time much larger than in Germany (although the American soldiers were driving at that time large cars in Germany). Since 1994 I live in a rural area of Northwest Arkansas - very pleasant driving here and I drive a near new Subaru Outback Touring XT. Thank you for your video.
High there, during my several visits to the US I found that driving there is very relaxing and although you are not allowed to drive very fast you are not much slower than in Germany on average speed over long distances, as you you keep on driving with nearly no Staus. (exept rural areas like LA or so) What was amazing was that you are allowed to turn right on red lights, great. But last time I was driving a 5.0 Mustang with over 450 horsepowers and it was hard or even impossible not to push the hammer down especially on the interstate between Phoenix and the California border. What I, as a German, did not know or realized is that I should not be allowed to do some maintanence in my own garage. I`'m still doing an oil change, a tire change or adjusting the valve clearance and so on on my motobike in my garage. The only thing is that you are not allowed to have some oil spillages. Wish you all the best and enjoy you're stay in Germany.
I’m a German, living in Oregon. Oregonians are famous for their laid-back and polite driving (also see Portlandia skid about people standing at a 4-stop forever, trying to let the other go first). But I perceive that laidback driving as not paying attention or driving pro-actively, as I have learned in Germany. For example merging is a nightmare because people don’t pay attention to other drivers. And sadly, aggressive driving has become more of a norm nowadays. Most of my culture shocks come from biking, though, and how little car drivers pay attention to bicyclists even in Portland, considered one of the top biking cities in the US. I blame a lot on the “right on red”. It means drivers look to the left when turning, to watch for other cars, and not to the right to watch for bicyclists or pedestrians like they do in Germany.
We were both cyclists in the US (more-so, Jonathan since he works in the cycling industry) - and the safety and awareness for bicyclists is a night and day difference from Germany to the USA. We feel so much safer on the roads here.
When I took my driving test as a German exchange student in New Mexico, I had to bring the car and just drive around the block with the sheriff riding shotgun. I paid 13 dollars. My address was printed on a small card and inserted into a camera. I had to place myself in front of a blue bedsheet pinned to the wall to have my picture taken together with the filled out card. The developed photo was laminated and I could take my driver's license home with me right away. That was 1994 and totally unbelieveable for me at that time.
@@hermannbrunner4984 They used to give you a German driver's license for the American one, but now you have to pass the German driver's test. No driving school, though, what makes it much cheaper. They told me, that was because a lot of people had bought a foreign driver's license on the black market and then had it transfered into a German one.
Even when no speed limit is given, there is still a theoretical maximum speed limit on German motorways. A German police officer once told me that they will charge anyone with dangerous driving who gets caught doing over 300 k/h regardless of the road or traffic conditions. Also, insurances will not reimburse accident damage or injuries if the vehicle was doing over 130 k/h.
Exactly. This is rarely mentioned in videos on this topic. 130kph is the official speed limit on the Autobahn in Germany. You can see this on signs at border crossings from another country. Driving at faster speeds can invalidate your insurance if you are involved in an accident.
I have learned driving when my family lived in San Jose, CA, for three years. I took driving lessons in school and then went to the DMV to get the license. When the family returned to Germany, I was shocked at the aggression, not quite road rage, but a hair short of it. I went to driving school for about 10 lessons to get my Californian license converted to a German license. During my professional life I got to drive in the US (California, Maryland), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, and in Great Britain. Yes, that was an adventure. I even dared to go through the City of London and across the famous Tower Bridge. I managed it without accident, not even a fender bender. Later in my life I found the traffic had become much more hectic, get honked at for being too slow for everybody else. In one summer, on the main road of my village, where you are supposed to go 30 km/h I was passed by a cyclist who yelled at me, window was open, for going too slow in his opinion. No respect, I was driving a two ton 4WD. I gave up driving about 12 years ago and with the money I save on expensive repairs, insurance, tax, and, yes, gas, I can afford to call a taxi if I have to get from A to B. I had been in situations where I almost caused an accident several times, with, screeching brakes, honking, yelling, you get the idea. Where I live I can get around by S-Bahn, bus, and taxi, or with my friend, when we do big grocery hauls once a month. Public transportation is widely spread in Germany, and as I know from personal experience, nearly non-existent in the US, except for large cities, maybe. The distances in the US are huge, cities are not compact, but big sprawls. And that's why people need a car, even if it's a jalopy. The other difference between driving in the US and Germany is that, to my knowledge, you have to renew your license in the US every few years, whereas your license in Germany is for life. So the high cost of obtaining a license in Germany is an investment.
@@PileOfEmptyTapes yes, but you "just" have to pay for the plastic card (25€) and a new photo. You don't have to take driving lessons and the exam again.
I'm wondering if the US have a thing like the German point system, i.e. if you violate traffic laws, a varying amount of points, depending on the severity of your violation, are added to your registry in the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt which is located in Flensburg (hence the term "Punkte in Flensburg"). When you exceed a certain limit, your driving licence is suspened or even canceled and you can only get it back after you take a MPU (Medizinisch-Psychologische Untersuchung, aka "Idiotentest") to test if you are at all mentally able to steer a vehicle. Is there such a thing in (parts of) the US as well?
In many states they do have a points system but i don't know how meaningful they actually are. I once accompanied my room mate to a traffic court in NY state who had gotten caught driving 110mph (i had to drive him to court because he was not allowed to drive in NY state because of getting caught -,but he was still allowed to drive in New Jersey where we lived). Normally 110 in a 50 zone would have been a lot of points but my room mate asked if he could pay a fine rather than get points and i think it was $800 or so (this was about 20 years ago) and no points.
Im born and raised in germany, so i am very used to the Autobahn, but honest to all gods, generally im dead scared of going beyond ~130 km/h. Not because of the speed, if its empty , unlimited and weather allows for it i will floor it like anyone else. But because people have grown to be unpredictable and its one of my biggest fears flying on the left lane and having someone pull in right in front of me without bothering to properly check if the lane is free... i see it regulary, its just scaring me shitless for the persons involved in such almost accidents. so i feel just fine on the right lane with my 130. Its a nice cruising speed and there are less idiots
i'm not scared at all... but driving at 180 is just so tiring with the high level of concentration it demands that i prefer traveling at around 130 . On the contrary french Autobahn drives me nuts because it's limited to 130 while beeing most of the time completely empty while theyr maut literally doubles the cost of getting from A to B... nothing better than traversing France from north to south at 200 km/h at nighttime 😂
@@marcuslinkerhand1415 its funny how we seem to be polar opposites in this. The concentration thing isnt much a deal for me. It really is all about the other traffic participants for me. People are growing more unpredictable each day, just yesterday i had someone pull out of a parking lot in my town within even bothering to look properly. Almost sat in my side if i hadnt evaded. That was just 50 km/h but if imagine this situation at 180/200 km/h
I moved from Germany to Illinois in last year and while I was aware of some of the differences ahead of time - like turning right on red - what I wasn't expecting were the large amount of stop signs. I am still not a friend of four-way-stops and how they work: Instead of having a clear rule like in Germany, where the car on the right always goes first, the "right" of way is determined by who arrived first at the intersection. Which gets particularly intense when two drivers have different opinions on who was first. And good luck keeping track of the order when there's multiple cars coming beind one another from every direction. So instead of the law giving a clear regulation that guarantees road safety, drivers have to play a game of "Simon" every time they want to cross a four-way-stop.
That's a good point when there is a long line of cars. It's very unclear who goes when. As for the 'rechts vor links', I have had many near accidents while riding my bike. When I have vorfahrt and the oncoming vehicle does not slow down or stop to let me go. It happens very often.
@@TypeAshton I'm sorry to hear and I'm glad that nothing happened to you! Unfortunately, disrespectful/bad drivers exist everywhere, regardless which rules are in place.
That is one of the huge differences between US and German mentality, The German wants everything to be perfectly regulated without any little hole. Communicating with others on how to handle the situation is not wanted. In the US there are moments all the time where you need to come to a conclusion with others on how to proceed. And that is not negative at all. In Germany people are afraid that the neighbor could get more so every employee in administration does not have any discretion on approving or rejecting an application for example. It is defined up to the comma how exactly the decision has to be, you could place a robot there :)
This is trivia, still needs to be mentioned: To get a driving license and to be educated and skillful driver are two very different things. In many parts of the world there are very minimal requirements for actually to have skills and attitudes in traffic. I find it unfortunate that there are so many unskilled drivers. In my country some years ago there was a reform in the way driving schools operate. The purpose was to make it more affordable. Now we see that the previous positive trend of less accidents by the new drivers seems to have disappeared. New drivers don't anymore get enough time to change their unhealthy attitudes in traffic while still practicing.
Indeed. I grew up in New Mexico, and got my driver’s license in the ’90s. My driving test consisted of taking a left out of the parking lot, then through intersections: a left, a right, two straights, left, left, three straights, right, and then a right back into the same parking lot. (If this doesn’t seem to make sense, one of the roads curves 90° over the length covered.) That was all of the whole entire test. It took about 5-10 minutes. Naturally, all the drivers were highly unskilled, and bad. The only thing saving them tends to be that the roads are giant oceans of space to make mistakes in.
@@puellanivis In the old days American cars where big and their suspension and handling made driving them feel like boating on roads. In my country a much used nickname for them was , if translated to English, "American boat".
I feel you! I have been driving since 1998 and always felt a little nervous on the Autobahn. However, when I returned to Germany after 8 years in the UK, I was terrified. I would overtake a truck at about 140 kmh (I have a small car), seeing no one in my review mirror and all of a sudden, a massive Mercedes would show up within seconds, flashing their light to get me to move out of the way. I almost crashed, while he just sped on at what, 220?! I've seen this so many times and it makes me so angry, because it's assholes like that who cause fatal accidents and just get away with it! Not to mention all the dangerous passing maneuvers!
Many times a car went steaming behind me while I was in the left lane at "high" speed, but most of the drivers just wait until you clear their way. The behavior you speak about is a case of a very small percentage of drivers, that are just so annoying and visible, compared to the rest you barely (if) notice.
You always have to remember that the left lane on the Autobahn is reserved for aggressive assholes. Though these kind of aggressive drivers are rather rare, maybe like 1 in 200. If youre driving distances below 100km, its not worth speeding anyway, that stress isnt worth the 1-2 minutes you make up. If youre on a 3 lane Autobahn, chilling on the middle lane with 100-130 is at least my prefered way to drive. If its a 2 lane Autobahn with no speed limit, thats where things get a little messy as you said. You have trucks driving 80-90 on the right lane and on the left lane people potentially driving 200kmh which makes it a little tough for the "normal people" who just want to drive 120-140 on a Autobahn with no speed limits. I would always advise against driving terribly fast on a 2 lane Autobahn, at least if its somewhat busy. Ive done 220 on a 2 lane Autobahn as well but it was completely empty and you could see a long distance in front of you. Think it was the A31 on the way to Netherlands.
Das ist auch ein großes Problem das sich viele von Dränglern genötigt fühlen oder sogar panisch reagieren. Die haben sich nicht die Absicht einen von der Straße zu kicken. Einfach dein Überholvorgang so beenden wie du ihn begonnen hast, egal was er mit seiner Lichtanlage anstellte oder wild gestikuliert...vielleicht kenn er dich und will nur grüßen. ;-) Nur keine hektischen Lenkbewegungen bei hohen Tempo ausführen oder vom Gas gehen, weiterfahren und sich sagen, hab dich bemerkt nun du bekommst noch deine Überholmöglichkeit.
In the early 80’s I spent the summer outside of Düsseldorf. My Dad had an Opel or Opal station wagon, we would be driving 90mph and cars would blow by us like we were sitting still. It was law that you had to stay in the right lane if you were not passing.
I was born in Germany and I learned driving in Germany. And to the thing of not knowing where to go I just usually go if I drive in circles until I found a place to stop without interrupting traffic and sorting out where am I and where to go is no problem, but beeing in a crossing and blocking it is a problem.
