Safe Speed Forums

Just come back tonight from a few days in Germany. We didnt drive (no need with the U Bahn/S Bahn in Berlin ) but did notice how disciplined the drivers were, as were the pedestrians

When faced with the red man, never saw one ped try to dodge the traffic; they waited. The German view would be - "you cross on a red man, you deserve to get run over..."

BTW no sign of any scams, let alone a talivan

Saw an autobahn from the air - traffic seriously moving

That was my first visit to Germany, very impressed generally - no litter, some graffity, trains ran on time

The Sony Centre at Potzdamar Platz is seriously impressive if you fancy a beer under the roof!

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That's how Nazi Germany started. They'll be burning books next. (Brian Noble, Wigan coach - updated 20/4/06!!).

We Brits are clever and would rather cross on a red with no cars then cross on green with a car coming and hope that it's one of the 99.99% times where the driver sees the red lights / pedestrians and the brakes work.

Even my school is now reccomending crossing early before the controlled crossing after complaints from elderly people about us "blocking access to tesco and the hospital".

Crossing on a red man is the same as crossing where there are no lights. It's perfectly fine to do so.

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Andrew.

It's actually a legal requirement in Germany for pedestrians to obey the pedestrian signals.

As for drivers, I agree! On the autobahnen, they seem much more aware of the traffic around them. Just as well at 120mph+. What I liked was the lane discipline. As soon as they'd finished overtaking, they'd move over to the right lane again. I even saw hoardings in Germany (and Austria) with the caption "Wo fahren zie den?", with a line of angry looking snails in the left lane. Not a bad effort at humour for Germany! Basically it means "where are you going now", or "if you've done overtaking, pull over!". I only wish that we could have the same here. When I got back to England from that trip to Germany, I could not help noticing on our motorways how many people drive along in a switched off state, eg on a 4-lane m-way like the M25, sitting in Lane 3 while lanes 1 and 2 are empty. Even if you overtake in Lane 4 and then pull over into L2 or L1, they still don't get it. The worst ones are those who drive with their right elbow resting on the door cap.

Not long after moving to Germany in 1986 I spent a very uncomfortable 15 mins in the back of a Police van being given a lecture by a very large, stern, armed police man about the dangers of not following road signals (in better English than I could manage).

I basically crossed a small side street, I looked both ways and nothing was coming, I saw the crossing on red but was unaware of the jay walking rules, and as nothing was going to hit me crossed quite safely, right in front of the aforementioned van. I wondered at the time why the drivers jaw seem to drop off his face!

I do think that more attention should be given to pedestrian responsibility on the roads, but can't help but feel that this government (if it would even consider such a thing) would go ott and get it completely wrong!

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It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.

Upton Sinclair

oh they're there....

i have a friend in koblenz who reckons us foreigners keep they're taxes down by getting snapped on the europabrucke on the way in....

Ja .. but there are signs

Ach sorry forgot


You English.. you think everyone speak YOUR lingo. You talk loudly to us.

When back home und someone do this.. I "no speky lingo"

Word of advice.. learn a few life und licence saving words

You English Pah! "everyone speak YOUR lingo"

Let you into little secret .. [i[] we don't und we wish to preserve our lingo .. get it? [/i]

By the way.. I spell some words wrong .. but still I think my standard better than natives

Pedant find fault .. but I challenge them to reply to me int MY LANGUAGE und I will pick holes in every mistake und will take greatest pleasure in that too

Und to make sure no-one offended .. I give you my sincerely anyway.

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Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

...and you wonder why people find you patronising ....

She's lovely really!

But she's right. There are signs. Only written in - er - um - "foreign"


Wildy has been amused in the past when back in her home village (which is on the tourist trail) and people ask her in English for directions etc.. but tend to SHOUT LOUDLY at her in English. She just winds 'em up by refusing to understand them


She and Krissi have each told me that they find it rude and patronising when they do so - when all they need to do is ask quietly and politely whether or not said native speaks English after all.

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Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

I can speak perfect Greek though

Sorry for being off the original topic here. It's a common point. If you live in Germany, France, Spain or wherever, as a foreign language the natural choice tends to be English. Yet here, what do we choose? French? Spanish? German?... you see my point I hope.

Meant in a light hearted way of course

Sadly, those of us who are capable of safely crossing a road without the aid of coloured lights, are more than balanced out by those who think the red man means "casually amble across the road, taking as indirect a route as possible to the other side, even if it means forcing the oncoming traffic to come to a grinding halt".



If the correct use of the crossing is causing genuine traffic hold-ups (and this isn't just a few impatient moaners complaining over nothing) then I find it rather sad that the solution is to tell kids *not* to use the crossing...

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Chris

I find myself doing this a lot more in my current (facelift) Omega than in the last (original shape) one I had, because the design of the doors encourages it... In the old shape, the tops of the doors were rounded off, so you had to be quite determined to get your elbow in just the right position for it to rest there without sliding off. In the new shape, the tops are flat, and I think the doors are thicker as well - it's now actually quite difficult for someone with fairly broad shoulders to keep their elbows away from the top of the door, and when your elbow does come down on the door top, its flat shelf-like nature does nothing to persuade your elbow to slide off again.

I've also noticed similar changes in door design on some other cars (not just Vauxhalls), which makes me wonder if designers are pandering to the existing elbow-resting habits of some, or whether those habits are now being reinforced (and pushed onto others) by design changes brought about for other reasons...

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Chris

I am not keen on this either but occasionally find myself doing it briefly. I think it happens when very little steering input is required or likely to be required, in slow queuing urban traffic or on empty motorways for instance. The level of power assistance in modern cars may have something to do with it too.

What do Germans do when there is no crossing to use? I would assume just cross normally, I suppose it depends how far away from a crossing you have to be in order not to be jaywalking. I have been to Germany and cannot remember crossing the road to be much different, it was about twenty years ago though.

Do German speed limits actually get obeyed?

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May