DRIVING IN GERMANY CULTURE SHOCKS | What Surprises Americans

That's odd: to us, Dutchies, the Germans are the gentlemen of the road.

Maybe the law in germany has changed without my knowledge, but i don't think so. I always fixed my cars by myself till the new models came out with all this computer crap where you literally stuck (if the computer needs to be reseted for your car to work, it needs to be done by expensive shops). But changing oil isn't an issue if you have the right tools to, as long you don't spill the old (or new) oil into the sewer system or nature. Brakes actually is a different topic. Here you need a licensed shop. But that's only my knowlege and this can be wrong nowadays.

Drivers License germany vs. US.

Yes, A DL is really expensive in germany compared to the us. But if you don't mess up (e.g. DUI double the limit) you keep it for the rest of your life without any need for renew (no expire).
In the US in the other hand, you have to (kind of) renew your licens every two years (expires) in most states if im right. At the end i can't tell which is cheaper.

People arguing for speed limits are mostly people who drive the Aurobahn 1 or 2 times a year and can't emotionally handle being overtaken.

I think the rudeness also very much depends on where in Germany you are. In my city, drivers seem to be a bit more chill. I've seen someone stay at a light for almost the entire green phase and nobody pipped them. I've personally been quite slow because I didn't exactly know where to go and my brother, who lives half the country away, commented on how he'd have been honked at by that point.

I myself try to stick to the rules as much as possible, but I will tolerate quite a lot from other drivers. The only time I've used my horn was when someone stopped in the middle of the road, in the only lane, with a solid white line between that lane and the lanes for oncoming traffic. There were plenty of other drivers who decided to ignore the solid white line, of course, but that can be dangerous. It's there for a reason. After I did use my horn, they drove on.

...unless you count the time when I honked at some ducks who didn't want to move out of the way...

Oh, I guess you're so right about driving. A friend from Canada recently visited me. I lent him my car so that he could take a day trip to Cologne. but after 100km he started back and told me that German drivers are totally crazy! The streets are too narrow, everyone drives too fast and no one has patience. So you seem to be right. You can experience an increase if you try to drive a car in Sicily. That's crazy !!!!!

No wonder all German drivers are stressed - they want to drive fast, but can't.. ("NUR IDIOTEN AUF DER STRASSE HEUTE!") 😜
The honk was on point.

It may be illegal to maintenance your Car, but many germans do it, because the costs of a professional Service are very high and not everyone can afford it. Especially young drivers with older cars maintain their own cars at home. My best friends Father restored a old Opel Kadett B Rallye at home and nothing happened and he wasn't put in charge by law.

In German for everyone who's interested: Es mag zwar sein, dass es illegal ist sein Auto zu Hause zu reparieren, aber viele besitzen oft nicht das Geld, um ihr Auto in einer professionellen Werkstatt reparieren/warten zu lassen. Vor allem Jugendliche mit älteren Autos reparieren oft ihre Autos selbst. Der Vater von meinem besten Freund hat selbst bei sich zu Hause einen Opel Kadett B Rallye restauriert und hat keine Probleme mit dem Gesetz bekommen.

Hi, since there are to many comments to read them all i´ll just add another even if this is not news to you 😛
To get the full "Autobahn no speedlimit experience" i would recommend to drive at a Sunday because that´s when there are no Trucks blocking the road. It is a "weekly holyday" and therefore its not allowed to work unless you have a exception which is rare. As a track i suggest a nice drive from Dortmund to Kassel or vice versa on the A44, it goes almost all the way in a straight line with no limits attached to it. The only downside to it is that it has only 2 traces on each side. But be carefull of "Sonntagsfahrer" which means people who are really bad at driving and seam to only drive on sundays 🙂

Major mistake: You can do ANY maintenance on your vehicle by yourself (except working on the A/C). The "Garagenverordnung" basically states that you cannot do work on your car beyond "menial tasks" not because you are forbidden to do it by yourself, but because private garages are a banned place to do such work (because it basically counts as parking space only). So it is not you working on your car that is an issue (because that is allowed in total), but working on it within the boundaries of a place that is defined by law as a garage, i.e. a special parking spot.