I think i fixed a dozen cars with my friends during school years 25 years ago. Yeah, you cant just dump the oil into the ground, but here around Essen many many many people fix and work on their own cars. I guess its also "german" to know which Laws are truly enforced (TÜV) and which are not (your own garage or Stosslüften :D
Yes, this is the first time I hear that it would be illegal to do your own car repairs. Until I got a company car, I did most repairs and maintenance work on my car myself. I mean, oil changes, brake maintenance, fitting new wishbones, changing the ignition coil, these are all not complicated jobs, at least not on the old cars I've owned before. I did all that myself in my garage. Of course, I don't do anything myself on my company car, which is leased and all services are paid for in full. Instead, I bought a 40-year-old motorbike, and there's always something broken on it that I can screw on. But I also live in the Ruhrgebiet, an area that is traditionally inhabited by lots of working class people, so getting stuff done by oneself is considered a virtue here, not to mention that it is much cheaper and you'd rather spend your hard-earned money on nice things.
Interestingly enough, I think most of what you said is applicable for the whole Europe, so I would say that is more generally EU vs USA culture shocks. Still, very interesting to know that what I got for granted being a EU citizen has a very different take in the USA
About working on your own car. There is a german sprichwort „Wo kein Kläger, da kein Richter“ Especially in the small towns in the black forest many people wash their car at home or do work on it.
17:23 You are not required to put on winter tires in the winter time. You are required to have them on while driving in winter conditions like snow, ice or sub-zero temperatures, however, if there is no such condition present, driving with regular/summer tires is actually perfectly legal (albeit not ideal at all) and while you're not driving, the tires don't matter. All-season tires are always allowed in winter conditions provided that they have the M+S indication (next to a mountain with a snowflake inside).
Culture Shock driving in the US: On my second day after moving to the United States I didn't have a Florida Drivers license. I got caught speeding, 60 mph instead of 55 mph. The officer asked for the drivers license, so I handed my "grey german paper license". He looked at it, looked at me and asked: "Where are you from?" ... "Germany" ... He again glanced at me and said: "Okay, you guys over there know how to drive fast. But: This is not an Autobahn, so please slow down ... just a bit. Have a nice day!"
My friend, you can do that in Montana! Generally, you’re safe as long as you’re not over ten miles above posted limits, which is when traffic cops begin to hand out tickets. I wouldn’t advise breaking the law. Its there for good reason but when you’re in a place where sticking to the speed limit means it takes too long to get to where you want to go, going a little faster might be the ticket. That depends on the situation here.
@@NormanF62 You are absolutely right: laws are there to folloe them not to break them. This little event happend 1983, when I moved to the US as an expat. Since 1991 I am back in Germany and have "fun" on the autobahn.
@@urlauburlaub2222 Yes that is our experience too. I wouldn't take this next statement as legally binding but GENERALLY speaking I have always driven 8mph on the interstate and was never, ever pulled over. In both KC, STL and Chicago many drivers go 10-20 mph over on the highways as the general "pace of traffic".
Wow! Looks like US cops have a big heart.
Haha, the same thing happened to my German husband while in the US
For me, a German living in Las Vegas, driving here is like a nightmare. You always have to look around as you never know what others are doing. This shows the number of accidents you see on a daily basis no matter where you drive. The LVPD records nearly 61 crashes PER DAY and 284 people killed per year in 2019. In comparison, I chose Munich as I thought it has a similar metro population with 21 people dead, however, the metro area of Las Vegas has about 2.3 Million people and Munich nearly 6 Million. In addition, Munich has trams, tunnels, bicyclists and Autobahns and way more confusing traffic patterns than Las Vegas and still has way less people killed on the road.
I remember doing the driving test in Las Vegas. The Handbook is like 40 years old as it states "Do not switch gears when driving over a railroad crossing???". Really, that is important? Nothing in there on when to use your high beams but how many drugs will be what sentence. Due to that, you see people driving at night either with their high beams on or with no light at all, it's optional;-)
The contrast between Germany and USA with respect to accidents, deaths and rules is really quite shocking.
@@peterpritzl3354 Love it. We have 2 roundabouts here in my neighborhood, maybe the only 2 in Las Vegas. And not a day goes by when I drive to work and see drivers not knowing how to manage a roundabout, creating a traffic jam.
Roundabouts and how they work seem do be a mystery to many drivers in Germany, too...
Gear shifting on railroad crossings...
Such a rule seems to me like a single incident paranoia driven lawmaker decision. Like one case of accident just claiming to have gone that way... and hoping to fix the world with that rationale now. Of course it won't, but just making life harder for the vast rest of people participating in traffic.
I can feel with you, I drove in the Dominican Republic, brakes are also optional there.
A little addition to the mandatory first aid kit: in Germany, you are required by law to render first aid or at least call for help if you come by a traffic accident. Failure to do so is punishable with up to a year in prison or a hefty fine.
I am German and I once stumbled upon a RUclips video in which someone filmed a German crossroad for several minutes. On this crossroad the signs went off and everyone around the world admired the German drivers for not ending in chaos. Everything was still smooth, no accidents and German viewers tried to explain the rule "right before left" to others in the comments. I was fascinated about how fascinated people could be by a German crossroad. :D
What I love by driving in Germany is that I know what the other guy is going to do next. So different from Norway!
Plus no honking at all and everybody being polite- exactly the opposite of what was claimed in the video here.
"Let pass to right" is not a global rule? I always use it and is an easy way to organize chaos.
@@framegrace1 I agree. I tend to share the freeway and i dont like to cluster up in a group to avoid accidents. I let people on the freeway and let them get off because that's what we all want get to the destination stress free.
Yes, in Germany. Unfortunately Germans don't bring that behaviour with them when they cross the border.
maybe you should mention that discussions about introducing a speed limit in germany are at least as emotional as discussions about gun control in the USA. ^^
"Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger" was a popular slogan at one time ...
I think you are vastly underestimating the level of gun control discussion in the states. I mean, there are people in the states that bring their automatic rifles to church to have them blessed. Granted, speed limit is an emotional discussion in Germany - but certainly not on that level.
@@philipkoene5345 Perhaps mainly due to the reason that the parts of the autobahn which have no speed limit are not more dangerous than the ones with speed limit.
I am German and I like the comparison. In both cases the discussion is highly emotional and less based on facts. Biased as I am course, I like to point out that while cars can kill and do so regularly, guns are built to that purpose.
@@philipkoene5345 you can get your car blessed in germany. Or your bike, so....
Two things you forgot to tell about the driver license here. To get the license you have to do a weekend training in first aid to help other people who get injured by an accident (you have to help by law in Germany) and you gave to go to an optical test at the doctor to make sure your eyes are completely fine.
Without this two certificates you are not allowed to do the drivers license test.
And thanks, you are so right with all you tell about German drivers. It is funny to hear but it is 100% the truth.
Which is saving lifes not only in traffic accidents.
guys, it's not just Germany...
*in all of EU* you're legally obligated to have the first aid kit, a reflective vest and triangle in your car at all times
also, you need to have winter tyres during the winter and in certain parts of countries that often have snow you need to have chains as well 🤷
You're very right - many of these regulations are EU wide. But I hate to group every EU country together and then make mistakes when there are exceptions in other countries. 😬 But we really love the emphasis on safety here - even the requirement and expected training to give basic aid if you see someone in distress.
@@TypeAshton a few years ago the reflective vest wasn`t obligatory. And you are supposed to keep the vest in the Innenraum / passenger area and not in the trunk so that you can put them on before you leave the vehicle
Netherlands has no winter tyres obligation for instance...due to it's climate :D
@@TypeAshton And please help to bust the myth that winter tires are the same as snow tyres. They are not. "Lower temperature rain tyres" might describe better what they are.
@@Diablooss273 Not even a good argument since they should be used at temperatures under 7°.
Long story short : You can service, repair or modify you car yourself at home. There is no regulation that is prohibiting this at all. The "GarVo" mentioned is for construction and tax purposes as well as for security regulations regarding construction and maintenance of garages. So you are welcome to restore your barn find @home :)
I'm swiss, but I have to visit regularly one of our offices in Germany about 400km away. My preferred transport mode is by train, but depending on how much stuff I need to take with me, I sometimes also take the company car which has a max speed (electronically controlled) of 250 km/h.
The average speed for the whole trip is never higher than around 110km/h.
However, fuel consumption during the high speed sections of trip (220km/h or more) is really very high.
I makes totally sense to put in restrictions in my opinion.
only thing you gotta watch is that you don't pollute the environment, but that is regardless of where you do stuff on your car. Like, I do some minor maintenance in the public parking outside my apartment building every now and again
I noticed that one too as a dane shopping ever so ofter on german car part web sites: why would that be so abundant if all cars had to be repaired at dealers. I looked up the GaragenVerordnung too: agree :-)
Yes, still some German laws are blown out of proportion compared to the rest of EU. For example car videoregisters being illegal.
Sure, you can fix your car yourself in Germany if you can. Nobody asks you who did this work. But they are very strict, so you have to know what you are doing and you can only use for that specific Model legal Parts. Even changing the Power is illegal.
17:30 Doing maintenance and tuning on your own car by yourself is actually legal in Germany. Maintenance can actually be done without approval but tuning your car has to be approved by TÜV.
18:45 This is very specific. Wonder in which of the Garagenverordnungen this origins. These are not federal law so every federal state has another Garagenverordnung even it is part of another regulation.
I'm not a lawyer but if you own a garage or double garage (Kleingarage max. 100 m²) you're allowed to repair your car yourself as long the car is in the same garage (if you have two cars and a double garage in the same parking space), the environment isn't affected and the neighbors are not disturbed. Only welding could be a problem due fire protection.
On the other hand if you rent a garage or rent a appartement with a garage you usally not allowed to repair your car due the house rules (Hausordnung) which mostly boils down to being a bigger garage (Mittel / Großgarage above 100 m²) were fire prevention is more severe. Depending on the owner these could be very strict to the point were you are not allowed to jump start your car yourself or even change your wipers in the garage.
TÜV will always say no if its not done by a professional. And all tuning isnt legal, if it makes the car more dangerous to other or yourself
Of course dangerous tuning is illegal, but you can for example change the suspension of your car on your own and then let it approve by Tüv and it will then be put in the registration of your car. If it is done in the correct way, Tüv will approve it even if it hasn’t been installed by a certified mechanic.
You have to have to enviromental side covered and that can vary from state to state. But in most states you can strip your car to the bare metal and reassemble it again. Tuning is possible too, but it is a little more complex compared to the states. The car have to meet enviromental regulations after the tuning again. External parts (like spoilers etc) have to becertified for that car modell. It is possible to get a part certified, but that is not cheap and time comsuming.
Friend of mine an old Fiat 500 Abarth. He wanted a special spoiler-kit, which was sadly never certified for germany. But he really wanted it and went through all the hoops and loops:
He was able to achieve a certification, but that was not cheap at all. Those spoilers were from the 70ties and not that easy to get by. To meet the savety regulations the TÜV had to crash one. And it failed misserably. But who knew, what happend with those spoilers in the last fifty years. So they crashed another set and it failed again. The glas-fibre plastic stuff was simply too deteroided. So he took his last set and made forms to make new spoilers with better technology. That worked after all and the TÜV certified his spoilers. That set of spoilers had cost him around 15.000 €. The originals were not that cheap, the TÜV neither. Making the forms was a small fortune. But in the end he had his classic Abarth. Lucky for him, he could sell his certified forms with all paper work to a company in italy still making parts for those old cars.
@@donsealion In Austria it goes like this: You or whoever maintanes your car, than it will be controlled. And only IF at the TÜV they find some bad points (in Austria "schwerer Mangel") than you have to prove, that it has be done professionally until next inspection. But of course everybody or lets say anybody who is able to is also allowed to work on your car (at proper places following laws like Umweltschutzverordung...)
What I love about the Autobahn is not so much that I can travel at 200+ km/h but that one can simply cruise without having to constantly monitor your speed.
The Autobahn is quite safe and German accident rates are less than many other countries which simply proves .... its not speed that kills but speed in the wrong situation that is the killer.
I have a similar feeling. Constantly watching the speedometer with concern of exceeding it and being blitzed is more dangerous than continuously watching out the windshield.
It ain't the speed. Most people do not drive as attentive as they should while they're put the pedal to metal at 200+ klicks an hour. The other issues are safety distance and that stupid MeMeMeMeFUCKINMe sort of mentality. I drive around 70.000 km per year. I see it every day unfortunately.
But nobody's perfect, innit?
