German vs. American Drivers - A Trip Report and Call to Arms

[Arnfinn Madsen]

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By the way German and Swedish and other nordic countries is the same when it comes to driving. France and south is another story.

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Yeah, Sweden is like Germany. Norway wasn't like this when I started driving (about 12 years ago), then you would have cars driving in the left lane, but now they are almost gone. More and more drivers started to harass them (personally I drive up to them in the right lane, then change to the left directly behind them even if the right is free and start flashing the lights trying to hit their left mirror constantly, if they don't turn over then, I blink left and honk) and today most of them have gotten the message. Now driving in Norway is as pleasant as in Germany or Sweden. Holland and Belgium is ok too, rest of Europe is a nightmare.

[FUJItheFISH]

ease of receiving a license = more drivers = more cards = more traffic. a bunch of ppl have too much pride. i move over for ppl as much as i can because it is safer for myself and the rest of the traffic.

fixing this problem will take a very very long time.

[Phat Mack]

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People drive in the right lane until there is someone in front of them going slower, at which point they move into the left lane, pass the appropriate vehicle(s), and move back into the right lane. When they commit to passing, they pass - no driving ever-so-slightly faster than the car you are passing and taking a full 5 minutes to complete the pass - they just commit and do it. If, while they are passing, a faster vehicle happens up behind them while they are passing multiple vehicles, they move back to the right into the slower traffic at the first opportunity to allow the faster vehicle(s) to pass, and then move back to the left to continue their own passing. The majority of traffic is in the rightmost lane, and the amount of vehicles per lane decreases from right to left.

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I could have written this same description of Californian drivers in the 1960s. I think it is no longer true.

Why? Probably for a number of reasons, but I think one is a shift in the general American culture. The driving patterns you describe evidence an understanding of a system and an ability to master it. In our modern age, mastery of a system isn't esteemed as greatly as being 'above' it. Breaking the rules is seen as a greater accomplishment than understanding and complying with them.

I think an even more hilarious example of this is our political climate, but I digress...