Sunday, March 28, 2010

Some more on driving

Okay so I thought of some more things on how driving is different here.
They have the autobahn which I have already mentioned where, as you know, you can drive as fast as you want to. Well the 4-lane roads aren't the only roads that you can drive without a speed limit. Here they have 2 lane roads through the country (back home those raods would be the ones that are 55 mph). Here these roads have no speed limits. Sure they have deer and animals you have be careful of but not to the extent like we do in WI.
Another thing - Here in Giessen the stop lights seem to have no ryhme or rythm to when the switch. Sometimes it doesnt even make sense. For example at one of the intersections here- a 3-way stop- you can either make a left turn or go straight. The left turn arrow will be green but you cant go straight, the straight lane has a red light. There are many other intersections where you just wonder what is going on. Also I dont think they have sensors on some of the lights, especially at night. Regardless of when you arrive you have to wait for lights to go through their cycle and get around to your turn. Someone here told us that in a survey that Giessen was found 499 out of 500 for efficiency of traffic signals in European cities.
Another thing - when you are driving here and you go on an on-ramp to get onto the Autobahn, if there is a truck coming in the lane you are pulling into, it will not get over no matter how close you get to it, even if there isnt a car in the other lane. I dont know if it is a law, or maybe just because it is the autobahn and cars can come real fast out of nowhere, but its hard maybe even a little worry-some when you try to go from an on-ramp to the Autobahn and a big truck wont move over.

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