@@janarnold5569 same can be said at 30km/h 🤔
@@multirider8997 You sound quite German though
@@janarnold5569 partly 😉
8:30 I think a big thing is that in Germany, they're taught to follow traffic rules extremely well, as these rules are there for a reason, to keep traffic predictable and people safe!
[Edit] on the first aid kit, you're also obligated to know how to use it, and to aid in any situation in which aid is required!
To be fair, „to know how to use it“ is a hot take when I think about my grandparents who never had any first aid training aside from the one ~40-50 years ago when they did their driver licenses.
Growing up in Germany, we always groaned when we encountered an American car driving (schleichen) on the Autobahn. In our area, there were several U.S. bases and we would encounter lots of American cars and drivers, easily recognizable by their license plates. Luckily, most of them stayed in the slow lanes but sometimes, they would pass very slowly and hold up traffic, and it earned them many honks. Generally, I would say German drivers are much more disciplined and better trained, than their U.S. counter parts. They may be impatient but they're better skilled drivers and more aware of their surroundings. Since I've lived in the States now for many years, I've noticed a change in drivers here. Whereas in the beginning people used to be courteous and patient, this has drastically changed, at least where I live. The passing on the right and left side drives me insane, and frankly it's dangerous as hell. Rarely do people go the speed limit on the highway anymore, and the weaving in and out of lanes is hair raising sometimes. I also notice people who are totally unaware of what's going on around them and drive in their own fantasy lane or middle of the road, oncoming traffic or traffic behind you, be damned. I see a lot of texting or talking on phones, even though it's illegal, it is rarely enforced. I've watched people shave in cars, apply make-up and even reading!!! My husband just got into an accident, while minding his own business in the right lane and the driver in the left lane making a lane change right in front of him and side swiping him. Luckily we have dash cams in our cars, and yes, it is that bad now.
What isn't bad in Yousa ?? Nothing but a FAILURE . PERIOD . Advice - start making plans to move back and leave that S.....E behind .
It's gotten worse, that's true and the high speeds make it potentially more deadly, but in the USA it is even worse now. Most people ignore the speed limits, there is passing on the right and left, the highways are less well-engineered to say the least, the drivers are untrained, egotistical and stupid and there is always the possibility or road-rage with a firearm. There also seem to be more drunk and stoned people driving around in the USA! WATCH OUT FOR THEM! In highschool my first girlfriend was killed by a drunk driver.
I still prefer driving in Germany even though the influx of new Arabic-cultured drivers may have also injected a pinch of unpredictable "Inshaallah" into the matrix that was not present before.
😂😊
Yeah, I drive a lot in the US, and there are far too many poor drivers here.
Well, the Autobahn isn't a mystical race way even on the sections without speed limits. The responsibility for the choice of your driving speed is being put on the driver on those sections, instead of being forced by limits set up by the government. It doesn't neccessarly mean, that you can drive as fast, as your car allows you to, but actually as fast as road conditions allow you to do. Depending on many variables, like weather conditions, density of traffic, etc, the driver is meant to choose an appropriate driving speed. This is what Germans do learn in driving school, and it is a freedom, that also comes with a burden. Doing the racing thing and driving faster than the recommended speed of 130 km/h, will put the responsibility for anything that may go wrong, onto the driver who does that. Even for things that may be indirectly caused by you.
And even if Germans often get a lot of credit for their driving skills, compared with other nations, especially by Americans on RUclips, you'll still meet a lot of irresponsible idiots on the sections without speed limits, who must have slept during driving lessons or who won their driving licence in a lottery.
Ja besonders auf die egoistischen Idioten, die meinen die Geschwindigkeit vorgeben zu können und die linke Spur nicht frei machen, obwohl die Möglichkeit zum Rechtsfahren gegeben ist und noch besser, keinen Blinker setzen und bei 130 einfach rausziehen, wenn ein sehr schnelles Fahrzeug ankommt und der fast schon ne Vollbremsung hinlegen muss. Am Ende wird dann über die sogenannte "Raser" und :aggressiv Fahrer" gesprochen. Es beruht alles auf Gegenseitigkeit und wenn jeder respektvoll und vor allem mit Hirn im Straßenverkehr unterwegs ist, würde auch weniger gedängelt werden. Vollpfosten gibt es auf beiden Seiten und jeder meint der bessere und sichere Fahrer zu sein.
Well some get sloppy over time. Or worse only clear their windscreen only with a 2 palm sized lookout in winter.
Driving on two lanes is seldom limitless, it is generally only 100kph Three laned Autobahn are faster & sometimes limitless.
Totally agree - there is an incredible amount of responsibility that comes with driving a car in general. But then tack on the increased speed and you need to have a great deal of care and appreciation for the power of the car and responsibility for others on the road.
@@TypeAshton I've driven a lot in the USA, across many states, even 'talked' to your policemen! Walked through NY even though it was suggested I take the subway! I was warned, double check your car insurance cover for uninsured drivers, believed to be about 50% of all drivers! Wow! Never believed it could be so high. Overall, I found Americans very friendly and helpful. There seems to be a lot of fear about other people, what they may do, don't understand why you have no ID. My overall impression is that America is not a country but a business.
The average for a driver's license is about 2500€ to 3000€.
If you fail your driving test, that alone is about 450€ for the redo, including a couple of hours of forced driving lessons.
My German friend was over the alcohol limit and got his license suspended for two years. The police found out that he wasn't even living in Germany, he had a business abroad, so they emailed him telling him they know this, and that the counting will start when he comes back to live in Germany permanently again. That's heavy.
lol
They emailed him? Do they even know how that is? 😂
@@Delibro his grand Ma sadly mistakenly told on him because she wanted to know how will the ban work since he doesn’t live in Germany. They said they’ll discuss it with him, may she please provide them with his e-mail address so they can e-mail him the details. She did 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 so they sent him an email saying the counting will start when he comes back.
@@sm5970 Ok :)) Thats bad. Could be my grand ma :D
I would think that, if his licence is suspended for any time, they would confiscate his driving licence for that time, so he can't drive anywhere.
I am Austrian, not German, but I am pretty sure that you can do any maintainence on your own vehicle in Germany. There is a big Tuning and Oldtimer Scene, with People rebuilding their Cars completely, of course with a TÜV inspection afterwards.
Trying to discuss speed limits with someone in Germany is as bad as trying to tell an American that the government should take away their guns.
With some perhaps. For most it's just a motorway.
Yeah, as long as you're not talking to a gearhead, it's really not that controversial at all - and even some gearheads will agree with you
You cant take the guns of US, even though we'll fight for no speedlimits ;)
@@sergeysmirnov1062 I don't think 130 would be a good speed limit for Germany, we are skilled drivers and driving 200 on an empty Autobahn isn't dangerous I think. But at least make the speedlimit 200, so people don't take their Lambo here and go 350. But many germans will disagree and use the #1 american gun argument: "BUT OUR FREEDOM"
guns and driving insanely fast is not a part of "freedom" it is just dangerous and stupid
@Kreuhn Kohrman What? Statistics do confirm that germans are skilled drivers. Actually some of the best in the world. Only some northern countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some Asian countries rank better when it comes to traffic fatalities.
I'm an American, but have lived in Munich for more than a decade, so I have car-related culture shock when I go back to the US. Well, the first thing is how hard it is to get around without it. In Munich, I don't need a car at all, so when my US license expired, I just never bothered to renew it. It is pretty limiting in the US, though - in my hometown, basically I can't do anything unless someone gives me a ride. Beyond that, even as someone who doesn't drive anymore, I really feel the differences in driving skill. I was in Orlando once, and I witnessed three crashes in three days just walking around. All cars just running into the car in front of them in traffic.
We also are reverse culture shocked by the car dependence of the US. We sold our car three years ago and just use car share and public transit now. It's super easy since we live in the city center.
A lot of senior citizens driving in Florida that should not be allowed to have a driver’s license.
@@TypeAshtonwhen you were speking about rude drivers in Germany thats probably because of immigrants. Slavs, Hungarians, Arabs, ect. They tend to be agressive.
@@SarsTheSecond Yep. German drivers in Poland are well known of being extremelly "peaceful", especially after a small schnapps in summer time.
Ein paar Minuten nachdem deutsche Polizei ist nich da, die verwandeln sich schellstmoeglich in Charaktere aus dem Film "Fast".
Germany is so impressive. I'll never forget it. Changed my life. I was enchanted with how beautiful it is.
Some Austrian call Germany the ugliest place on earth. But thats just a joke between neighbours.
To be fair, a four way stop does not exist here. There's the general rule that someone on your right or doing a right turn goes first, and you being "nice" and giving someone your turn just makes everyone slower. Just follow the rules and it'll all go faster 😅
Typically German ;) to put it more precisely one has to do: ......!!!
for a driver's license in Germany
12 double lessons (2 times 45 minutes)
5 driving hours overland,
4 hours drive on the highway, at Highspeed or "Higher speed´s"
3 driving hours in the dark.
First aid course with 9 teaching units.
With an automatic driver's license you can only drive vehicles with automatic transmission.
You forgot to mention the check of your vision / eye sight.
For me the most surprising moment while driving abroad happend when I was in driving in Iran. I was in Tehran in Winter time and it started to snow and the snow remained on the road. Instantly the complete city went into total chaos and the traffic stopped almost instantly. After almost two hours I managed to reach one of the main roundabouts in the city and there I saw the most shocking thing for me as a German. Several of the drivers just left their cars locked it and went away while their cars where blocking the roads even more. This would never ever have happened here.
The second shock I had was in the US when I was stopped in the US for speeding and the officer which was alone in his car told me that I was going three miles to fast and that he has read this from his laser device. So I asked him which measuring tolerance will be deducted and if I can have a copy of the picture he has taken. The guy looked at me as if I am from a different planet and informed me that no tolerance will be deducted and that there is no evidence except his word that I was going that speed. This was obviously long time ago before I saw all this videos about how dangerous my behaviour in fact has been. I found and still find it disturbing that in the so called "Land of the Free" the police can charge you with fines without any proof of the wrong doing. I don't want to say that they do it purposely but mistakes happen and if you ever read figures from a 7 segment display you know how easy it is to read a 8 instead of a 6.
Sie sind Deutscher? Dann haben Sie vielleicht schon vom "geschulten Amtsauge" in Österreich gehört. Dort dürfen Polizisten die Geschwindigkeit sogar schätzen.
Sounds like Texas to me. 1 inch of snow and total chaos in Dallas.
@@andreaseufinger4422 ich dachte die hatten diesen Schwachsinn schon vor Jahren beerdigt. Ist mir persönlich aber auch nie passiert, aber von Österreich erwartet man solche Kapriolen einfach. Ich war einfach überrascht das man in den USA einfach so eine doch recht empfindliche Strafe kassieren kann. Das ganze ist jetzt schon mehr als 30 Jahre her. Heute wurde ich mich anders verhalten damals habe ich mich einfach wie in D verhalten und hatte wohl alles in allem noch Glück an einen vernünftigen Officer zu geraten.
@@kirahund6711 I think the climate might be quite similar except that Tehran is at about 1,500 meters hight.
LOL! But at least the cop had a gadget to measure your speed. In Austria any cop can just guess your speed and charge you for whatever he thinks fit.
This happened to me once in an old Beetle full of camping kit and luggage struggling up quite a steep hill. The officer accuse me of speeding although my car was barely managing the 40K limit.
When I told him my car can't do over 40 on that hill he accused me of driving a car unfit for the road. I decided it was useless to argue and paid the fine.
Okay, i am German and life nearly my whole life here.
But its the first time i ever heared that its forbidden to work on your own Car in your Home.
Maybe, i say Maybe there might be some Law that actually say so. But nobody watch after it.
I make everything by my self on my Car. In my Garage, or infront of the Garage.
Car washing infront of the House is Critical, and can be punished. But working on your Car ... never hear about that.
My first cultural shock as a German driver in the US was sitting on a picknick ground nearby the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and watching the traffic. It was a nice spring saturday and the highway was filled by bikers. They all stopped by, put off their helmets and roared on in the direction of New Hampshire. Then we learned about the state's motto: Live free or die!
As for the rudeness: you have to see that there are 40 million cars in a country half the size of Texas. So not following the rules is not an option if you want to avoid chaos and inefficiency.
I also follow youtube videos on "customer states" topics from mechanics and i swear german technical inspectors would freak out if ever they'd see some of these killing machines driving on public streets.
My driving instructor once told me a car is unofficially considered being a weapon wich implies all the fuzz made about it. Made some kinda sense...
My culture shocks were in france being a newbie on driving. The style of driving there was more kind of a respectful anarchy compared to what i was used in germany.
Congratulations for your anniversary!
My driving instructor told me the SAME THING - you have a vehicle which is capable of an incredible amount of destruction when not used properly. Treat it with the same care and restraint as you would any other weapon.
@@TypeAshton So kept trying to explain that to my ex, even while we were in the USA. “This is perhaps the single most dangerous activity you will participate in during your day. Treat it with the respect and attention that it deserves.” Not sure much of it stuck with him, though, sadly.
Once, he had to drive off into the shoulder to avoid crashing into the car in front, and he was like, “wow, thanks to your constant nagging about not following cars so close, I avoided an accident!” and I was like, nearly screaming, “having to drive off into the shoulder _is_ an accident.” But because no damage occurred, his brain didn’t even consider that a possibility.
But to speak honest as a german, control of traffic rules in germany often just means control of the speed limit by machines (so called "Blitzer"). The good old traffic control where a cop stops you and everything is controlled (First-Aid Kit, Drugs, Alcohol, any seriours damage on the car like broken lamps oder old tires) is a rare event. Compared to other countrys the traffic is still very efficent, but in terms of germany the chaos made by confussing and fast changing speed limits, the amount of construction sites (and the even bigger amount of time to finish them) and a ever groing number of senior citiziens who seem to be in no condition to drive still makes it sometimes very difficult to get trough in peace.
@@wilhelmpfusch3699 i think the police adapt to the problems they often encounter. you may have noticed that the first aid kits or warning triangle were missing very rarely during the earlier checks. Most of the time something like this is also checked during the holiday season, because then everything is buried under tons of luggage.
now it's more based on speed, whether you're buckled up, load securing (transporter) or use of mobile phones. That will probably be the main problem for us.
In many European countries its more akin to as you say "respectful anarchy". When I worked on Crete, Greece, they guys there can drive. And I mean like they know how to race through super tight alleys, without seatbelt, but traffic rules?... naaaah
Well, Germany has 4.1 traffic fatalities per year per hundred thousand population, the U.S. has 12.1 traffic fatalities per hundred thousand population per year - three times as much. So, it looks like our discipline and strictly abiding the rules is paying off 😉 (figures according to Wikipedia from 2018, number of traffic fatalities might have decreased overall since then). So while you can drive more relaxed in the U.S., you're three times more likely to be killed in the process. Personally, I prefer the "aggressive" German drivers 😉
By the way, this so-called aggressiveness (which is probably more stress than anything else) is also found here mainly in metropolitan areas and larger cities. Where I live - on the North Sea coast - it is much less pronounced. But when I drive towards the Ruhr area, I definitely notice how people start fighting senselessly for every meter of road so that they arrive at their destination 10 seconds earlier. I'm pretty sure that we could reduce traffic accidents and the related traffic fatalities even more than we already have (in 2021 we had the least traffic fatalities in German history) if people would just take a more relaxed approach.
I don't think much of a general speed limit. I'm in favor of it in particularly busy or dangerous sections, no question. But why limit the maximum speed when the Autobahn is free? The environmental argument is ridiculous. Two million tons of CO2 savings sounds like a lot, but it's just a calculation and, moreover, an amount that is somewhere way down in the single digits compared to total CO2 emissions. If Germans were to take a day without eating meat every week, considerably more CO2 would be saved.
I also don't believe that the majority of German drivers are in favor of a global speed limit. The surveys were conducted among the entire population and not just among drivers. It would be interesting to find out what the situation is like among people who actually drive on the autobahn on a regular basis. By the way, the current average speed on German Autobahns is 120 km/h.
There is also a great deal of hypocrisy and double standards. Many complain about the "speeders" on the highway because they are sometimes overtaken by people going 180 km/h or faster. But at home in their neighborhoods, where more than 80 % of all traffic fatalities occur, they have no problem "speeding" through 50 and 30 zones.
I'd wish that the entire discussion would be more sober and unemotionally oriented to facts and not be hyped up into an ideological problem.
In the video ruclips.net/video/3suHPCHkZEA/видео.html it is soberly explained by Alex Bloch.
Wouldn't fatalities per hundred thousand cars or per miles driven be a far better metric? No it wouldn't because then the US wouldn't look so bad.
@@shadeburst even then the number in the US would be more than 2 times higher in Germany. Accidents per 100,000 motor vehicles per year are 6.4 in Germany and 14.2 in the US
@@theawolf2478 not motor vehicles. Deaths per MILE(or KM) driven. Excluding pedestrians ideally because the US pedestrian infrastructure is pretty dangerous and people are killed by cars biking or walking pretty frequently.
@@justcommenting4981 thats 4.2 to 7.3 per billion km driven. I dont know if pedestrians are included in thism but exclusion would make no sense. It is very much a matter of driving discipline, no matter how bad your infrastructure is.
I live in Texas but I frequently listen to local German radio. It always makes me laugh when the traffic report mentiones a vehicle stopped on the side of the road all the way across the state because that's a big deal. In the US, there's a car broken down on the side of the highway every few miles.
Thank you for another well-done video! Driving in Germany vs the U.S. is always a great topic. As a driver who first learned how to drive in Germany it was a culture shock to drive in the U.S. You are absolutely right that Germans drive very rigidly insisting on keeping all the traffic rules. That may sometimes feel a bit unfriendly and self righteous. On the other hand, I think it also makes driving a bit safer especially at high speeds. One things that bothers me here in the United States is when someone doesn’t drive when it is their right-of-way but let’s someone else go ahead. That can lead to accidents when another driver is not aware of the friendly driver letting someone else go ahead. I was taught to always be clear with your driving intentions so other drivers can anticipate what you are doing. That often doesn’t seem the case here in America. The worst for me is on U.S. highways when slower traffic uses any lane possible even all the way to the left while people regularly pass on the right. People here in the U.S. also don’t seem to know how to merge onto a highway or how to safely exit. Well, those a just a few of my observations. Thank you for another excellent video post!
the cost of owning and driving a car in germany is actually average for EU standards.
you didnt factor in something like car insurance or car tax which are lower in germany than in many other european countries.
yes, compared to the us, germany has more expensive fuel, higher cost in maintaining your car (in exchange for safer cars on the road) but germany is relatively low on taxing its cars compared to the european average and the insurance isnt terribly expensive either which are obviously 2 big factors when figuring out the monthly/yearly cost of a car.
That's really interesting! In our experience, the cost of our car insurance is pretty comparable to what we paid in the US. However, we also had to re-establish our driving record in Germany. Although I brought over my clean driving record from the US (a pre-requisite to covert my American driver's license into a German driver's license) - I (Ashton) was still pretty expensive to insure because I didn't have any established driving record in Germany.
@@TypeAshton Compared to the Netherlands, driving a car and buying a car in Germany is a lot cheaper. A BMW 320i touring in Germany starts at 45k, in the Netherlands the same car starts at 54K euro.
@@mordante01 our road tax is a lot higher, fuel prices are higher and monthly road tax is internationally very high...
And stupid costs like parking costs everywhere...
And driving license costing AVG around 2000 ain't cheap either... Dutch driving is quite expensive...
Infrastructure is close to perfect... That's the advantage
I have never heard that it is forbidden to repair your own car. I do it all the time, as do many people I know.
Of course you have to follow safety and environmental regulations. For example, you can't dispose of oil in the garden. Also, you can't just run a private workshop for customers.
What is definitely not allowed is that you make technical changes to the vehicle. So, for example, a different brake system or a different engine than intended by the manufacturer to install in the car. Of course you are allowed to install aftermarket parts.
Such things can be done, but then the car is no longer the model licensed by the manufacturer for road use and therefore no longer allowed to drive on public roads. You would also lose your insurance coverage.
The only way to drive such a car would be an individual approval at the TÜV where the car would be completely tested for roadworthiness and safety. However, this costs a lot of money and does not make sense for a normal car.
I'm told motorcycles have to go through that individual procedure all the time, sometimes for example because the tire in the type licensing papers just is no longer available. Any other tire that is not expressly authorized by the manufacturer requires the extra procedure. I'm told they tell each other about TÜV places where there's someone who understands these things and won't make any theatrics about them if they're actually done reasonably because the average ones don't understand it and do that.
It's similar England. You can repair or modify the car yourself, but the insurance cost is based on the make/model. The application form asks if any modifications have been made. Lying on the form would invalidate the insurance and driving without insurance is illegal. most modifications would be easily insured but cost more.
From what we have understood, the garage needs to have a fire extinguishing system and cannot be turned into a workshop. I suppose for us as foreigners the regulations are quite confusing. www.adac.de/verkehr/recht/verkehrsvorschriften-deutschland/garagen-nutzung/
In addition, there could be more legal problems with neighbors who are unhappy that their neighbor is working on their own vehicle. This alone is confusing for us because we do not understand what rights our neighbors might have here.
But yes, thank you for pointing out that the TÜV would need to inspect the car right after, however all liability for something going wrong is on the mechanic on the way to the inspection.
You are allowed to work in your car here in germany but you gotta meet the strict safety and especially the enviromental regulations to do so (for example collect all the fluids which you aren't allowed to just throw away. You have to take them to a Recyclinghof = Public Recycling Facility, every German City hast one.) Because of that your home garage has to actually meet the standard of a german car repair shop and thats very expensive not to mention the lack of space private german single standard garages have. Because of that many germans don't do it at home. But germany's car tuning scene is very big (everybody here heard of big VW meet ups, fairs like EssenMotorShow, Carfreitag) because of that they fix their cars at rental repair garages, you can rent a space for like 10€/hour and you have everything there Tools, Heavy machines like a car lifting platform. Most of the German greasmonkeys work on their cars before their TÜV expires so they don't have to pay extra for a check up.
@@TypeAshton Maybe that's the "Garage Regulations", but it is no problem at all, to maintain or even restore your own car in your own (or rented) Garage. We have a huge DIY scene in Germany. So everyone (who is able to do and has an older car) does it.
About the TÜV - for me and probably many others it goes like this:
TÜV-inspectors are usually booked by garages for certain days, like once or twice a week or so, so when the next TÜV-checkup is due, I make an appointment at my usual garage on a day when the inspector is there. I give them my car in the morning (or the day before), get a free public transport day-ticket (at least that's a service at my garage, dunno if that's common) and let them do their thing. The inspector then checks my car and in case they have some criticism they tell the garage who then fixes the necessary things. When all is done, I get info by the garage, get back there, pay the bill and get my repaired car with a valid TÜV-checkup plaque. Usually all in one day.
Great idea! I have usually done this at the BMW dealership (for my last car) when the TÜV inspector is present. Then they would handle both simultaneously... and unfortunately charging me more than I would have liked.
I always do it the other way round: I just get my car inspected (after a quick basic check, like, do all lights work?), to either pass or get my "to-do list". I then fix the stuff I need and have them check that I have fixed everything and get my sticker. From time to time they'll add a note for things I should have an eye on and/or are only marginally okay, so I can fix them until I have to go the next time.
In my opinion it's the cheapest way to go, especially if you have a simple, older car that is easy to work on yourself.
Interesting fact:
the German TÜV was founded when high pressure steam engines became common in the 19th century and so did accidents with blown up steam boilers.
So they started by just checking the integrity of steam engines.
When I was on vacation in the US I found that driving on a 2 or 3 lane highway is pretty stressing and insanely dangerous because the US does not have the "overtaking on the right is illegal" rule, even though you must never exceed 90 or 100 or even less kmh. You have to pay attention to both sides of your car all the time. If you ever go to France, note that the rule "right before left" is strictly adhered to, you never look to your left but only to your right, even when you are turning left. Whoever is or comes from the right has right of way. It is the only way to navigate the huge roundabouts in Paris e.g.
I like to say that I feel more comfortable driving 100 mph on the German autobahn than 60 mph on an American highway. In Germany I feel fairly confident that I know what the other drivers are going to do, in the US I haven‘t got a clue what the other drivers are going to do!
overtaking on the right is illegal in the USA - just rarely enforced - cause most drivers dont know the left lane is for passing only and use it same as right lane
In Germany it is perfectly legal to do any kind of repair on your car yourself. This also includes brakes, suspension, motor and whatnot. The greatest obstacles for diy here is having the right special tools and a garage which may have to meet special requirements such as oil seperation.
You don't need an oil separator to do your own oil change in Germany. All you need is to watch out that the old oil doesn't disappear down a drain or mess up the road.
Plus the required TÜV once the work is done and that any accident between the repair and inspection is a risk for the person who did the repair work.
However I am very happy to see there are ways to work on our own vehicles... it's more motivation to bring my classic car here and not worry about having to always take it somewhere.
Well there is no requirement as such to get tüv approval of your DIY repairs. If you just repair and/or replace broken parts, fine no need to see a tüv man. If you change safety related parts like brakes you only have to get this checked if the manufacturer does not provide an ABE (allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis) with the spare part. It is getting stricter though. Take motorbike tyres for a start: for years it was okay to use tyres with dimensions different from the tyres the bike was delivered with if the manufacturer of the tyres issued a statement that it is OK to use one of his tyres in specific dimensions on a particular bike. The almighty TŰV hated this of course and after years of putting pressure on politicians this was changed in 2020. So now I have to see a TÜV man with a 30 euro helmet who only rides bikes in the back yard of the TÜV workshop to approve my choice of tyres. Apparently the politicians seem to think that this TÜV clown is more competent when it comes to motorcycle tyres than the manufacturer.
@@theowaigel8588 Oh yeah, motorcycle tyres. My dealer swore blind that the tyres he sold me were certified for my bike, he even sent me papers to prove it.
My brother - he's a car mechanic with TÜV experience - told me I'd still better go to the TÜV just to be on the safe side, which I did. And sure enough, the new tyres had to be especially certified again and written into my vehicle registration documents. That cost 46 euros and 2 hours at the TÜV. I get the feeling someone is making a huge profit on all this TÜV stuff.
@@TypeAshton You might want to know that the TÜV doesn't take any responsibility for the road worthiness or safety of a vehicle even straight after it has been TÜV inspected. You can be on your way home from an inspection and your brakes fail and you could still be accused of not keeping your car in a technically road worthy condition.
I know, ridiculous, even unbelievable, but this is Germany.
As a German living and driving in the US for over 30 years by now, I must say that the average US motorist is not cut out for driving in Germany - as evidenced by the number of tickets and fender-benders my coworkers collect when over there! In SC, traffic rules like Stop signs seem to be suggestions, the proper use of turn signals is an enigma to most and negotiating a roundabout is sometimes life threatening! Vehicle safety in this state is greatly affected by the fact that no road-salt is being used here but in the other states I lived in the NE, seeing rust-buckets with their muffler dragging or floor boards missing was nothing unusual. Modifying one’s emission control system here is the norm - after all, how else would you be able to ‘coal-roll’ bicyclists or Prius drivers. Look up ‘Carolina Squat’ modifications to Pick-up trucks, which have cost already several lives since the drivers can’t see over the hood anymore! Unthinkable in Germany!
The most interesting part of this video for me as a European was about the lack of car inspection in most US states. That was really shocking. I double checked it and the annual or bi-annual technical car inspection is compulsory in all EU countries, even poorer ones like Bulgaria.
By the way, it is not illegal to do the repairs and maintenance at your car in your private „Kleingarage“ at home. You can swap engines and so on. The „Garagenverordnung“ is the law about parkinglots in small, medium of large. It is more a law about the quality of the building an some regulations about using it (e.g. protection of women).
I do my oilchange, breakrepairs and much more for myself at home in Germany. It is correct, that it is no allowed to do carwashing at home.
Your are only partially right about washing your car at home. It actually differs for each city and often depends if rainwater is treated like sewage or if rainwater is drained close by without treatment. For the latter you can say for sure that washing your car on the street is not allowed. In the first case, at least washing the exterior with no or only very mild detergents may be allowed in some cases. Washing the engine compartment or the undercarriage outside of places with special water treatment is a general no go.
For repairs it is just that you do them to standards that will pass inspection. So maybe no wildly welding a frame back together. But a brake job among other things is completely fine. You are liable for a safe operating condition of your vehicle anyways. Just if something was not done right it may cause an insurance issue in case something happens.
In many cities there are also "Selbsthilfewerkstätten" where you can do almost everything that is possible in an official workshop. Usually a master and a journeyman are present to help.
@@manub.3847 Advantage of those over doing things at home is that you may have access to tools you typically would not have at home. Also for modern cars, sometimes after swapping parts also requires resetting software, which again requires certain equipment.
Two things come into my mind where I am not sure if you would actually be able to do repairs on your own or even obtain all parts. That would be the AC system where I am not sure if you can purchase refrigerant if you are not certified and airbags, which contain explosives. At least in official shops those systems only specially certified technicians are allowed to work on (which in this case may be more for work safety and liability reasons)
@@alexanderkupke920 I know. The electronics in cars are now so complicated that you need computers for certain error analyses.
Finally, the official job title has also changed: from car mechanic to car mechatronics engineer.
When I travel in Germany I take ICE so I can run up to 300 km/h while having lunch and watching movies on my tablet.
We normally do too when traveling back and forth to FRA. Its so nice.
It's great! 4 hours between Frankfurt and Paris, and I don't have to drive myself!
This the way. But get a seat reservation!
From 12:00 on: Learning about the concept of safety inspections in the US lifted the mistery of why a YT channel like "Just Rolled In" has so much content so show :).
The Autobahn is very different in parts of Germany. In the south and west all you said applies more or less. But in the north of Germany and also most parts of the A9 away from Berlin and Munich, you got much more of that limitless and not too much traffic feeling.
Agree. My last trip van Berlin to Nijmegen just over the Dutch border (620km) took 3h30min on an early sunday morning. Hardly any trafic, and the car on cruise control at 225km/h (cruise control cannot be set higher in my car for safety reasons) for most of the journey. Very relaxing drive 🙂
The main reason for the strict inspection rules is, that we have to make sure your car is really safe if we allow you to go pedal to the medal on our Autobahn.
And jet, the really important stuff is no tested by the TÜV... Shock absorbers only get a visual ID... And unfortunately the brain of the driver gets completely neglected during this inspection...
Nah they fk you even for small amount of rust which have zero effects on car. TUV is cancer.
If you are capable of doing your own repairs on your car, you can go to rentable garages, that have all the tools and usually some experts around. They are not that common anymore, but they do still exist. When my brother and I were younger, we regularly repaired his car there together. It is great, because you don't need to worry about buying all the tools and where you dispose of some things like used oil, because they usually have disposal systems in place.
Just look online for "Mietwerkstatt" or for the "Schrauber" community ("Schrauber" is the German term for "tinkerer")
Good idea! For our old classic car, we would need to have imperial unit wrenches instead of metric... so I would still need to bring nearly everything with me. It would certainly be fun to visit one of these shops to see what they are like. There is nothing like this in the United States.
@@TypeAshton You should definitely ask beforehand, if they have imperial unit tools. They might even have some, if they are in a location, where several american car tinkerers live :) (you don't need to be from there to have a car from there...)
It is allowed to repair the car at home. I repair my brakes at the front door. Also engine repairs no problem. Only engine tuning for example is not easily possible. Do not make any technical changes to the vehicle.
@@Zak_McKracken81 anything "dry" is usually fine - as in everything that doesn't involve opening up the liquid systems of the car, where it is not intended (refilling is ok)
@@m.h.6470
Wo kein Kläger, da kein Richter.
If you think Germans are aggressive drivers, you should have a trip to Switzerland on Friday evening right after working hours. This is a different level.
Im living in germany my whole live and im doing everything on my car by myself. Its new to me that im not allowed to this 😅😄
Btw if you lose your driving license you maybe have to do a MPU (if drugs were involved or you were way too fast) to get it back. A MPU could cost you 1500-8000€ depends on if you pass the first try
Just to clarify what an MPU is, because not everybody may know this: It's short for 'Medizinisch Psychologische Untersuchung' (medical psychological examination) and it is sometimes vulgarly called "Idioten-Test". Its purpose is to find out if you're mentally stable enough to drive a vehicle so that you can be given a drivers licence ever again. It is required if you had your licence revoked repeatedly or because of severe reasons. After passing the MPU you still have to get a new licence from a regular driving school, but I think you can skip most of the training.
You should maybe make a third video about insurance, first aid courses and 'who pays what' after an accident. In my opinion, the effort before driving (learning to drive, keeping the car safe, obeying the rules, getting insurance, etc.) pays off when accidents happen. Maybe you can compare that with the USA.
Congrats to 1 year!
Great idea! We can tackle this one in the future as another follow-up. :)
In the US it is different from state to state. There are "no fault" states and "at fault" states when it comes to car accidents.
And US car insurance - especially if you have less than 5 years of insurance history (e.g. being a new immigrant) is ridiculously expensive. Can be $4,000 per year easily!
@@CaribouEno
So that might be even more interesting in comparison to Germany!
Have you heard of the Czech millionaire who recently drove 417 km/h (260 mph) in his Bugatti on the Autobahn? The case against him was just dropped because it was not considered an "inappropriate" speed in the specific situation (i.e. 5am on a Sunday morning, on an almost empty road with good weather and several people scouting the road for him)
which proves that you really can legally drive that fast on an Autobahn... but you also really have to be very careful with doing so, in order to avoid trouble.
A billionaire! A mere millionaire cannot afford a Chiron :)
Yes we've watched it before and it was an experience by itself to see out the windshield from a computer screen. Apparently he had spotters up the road checking traffic. Still, so dangerous and irresponsible for an entitled billionaire.
well, in german law you can even found guilty of making a "race against youself"
@@tobyk.4911 that is the main ruöle pf $1 of the street regulations. no other people must be endangeresd or hindered in any qay. mutual consideration and carefulneys is the main rule
I love the lack of greeting in Germany. It's a culture of not wasting your energy and time greeting people you will never see again. Everything is about privacy and efficiency. I love that. The culture is similar Austria and I've been loving it, even coming from Africa.
Regarding the speed limit: this kind of majority discussion is always difficult. A huge part of people answering just use the highway once or twice a year. It's easy for them to say "we need a speed limit", because they just don't care. That can be quite a difference though for people who basically "live on the road", "im Außendienst". If you're on the road daily, and you would lose 30-60 minutes each day -- that sums up for almost a whole working day by the end of the week. Ask those 60% "pro limit" voters, how many of them would agree working EACH Saturday for free? I'd guess the answer will be 0%...
I'm often using an example with football/soccer. If you ask me, you can forbid playing football. I'm not interested in it, I don't play myself and I also don't watch or otherwise follow it. So it's very easy for me to vote "pro forbid football". And probably, country-wide you could get more than 50% support for this idea. And think about all the CO2 we could save by not having all these stupid stadiums, transferring people back and forth for games, etc. So, should we forbid football now?..
I'd like to see a real world example how you lose 60 minutes because you can "only" drive 130 km/h at maximum. Most of the time you "lose" on the slow parts: driving to the autobahn, accelerating and decelereating, speed limits, congestions, ... - and especially congestions would be minimized if everyone drove with the same maximum speed.
I once tried to "put the pedal to the metal" on early saturday morning with nearly no other cars around me - and gained two minutes or so on a hour long drive.
@@Engy_Wuck Well, of course it depends highly on your conditions. Driving full speed in congested traffic or in places where you have lots of interchanging limits is not going to increase anything, besides maybe your blood pressure ;)
But there are still long tracks with good visibility, more or less straight road and no limits. Saving time on those doesn't look like a very bad idea to me. And if you look at alternatives - if car driving will be slowed down, then many business people will fall back to airplanes even for local trips. So it will actually backfire on CO2 emissions...
It's all much more complicated than just thinking "if we all drive slower, we'll save the world". It's partially true - and if you can drive slower without sacrificing much, then please do. That's what I'm always doing on my vacation or if it fits the schedule on business trips.
You don't need a general limit to drive slower yourself, right? What's really highly confusing to me is the amount of people who want to pose restrictions on *the others* . Like, if I'm not doing this, then let's prevent everyone else from doing it... Instead of just doing it yourself and leading by a good example, people are getting quite aggressive in trying to forbid it for the others - and the others answer with the same aggressiveness. That's why I find the current political decision to avoid this kind of discussion a good decision.
BTW, not adhering to the distance rules is causing much more crashes with deaths on the highway than driving at high speeds (even including driving at high speeds in the already limited zones). Have you ever seen a politician arguing for better control of distance? Think about it.
@@Engy_Wuck What? I don't quite understand your point. When I drive to work normally it takes me about 30min on the Autobahn. If I am in a hurry I usually can reach work in 20min or even less. So yeah, there definitely is time saving potential (!) when driving fast. Of course the conditions need to be good but how can going faster = arriving earlier be a controversial point? Not arriving earlier when you drive faster would be an exception not the rule.
Well stated! Thanks 👍
So instead of renegotiating your work contract so the increased cost is shifted towards your employer you want to keep externalising the cost of the pollution to the public?
Your example is also VERY misleading. A better analogy would be that Football stadiums are required to have a stop for public transport and require/allow less parking space for cars so viewers are more likely to go watch a game using public transport.
My culture shock was about driving India. To be precise, we had a local driver, fortunately. You had cows everywhere on the roads, even on the highways, and you're not supposed to heart them. In India, you're supposed to drive on the left side, which doesn't exclude you'll find cars on your side going in the opposite direction. And we also saw overcrowded cars with people sitting on the roof.
Hey guys, good video. What is the definition of a nanosecond in Germnay? The time between the light turning green until someone honks their horn. During my last trip to the States, I was shocked to see many vehicles that would definitely not pass TÜV! Regarding own repairs on cars, you can rent a bay at an ATU to do your own maintenance if you really wanted to. I think part of the point of making the driving license so expensive is to keep people off the road, because the roads are so crowded. I think € 1.800 is closer to the average (having paid for 3 family members to get their licenses).
The driving license isn't expensive to keep people off the road. That makes no sense at all :)
It's expensive because it takes a long time to learn to be a good driver. And for slow learners and/or people without the ability to exercise with parentes, this tends to be very expensive.
Prices range from at least 2000€ to 4000€ now. Inflation, yay...
1800,- is on the cheap side. We have paid 2200,- and 2700,- with self learning in out own cars and one repeat. The additional small lorry license for up to 7.5 tons costs us in Austria 900,-
@@picitnew the German transport system and cycle lanes is in another world to the US and even UK (where I live), so keeping people on the transport system means fewer cars on the road. In some regard that works.
Same can be said for big cities like London where some peoples cars do less than 2000miles a year because public transport is so good you only need a car to leave the city!
some women do their makeup in the rear mirror, Not paying attention at all, some text. One driving exam candidate looked up her smartphone at a traffic light stop-fell through, of course. Please park for that. Streets and roads are for driving. No multitasking please.
I guess that's the other side of punctuality, you are in a hurry and someone pondering what and where to go driving just half the allowed speed makes me mad, I'm not defending road rage here eg. Mercedes with alleged "built in right of way" (eingebaute Vorfahrt)
Fun fact:
Taxis in germany are required to get the inspection every year, no matter how old it is!
One of the reasons why Taxis are much safer than Uber, which are according to the law are actually illegal because none of the Uber drivers is insured!
I like this kind of videos because it builds a significant counterpart to the endless numbers of videos of Germans who live in the US and report about their live there
18:00 You are actually allowed to do repairs yourself in germany, but if something goes wrong you are fully liable for all damages and your insurance might not pay. Licenced mechanics have liability insurance.
Happy Sunday! Just a heads up, we realized during editing that the audio isn't the "greatest" but we tried our best in post production. We are working on fixing it for future episodes.
But to repeat the question at the end of the video:
What's a culture shock that you have experienced when driving abroad? Let us know below!
Hello Ashton, Hello Jonathan,
please have a look at the RUclips video of James Bray from 6.04.2022:
„THE FASTEST MAN ON THE GERMAN 🇩🇪 AUTOBAHN!!“ 😁😁 😅😅😅 🙋🏼♂️
Congratulations for your first year. Hope to see you much more years here. It`s so interesting to learn, how you see and feel Germany. All the best to your little Black Forest Family.
Thank you so, so much.
@@TypeAshton seems you had and still have to learn a lot. do not trust ruzmors. most of them are rubbish
Having driven in Germany numerous times, you need to be damn careful when changing lanes. In the US, most people are traveling roughly the same speed +/- 10 mph. However, in Germany you encounter tremendous variations in speeds. In fact, speed differences between lanes can be as much as 30 - 50 mph. When you look over at the far-left hand lane, those cars are traveling so fast that it's as if they were shot out of a cannon. I used to call it the 'power lane'. It's not a passing lane like it is in the US. So, not only do you need to see who's around you. You need to know how fast somebody is going, otherwise they may catch up to you far, far faster than you would expect. As noted in the video, driving in Germany is hardly low stress. It's stressful driving in either country - but for very different reasons.
yup that is correct. That's why you watch the traffic behind you constantly and not only when you change lanes. And if you want to change lanes, look in the left mirror and see a car in the left lane, look a second time. so you can see how fast it's approaching and if you might obstruct it.
I drive on the A7 at the end of July every year. Motorhome and trailer total 15 metres. My experience of driving on Autobahn is that the change of lane is not that difficult. Most drivers are really helpful. The real difficulty in the lane changing are all of these "race drivers" that suddenly find out that they are leaving the Autobahn on the next Ausfahrt but desperately need to overtake you first. And we experience the same challenge in Denmark.
@@sponsorcarl8400 Leaving and Entering also. That's a very big Problem.
No matter how fast you go. There´s always someone faster coming from behind.
Another great video! Regarding the Autobahn, when my mom came to visit us in Germany she was totally freaked out about driving on the Autobahn. But I when I drover her around I never got faster than about 85mph. Granted there were cars passing me doing 100+, but she said that it really wasn't that bad at all, and not what she expected!
Our parents said the same thing. My dad even said that he probably would have felt comfortable driving around if he had a better understanding of road signs. I think the biggest hurdle for him would be the "rechts vor links"
12 (per 100.000) traffic death in the USA compared to 4 (per 100.000) in Germany. There is a reason for all those inspections, regulations and the longer divers license training i´d say ;)
Above age 25 the statistics are closer. In America using turn indicators is a sign of weakness, even if you are a highway cop and a supposed upholder of standards. The speed limit is taken as the lowest allowable speed. I think that what our presenters are trying to say, without saying it and giving offense, is that German drivers are pretty anal.
@RaMan I wonder, how would that Statistic look like, if there were no Speed Limits in the US?
Note: I studied German in college for 3 years and was suprised to find I had little difficulty understanding traffic signs in Germany.
Until I went to Germany I'd lived most of my life in Boston and NYC, cities apparently known for crazy traffic & crazy drivers. I spent two weeks driving around Hamburg with day trips requiring 2-3 hours on the Autobahn. It was almost disappointing. Yes, everyone drove about 20mph faster than on the same roads in the US, but everything was much more calm. The only time there was excitement was when I looked at my speedometer and realized I was cruising at 110mph. Other than that driving in Germany was positively relaxing.
There was one thing that stood out: I was there shortly after reunification. There were all these Trabi jokes about east Germans getting onto the autobahn in their Trabants and driving 45-50mph. They weren't jokes! You're cruising at 100+ mph and suddenly there're all these brake lights and traffic evacuates a particular lane. Sure enough, there was a Trabi in the middle lane doing half the normal speed. Crazy!
those Trabbis maxed out at about 100km/h everything beyond that needed the help of strong wind from the back and a downhill road....
Giving up your priority is actually a fineable offence in a lot off western europe. So I'm not surprised people are annoyed when you just stand there at the intersection going "You go first, I'm not in a hurry.".
I remember multiple cars in the US missing a car door or a windshield.
I was particularly shocked when a guy showed me he replaced the oil tank with a big plastic Coke bottle…
If you get to the rural areas in the United States you will be even more shocked with what is driving down the road.
You don`t get a license plate, if you haven't got a liability insurance for your car; Maybe the obligatory insurance is also different. Thanks a lot for your videos; as a german people i learn english and also a lot about the culture differences.
Afaik an insurance is not required to get a license plate in the USA. You are required to have one by law, but it is still possible to drive without one. I remember an episode from Gas Monkeys where an employee made a test drive with a just finished custom car for a show and somebody else crashed in the car and had no insurance and there was a damage of over 100.000$
While you need a liability insurance to be able to register a car (and get a license plate or the official "seal" on it) you could still "lose" coverage later on, e.g. if you just don't pay the dues. The insurance company will report this to the vehicle registration office (Zulassungsstelle) and they will in turn ask you to either deregister the car or to give proof you have a new insurance ‑ and if you don't respond they will send someone out to your home to seize the registration certificate and remove the seal from the license plate.
So it is possible to drive a car in Germany without having an insurance ‑ at least for a short period of time. One of my friends managed to "hide" his car from the authorities for 7 or 8 months while he kept driving without having a liability insurance. (That was about 15 years ago but I think it wouldn't make a great difference if someone really "wanted" to do this today… and doesn't care about the consequences.)
In most US states you need an insurance to get a car registration (and hence a license plate). Only New Hampshire and one other state (forgot which one) allows non insurance - but only if you can present $100,000 as available assets to pay for damages. But that would still be like suicide as in the US the costs of a car accident rapidly surpasses that.
In New York, the insurance is marked electronically at the DMV computer system. The insurer puts the insurance there for the car - distinguished by the vehicle number VIN.
In case the insurance lapses, the DMV automatically withdraws the registration. Moving the car is then a crime.
In short, Germany: high standards, USA: low standards. Who. Would. Have. Thought.
My Driving Teacher was 68 Years old, and in the past Always the Teacher of my Dad. He was a Rallye Driver in the Former GDR and his Motto was "learn to drive fast, and you become to drive safety"
For an example, his wish Speed to get on the Autobahn was Minimum 140km/h moving from the Beschleunigungsstreifen 😂
Well, you can cut costs for your driver's licence when you have a driver who takes you to a "drivers' kindergarten" where learners can practice parallel parking (!!) or stop and go on a slope or parking backwards etc.
I took both my children and apart from a fee it cost me a few grey hairs and a quarter of my life expectancy, lol !
Moin!
Erstmal Glückwunsch zu einem Jahr RUclips. Eure Videos sind sehr professionell gemacht.
Zum Video, so schlimm fahren wir Deutschen nicht. Ja, wir fahren gerne schnell, aber wenn ihr einmal in Paris gefahren seit und das überlebt habt, dann wisst Ihr wie angenehm wir Deutschen fahren.
Liebe Grüße aus dem Norden!
Emma
Danke! Wir sind mehrmals nach Frankreich und Paris gefahren und es ist eine ziemliche Erfahrung. :)
@@TypeAshton Dann warte erst mal auf Bogota / Kolumbien.......
My driving culture shock was in France, regarding one thing: multi lane roundabouts.
In Germany, all roundabouts are single lane (with sometimes a bypass between two neighbouring exits).
In France, most roundabouts are dual lane, and three lanes are still common, especially when more than four roads are connected. I am used to it by now, but the first few times I was completely lost how to navigate this
Try roundabouts in Ireland... in a highway, while driving on the other side of the car, other side of the road. Total nightmare!
@@Colochoide you get used to it after a while. I enjoy the swap. Keeps me alert.
Driving in Germany is a privilege. If you don't have a drivers license in Germany there are still ways to get to your work, to the grocery store etc. Where in the US not having a license really impacts your way of living just the "how do you get groceries without a car?" question that keeps popping up is a sign of this.
I don't know if it's true, but I've heard people from the US say they rather lose their home than their car since their car allows them to make money.
It's true.
Hey everybody, I'm at the point in your video where you're talking about the cost of a driving licence in Germany. I'm doing the driving licence myself and I can tell you that it can cost between 1500 and 2400 euros.
Of course, it always varies a bit because everyone needs different amounts of driving lessons.
On average, you usually have between 15 and 18 driving lessons until you take the test. Of course, there are also people who need far more driving lessons, which makes the whole thing more expensive.
Failing the theory and practical tests also costs more money, of course, because you have to pay a fee every time you take the test. That's why it's good to pass at least the theory test the first time, it saves money and time. The theoretical exam in particular is a pure learning matter, which you can definitely pass the first time.
The practical exam is a completely different matter, because it depends on several things that all have to fit on that day, for example, you suddenly get into a situation that you haven't been in before, you make careless mistakes, etc.pp.
All in all, I think the driving licence is very expensive. But you can also save costs, but I would say 80% of the sum is already fixed at the beginning.
So, have a nice Sunday and thank you for your videos. I generally don't write much under videos, but here I wanted to say something :)
I know alot of people in Germany that failed the practical test at least once, myself included after quite intensiv lessons. My two practical driving tests were both almost one hour long through the inner city, rural roads and the Autobahn, including parallel parking, three point turns, and so on. It is quite brutal. They fail you even for minor mistakes in any of that. I failed because my instructor grabbed my steering wheel on a double-laned left turn, because he felt like I was cutting of the car next to me (I don't think I was). If your instructor sitting next to you (the tester sits on the back seat) interferes in any way, by grabbing your steering wheel or braking, the test is automatically failed. They only passed me the second time with a very stern warning to drive more carefully in the future. They made me feel like I was a completely hopeless basket case in terms of driving skill. Funnily enough, today I would consider myself one of the better drivers of all the people I know.
yes i was also shocked when they said how much it cost. mine is quite a while ago but it was less than 2000.
tho i only got the minimum required amount of driving lessons and passed on first test with 0 mistakes. (to my suprise because i barely studied at all)
Great information, thank you for sharing and thank you for watching!
Thats Olds mobil is such a beauty well done Jonathan. Also back to self repare: YOu can do it in German, look for Selfmade Werkstätten, most old car enthusiast use those or rent their own industrial space/old barn which they than modify to be a Werkstatt, friends of mine did that.
Yeah we are looking into that. We would need a place to store all of my tools from the US since everything in the car uses imperial. We can't use the normal wrenches, for example, in a German Werkstatt.
@@TypeAshton I know of a huge American car scene in Baden-Württenberg, so you may not have to get all that equipment over here. The scene the last I looked was around Stuttgart kr the other way on thr autobahn Munich also has an american car scene and of course every place were there ever was an American military base. You even can get german manufactured spare parts for some old american muscle.
@@TypeAshton Ouch, right. Metric and imperial / customary
i have got my drivers licence 15 years ago.. it took me 24 driving hours including driving in the city, driving in a residential area, driving at night, driving at the countryroads and of course driving at the autobahn. all beginners have to get their eyes checked and pass a basic first aid exam. after you signed in youll get a book or access to an app to start learning, and you have to attend those theory lessions mentioned in the video. there are about 1000 questions you have to know, but just 30 randomly choosen questions will be asked at the exam. The exam takes place at the Tüv site. After you passed the theoretical part, you can go straight for the driving exam. i did my driving exam 5 minutes after the theory exam. A Tüv examiner will take a seat at the back on the car. for 45 minutes you have to follow the orders he gives to you. i found it quite easy, he basically just wants to see if you know what you are doing, not driving to harsh, not to slow, not agressiv, not to fast..
In total i paid a bit more than 2000 euros, including the fees for exams at the tüv site.
I was stationed in Germany for most of my 20’s and I loved driving over there. I hate dealing with crappy American drivers. And we wonder why we have a problem with road rage.
6:55 I have to concur: Your example of honking 1 Second after the light turns green is f.e. not in line with the actual rules. The horn is only to be used in case of eminent danger.
As a german, living near Karlsruhe i love your videos, but the "I can't work on my own car" is absolutely not true. As you said, the TÜV is just looking, if your car fits the regulations, like, are the lights are working, are the brakes in a specific tolerance and so on. But you can fix your car self if you are able to. What you misunderstood maybe is the fact, that you are not allowed to modify your car with any 3rd party addon, like bigger wheels. For this you need an ABE (allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis). You can do this changes by yourself, driving to the TÜV and they will test if it's ok and they will do a "Eintragung" (or not) and it will be expensive. You can also buy stuff like bigger wheels where the ABE is already included for your specific car.
TÜV also don't care about "changing oil" only for security relevant topics. I'm driving a Tesla and if for example the yellow high voltage label in the the frunk is not viewable, they can deny the TÜV label..
Many people think it is rude when someone flash the light when coming from behind. It is allowed and only shows you that a very fast car is coming from behind. If the driver continues flashing when he has the same speed, because you are also overtaking, then this is behavior is too rude and he can get a penalty. Using the left signal light to tell "let me pass, now!!" is forbidden, and to overtake on the right side is absolutely prohibited (exception: Munich city Autobahn, where passing right is common :P). Yes, german Autobahn could be very nerve wracking, if you have too look all the time in the mirrors. You need the experience when changing to the left lane, especially when someone is coming with 250km/h from behind.
Always expect the worst driver, in any situation, then you are good :)
No what they said is true. They said you cannot fix you car at your garage. And that is true, you can do at at a official "Werkstatt" on you own if you want.
@@Blackbirdone11 yes, of course your garage has to fit environmental requirements, like a oil separator, but you are allowed to change brakes. And like you said, there are rentable "Werkstatt" where you are able to do anything at your car.
I have a model Y in the US. I never noticed a yellow HV label in the frunk. Maybe i just never noticed it.i need to take a look tomorrow.
@@mfkman i also have a Model Y. The label is on the right side, between the cover. The purpose for the label is, that after an accident, they (fire department, or who is arriving first) can find and cut the high voltage cable.
As others here have said, our confusion is what we are allowed to do in our own garage. From what we understand, regulations prohibit us from working on our own vehicles. But others have said this is often not followed and would really only be enforced if a neighbor complains.
Just like driving in the USA, it's high stress, even on remote interstate highways. I just did a tour of the USA towing a Fifth Wheel Camper that was the most stressful experience in my life! I decided to avoid the interstates entirely where possible. Because of how aggressive people are. Calling Americana non aggressive behind the wheel is far from the truth. Decades ago yes but today???
I just want to point out 2 things:
1. You can do any car repairs or maintenance by yourself in a properly equipped garage. There are planty DIY garages available across the country.
2. You can wash your car at home if you have a driveway build in a way that garantueis no waste water will be able to enter the environment. So it is a water proof surface where water can only escape to the drain.
Also about point 1. this is as you mentioned in big part to make sure no oils or other liquids enter the environment.
6:21
In my country, German drivers have these stereotypes attached to them:
- German drivers are mostly safe drivers,
- German drivers will break at curves and on straight roads,
- German drivers follow the traffic rules to the T and
- older German drivers ( 60+ ) cannot drive in reverse ( and some stubbornly don't want to even if by the rules of traffic they are the ones who have to do it )
Witnessed all of those every year ever since I was a child.
From time to time I've come across some odd ones though like those who don't let you overtake them and those who drive really slow until you catch up to them and they speed up and after a few minutes slow down and repeat the same process. No idea what that's all about, to me it just seems rude.
Regarding the last paragraph: I can only speculate, because I didn't witness the situation, but they might have felt you didn't keep enough safety distance to them.
Driving in the US, I experienced the other side of the coin: Sometimes when driving exactly at the speed limit, I'm having cars behind me that drive up so close that they would 100% hit me if I had to brake for whatever reason. So I am forced to accelerate beyond the speed limit just to put some distance between me an them, but they always catch up (because of course they don't stick to the speed limit in the first place) and once again drive behind me in an unsafe distance, forcing me to repeat the process.
I'm not saying you didn't actually keep enough distance, because obviously I wasn't there, but something like that might have contributed to the other driver's behaviour.
@@ILoveBees I get that point of view but I think I didn't explain it well. These situations were more like when those in front of you try to purposely make you crash into them by really slowing down all of a sudden but when you don't they speed up but then repeat the same process. It's just odd.
@@mxm7647 Thanks for explaining in more detail, I think I understand better now.
Yeah, that is indeed odd behaviour by those drivers. (And highly dangerous.)
For that last part: I find it terribly annoying when driving on a motorway (Autobahn) at the speed limit (or in some cases also 10-20 km/h lower, for some reason) and a car drives behind me at a distance I find uncomfortable, but without overtaking when having the opportunity to. In that case, I only have two options: either increase the distance by accelerating, and then reduce to my desired speed, or slow down even more, hoping to incite the tailer to remove himself from my trailer hook and overtake. Maybe you should consider that. But for sure there are some drivers who are just incapable of keeping a steady speed.
There is a vivid "Schrauber"-community in Germany, reassembling classic domestic and foreign cars. So, you can do maintenance. But if you have a car crash, and they can point to you djng something wrong, your insurance might fold. So, it's not advisable, in general. That said, no account of driving in southwest Germany can be complete without mentioning the "Alsatian aspect". Driving in France can be a whole cultural shock in itself, especially here next to Straßburg.
Sorry that Jonathan was yelled at in the garage! I share your observation that US drivers are way more calm, and kind of flexible, albeit on a flip side: unpredictable at times.
Regarding TUV: it is very common to have your car inspected by the car dealer. I did so regularly, never again to go to TUV. On the flip side, the DMV in the US is a horror experience. The lines here in Santa Clara, CA are sometimes 2 blocks long. Parking impossible. My wife had to renew her license and make a written test due to age. That required an appointment, with months of wait time. We chose a DMV in a smaller town, to avoid said horror lines in Santa Clara. That took anyways half a day, and around the DMV compound on every parking I found warnings "Not for DMV parking, violators will be towed." I found a Starbucks some 10min away and waited there for my wife.
That picture where you are already waiting to honk at the moment when it turns green.... PERFECT XD
I spend some time in the U.S., most of my driving though was in smaller towns and the countryside. Except for the four-way stops that I never fully got used to, I found things to be quite mellow. It was there however that for the only time in my life I almost ran out of fuel after driving for a few hours without coming across a gas station. Even in Europe’s periphery, that never happened to me.
And then there are supposedly those who think "the Autobahn" is one single road in one corner of Germany.
Hahaha TRUE! We had someone back home say 'wait... It's more than one road?!"
The other thing to be aware is autoroutes, autostradas and autopistas in other countries are usually toll roads and toll fees for driving on them can add up fast!
@@TypeAshton Did you ask them where in the US one can find "the highway"? 😁
@@ThePixel1983 "The highway"in European imagination is obviously "Route 66"!!!!
I got my German driver license in March 1952 in Hamburg. Since that time lots has changed in Germany. Also the Autobahn in Germany was rather empty in the 50s. In 1957 I got my first American drivers license in Chicago, but I never had the feeling of a culture shock - only that the American cars were at that time much larger than in Germany (although the American soldiers were driving at that time large cars in Germany). Since 1994 I live in a rural area of Northwest Arkansas - very pleasant driving here and I drive a near new Subaru Outback Touring XT. Thank you for your video.
High there, during my several visits to the US I found that driving there is very relaxing and although you are not allowed to drive very fast you are not much slower than in Germany on average speed over long distances, as you you keep on driving with nearly no Staus. (exept rural areas like LA or so)
What was amazing was that you are allowed to turn right on red lights, great.
But last time I was driving a 5.0 Mustang with over 450 horsepowers and it was hard or even impossible not to push the hammer down especially on the interstate between Phoenix and the California border.
What I, as a German, did not know or realized is that I should not be allowed to do some maintanence in my own garage. I`'m still doing an oil change, a tire change or adjusting the valve clearance and so on on my motobike in my garage. The only thing is that you are not allowed to have some oil spillages.
Wish you all the best and enjoy you're stay in Germany.
I’m a German, living in Oregon. Oregonians are famous for their laid-back and polite driving (also see Portlandia skid about people standing at a 4-stop forever, trying to let the other go first). But I perceive that laidback driving as not paying attention or driving pro-actively, as I have learned in Germany. For example merging is a nightmare because people don’t pay attention to other drivers. And sadly, aggressive driving has become more of a norm nowadays. Most of my culture shocks come from biking, though, and how little car drivers pay attention to bicyclists even in Portland, considered one of the top biking cities in the US. I blame a lot on the “right on red”. It means drivers look to the left when turning, to watch for other cars, and not to the right to watch for bicyclists or pedestrians like they do in Germany.
We were both cyclists in the US (more-so, Jonathan since he works in the cycling industry) - and the safety and awareness for bicyclists is a night and day difference from Germany to the USA. We feel so much safer on the roads here.
When I took my driving test as a German exchange student in New Mexico, I had to bring the car and just drive around the block with the sheriff riding shotgun. I paid 13 dollars. My address was printed on a small card and inserted into a camera. I had to place myself in front of a blue bedsheet pinned to the wall to have my picture taken together with the filled out card. The developed photo was laminated and I could take my driver's license home with me right away. That was 1994 and totally unbelieveable for me at that time.
And this was probably the reason, why german authorities would not want to transfer your (legal in US) drivers license into a german one.
@@hermannbrunner4984 They used to give you a German driver's license for the American one, but now you have to pass the German driver's test. No driving school, though, what makes it much cheaper. They told me, that was because a lot of people had bought a foreign driver's license on the black market and then had it transfered into a German one.
Even when no speed limit is given, there is still a theoretical maximum speed limit on German motorways. A German police officer once told me that they will charge anyone with dangerous driving who gets caught doing over 300 k/h regardless of the road or traffic conditions. Also, insurances will not reimburse accident damage or injuries if the vehicle was doing over 130 k/h.
Exactly. This is rarely mentioned in videos on this topic. 130kph is the official speed limit on the Autobahn in Germany. You can see this on signs at border crossings from another country. Driving at faster speeds can invalidate your insurance if you are involved in an accident.
not gonna lie, you had me at 0:09 haha
I have learned driving when my family lived in San Jose, CA, for three years. I took driving lessons in school and then went to the DMV to get the license. When the family returned to Germany, I was shocked at the aggression, not quite road rage, but a hair short of it. I went to driving school for about 10 lessons to get my Californian license converted to a German license.
During my professional life I got to drive in the US (California, Maryland), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, and in Great Britain. Yes, that was an adventure. I even dared to go through the City of London and across the famous Tower Bridge. I managed it without accident, not even a fender bender.
Later in my life I found the traffic had become much more hectic, get honked at for being too slow for everybody else. In one summer, on the main road of my village, where you are supposed to go 30 km/h I was passed by a cyclist who yelled at me, window was open, for going too slow in his opinion. No respect, I was driving a two ton 4WD.
I gave up driving about 12 years ago and with the money I save on expensive repairs, insurance, tax, and, yes, gas, I can afford to call a taxi if I have to get from A to B. I had been in situations where I almost caused an accident several times, with, screeching brakes, honking, yelling, you get the idea. Where I live I can get around by S-Bahn, bus, and taxi, or with my friend, when we do big grocery hauls once a month.
Public transportation is widely spread in Germany, and as I know from personal experience, nearly non-existent in the US, except for large cities, maybe.
The distances in the US are huge, cities are not compact, but big sprawls. And that's why people need a car, even if it's a jalopy.
The other difference between driving in the US and Germany is that, to my knowledge, you have to renew your license in the US every few years, whereas your license in Germany is for life. So the high cost of obtaining a license in Germany is an investment.
The "license for life" thing has actually changed in recent years - they are only valid for 15 years now.
@@PileOfEmptyTapes yea but that's just about the document, you'll only pay a small fee if even
@@PileOfEmptyTapes yes, but you "just" have to pay for the plastic card (25€) and a new photo. You don't have to take driving lessons and the exam again.
I'm wondering if the US have a thing like the German point system, i.e. if you violate traffic laws, a varying amount of points, depending on the severity of your violation, are added to your registry in the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt which is located in Flensburg (hence the term "Punkte in Flensburg"). When you exceed a certain limit, your driving licence is suspened or even canceled and you can only get it back after you take a MPU (Medizinisch-Psychologische Untersuchung, aka "Idiotentest") to test if you are at all mentally able to steer a vehicle. Is there such a thing in (parts of) the US as well?
In many states they do have a points system but i don't know how meaningful they actually are. I once accompanied my room mate to a traffic court in NY state who had gotten caught driving 110mph (i had to drive him to court because he was not allowed to drive in NY state because of getting caught -,but he was still allowed to drive in New Jersey where we lived). Normally 110 in a 50 zone would have been a lot of points but my room mate asked if he could pay a fine rather than get points and i think it was $800 or so (this was about 20 years ago) and no points.
@@UnExcited42 Yes,but........Your car insurance gets these violations reported,and your premiums will skyrocket!
@@UnExcited42 That's the US!No sense required!But it's a fact!
Im born and raised in germany, so i am very used to the Autobahn, but honest to all gods, generally im dead scared of going beyond ~130 km/h. Not because of the speed, if its empty , unlimited and weather allows for it i will floor it like anyone else. But because people have grown to be unpredictable and its one of my biggest fears flying on the left lane and having someone pull in right in front of me without bothering to properly check if the lane is free... i see it regulary, its just scaring me shitless for the persons involved in such almost accidents. so i feel just fine on the right lane with my 130. Its a nice cruising speed and there are less idiots
i'm not scared at all... but driving at 180 is just so tiring with the high level of concentration it demands that i prefer traveling at around 130 .
On the contrary french Autobahn drives me nuts because it's limited to 130 while beeing most of the time completely empty while theyr maut literally doubles the cost of getting from A to B... nothing better than traversing France from north to south at 200 km/h at nighttime 😂
@@marcuslinkerhand1415 its funny how we seem to be polar opposites in this. The concentration thing isnt much a deal for me. It really is all about the other traffic participants for me. People are growing more unpredictable each day, just yesterday i had someone pull out of a parking lot in my town within even bothering to look properly. Almost sat in my side if i hadnt evaded. That was just 50 km/h but if imagine this situation at 180/200 km/h
I moved from Germany to Illinois in last year and while I was aware of some of the differences ahead of time - like turning right on red - what I wasn't expecting were the large amount of stop signs.
I am still not a friend of four-way-stops and how they work: Instead of having a clear rule like in Germany, where the car on the right always goes first, the "right" of way is determined by who arrived first at the intersection. Which gets particularly intense when two drivers have different opinions on who was first. And good luck keeping track of the order when there's multiple cars coming beind one another from every direction.
So instead of the law giving a clear regulation that guarantees road safety, drivers have to play a game of "Simon" every time they want to cross a four-way-stop.
That's a good point when there is a long line of cars. It's very unclear who goes when. As for the 'rechts vor links', I have had many near accidents while riding my bike. When I have vorfahrt and the oncoming vehicle does not slow down or stop to let me go. It happens very often.
@@TypeAshton I'm sorry to hear and I'm glad that nothing happened to you!
Unfortunately, disrespectful/bad drivers exist everywhere, regardless which rules are in place.
That is one of the huge differences between US and German mentality, The German wants everything to be perfectly regulated without any little hole. Communicating with others on how to handle the situation is not wanted. In the US there are moments all the time where you need to come to a conclusion with others on how to proceed. And that is not negative at all.
In Germany people are afraid that the neighbor could get more so every employee in administration does not have any discretion on approving or rejecting an application for example. It is defined up to the comma how exactly the decision has to be, you could place a robot there :)
This is trivia, still needs to be mentioned:
To get a driving license and to be educated and skillful driver are two very different things. In many parts of the world there are very minimal requirements for actually to have skills and attitudes in traffic. I find it unfortunate that there are so many unskilled drivers. In my country some years ago there was a reform in the way driving schools operate. The purpose was to make it more affordable. Now we see that the previous positive trend of less accidents by the new drivers seems to have disappeared.
New drivers don't anymore get enough time to change their unhealthy attitudes in traffic while still practicing.
Indeed. I grew up in New Mexico, and got my driver’s license in the ’90s. My driving test consisted of taking a left out of the parking lot, then through intersections: a left, a right, two straights, left, left, three straights, right, and then a right back into the same parking lot. (If this doesn’t seem to make sense, one of the roads curves 90° over the length covered.) That was all of the whole entire test. It took about 5-10 minutes.
Naturally, all the drivers were highly unskilled, and bad. The only thing saving them tends to be that the roads are giant oceans of space to make mistakes in.
@@puellanivis In the old days American cars where big and their suspension and handling made driving them feel like boating on roads.
In my country a much used nickname for them was , if translated to English, "American boat".
@@just42tube “land yachts” is a common term I have heard as well.
I feel you! I have been driving since 1998 and always felt a little nervous on the Autobahn. However, when I returned to Germany after 8 years in the UK, I was terrified. I would overtake a truck at about 140 kmh (I have a small car), seeing no one in my review mirror and all of a sudden, a massive Mercedes would show up within seconds, flashing their light to get me to move out of the way. I almost crashed, while he just sped on at what, 220?! I've seen this so many times and it makes me so angry, because it's assholes like that who cause fatal accidents and just get away with it! Not to mention all the dangerous passing maneuvers!
Meanwhile in France: *calm waltz music*
Many times a car went steaming behind me while I was in the left lane at "high" speed, but most of the drivers just wait until you clear their way. The behavior you speak about is a case of a very small percentage of drivers, that are just so annoying and visible, compared to the rest you barely (if) notice.
You always have to remember that the left lane on the Autobahn is reserved for aggressive assholes.
Though these kind of aggressive drivers are rather rare, maybe like 1 in 200. If youre driving distances below 100km, its not worth speeding anyway, that stress isnt worth the 1-2 minutes you make up. If youre on a 3 lane Autobahn, chilling on the middle lane with 100-130 is at least my prefered way to drive. If its a 2 lane Autobahn with no speed limit, thats where things get a little messy as you said. You have trucks driving 80-90 on the right lane and on the left lane people potentially driving 200kmh which makes it a little tough for the "normal people" who just want to drive 120-140 on a Autobahn with no speed limits.
I would always advise against driving terribly fast on a 2 lane Autobahn, at least if its somewhat busy. Ive done 220 on a 2 lane Autobahn as well but it was completely empty and you could see a long distance in front of you. Think it was the A31 on the way to Netherlands.
Das ist auch ein großes Problem das sich viele von Dränglern genötigt fühlen oder sogar panisch reagieren. Die haben sich nicht die Absicht einen von der Straße zu kicken. Einfach dein Überholvorgang so beenden wie du ihn begonnen hast, egal was er mit seiner Lichtanlage anstellte oder wild gestikuliert...vielleicht kenn er dich und will nur grüßen. ;-)
Nur keine hektischen Lenkbewegungen bei hohen Tempo ausführen oder vom Gas gehen, weiterfahren und sich sagen, hab dich bemerkt nun du bekommst noch deine Überholmöglichkeit.
In the early 80’s I spent the summer outside of Düsseldorf. My Dad had an Opel or Opal station wagon, we would be driving 90mph and cars would blow by us like we were sitting still. It was law that you had to stay in the right lane if you were not passing.
I was born in Germany and I learned driving in Germany. And to the thing of not knowing where to go I just usually go if I drive in circles until I found a place to stop without interrupting traffic and sorting out where am I and where to go is no problem, but beeing in a crossing and blocking it is a problem.
I think i fixed a dozen cars with my friends during school years 25 years ago. Yeah, you cant just dump the oil into the ground, but here around Essen many many many people fix and work on their own cars. I guess its also "german" to know which Laws are truly enforced (TÜV) and which are not (your own garage or Stosslüften :D
Yes, this is the first time I hear that it would be illegal to do your own car repairs. Until I got a company car, I did most repairs and maintenance work on my car myself. I mean, oil changes, brake maintenance, fitting new wishbones, changing the ignition coil, these are all not complicated jobs, at least not on the old cars I've owned before. I did all that myself in my garage. Of course, I don't do anything myself on my company car, which is leased and all services are paid for in full. Instead, I bought a 40-year-old motorbike, and there's always something broken on it that I can screw on.
But I also live in the Ruhrgebiet, an area that is traditionally inhabited by lots of working class people, so getting stuff done by oneself is considered a virtue here, not to mention that it is much cheaper and you'd rather spend your hard-earned money on nice things.
Interestingly enough, I think most of what you said is applicable for the whole Europe, so I would say that is more generally EU vs USA culture shocks.
Still, very interesting to know that what I got for granted being a EU citizen has a very different take in the USA
About working on your own car. There is a german sprichwort „Wo kein Kläger, da kein Richter“ Especially in the small towns in the black forest many people wash their car at home or do work on it.
17:23 You are not required to put on winter tires in the winter time. You are required to have them on while driving in winter conditions like snow, ice or sub-zero temperatures, however, if there is no such condition present, driving with regular/summer tires is actually perfectly legal (albeit not ideal at all) and while you're not driving, the tires don't matter. All-season tires are always allowed in winter conditions provided that they have the M+S indication (next to a mountain with a snowflake inside).