Fun fact:
U.S. Bikers kill themself 10 times as often per mile/km compared to the best nation...

"Strickly following the rules to the teeth" ... haha, then you are the only ones doing this. Almost no one cares anymore because no one enforces the law. You can basically do whatever you want and it shows.

Germany is just one great big traffic jam.

try the A9 at night ;)

Those people propossing a speedlimit will face reality, such a stupid thing will never happen. Those studies are fake, you sing the song of that who pays you, in reality, nobody wants that. You can do in your garage what you wanna do, just dont piss anybody off.

Not beeing able to do your own repairs is not a german thing. It´s more because modern cars simply need so specialized tools, nobody can afford. And frankly I´ve never heard, that it is forbidden to do your own maintenance. Sometime you shouldn´t so it due to warranty reasons. But nobody stops you doing an Oilchange or a tire rotation. I do this on our 2 year old camper van...

Well, Just go north from Schwartzwald (I assume from your Black Forrest logo) to Denmark. Things are a bit mor regulated on the maintenance side. All cars, regardless of age or mileage, has to go through periodic test every 2 years from the age of 4. No exeptions to that rule. An American car like you see in American car clubs and hot rods and all that are considered power cars, so they also have to follow the rule. The only exeption to this is cars as old as the Ford A or T which can't even go beyond 100 click's an hour. In addition to that, any vehicle like a taxi or a company van or any other CDL type will have to be tested every single year. And for them, there is no exempt at all. Not even for socalled veteran vehicles. And every time you go to get your vehicle tested, it is also tested for it's environmental impact.
If any fault is found on it, even a busted light, you have to show up for a new test within a month at the very latest, or the vehicle is banned from driving on the public streets. The car doesn't have to look smart to pass. It can look as if it's falling apart from rust and age, but if everything works and there is no rust in any important parts, it's still ok. Oh. And don't go to get it tested if you have a crack or stone chip in your front window. It will automatically flunk the test at once. The front window in cars is actually part of the overall structural strength of the car, so a flaw in it will mean that the car is not suitable for the road from a safety perspective. Which means that you can only drive from the test site to a repair shop until it is fixed. You can't even drive it normally for, say, 3 days, and then hand it in for repair. It is straight to the repair shop or you loose the plates.
Maintenance like changing windscreen wipers and light bulps and such is like in Germany. But in addition, you can legally change the spark plugs or the air filter yourself at home. You can also do minor brake work and change the generator or a gasket on the engine or change the whole engine with a new one at home, but for insurance purposes, you need to have an education as a mechanic if you do that. And you need to comply with environmental regulations if you do.
Washing your car at home is legal here. Mostly because there are very strict regulations on the washing compounds that will ensure that if they get into nature, they won't be harmful to plants or animals of any kind. And also because people here usually use a bucket of soapfilled water when at home and only uses a hose to rinse the car free of soap, which is more water saving than using a wash area at a gas station where you use a ton of water at every step of the washing.
So, in some respects, things are more regulated here, and in others they are more lax, but the latter only if it complies with a number of regulations. Major work on an engine or brakes or any other safety related part still has to be done by an authorized repair shop under warranty conditions.

It`s so cute, to see all this through your eyes :) Thank you so much for this mirror, love and a broad smile from here 😉

Covid Mask are now required in the car

I am very curious how it is to drive in the US. In November I am in Florida. 😊 and I will rent a Ford Mustang GT Convertible

Completely wrong trust me. The majority don’t want a speed limit. It’s political influenced.

From what I hear, driving in America is an informal conversation. Driving in Germany is more like dancing. Everybody is supposed to know which step when and where, and if not, awkward and confusion happens.

Regarding the "Garagenverordnung": This does NOT say that you can not do your own oil change. It's a construction code thing. The "Garagenverordnung" regulates what a garage is - says among other stuff that a building constructed as a garage (thus therefore with lowest building standards and simplified building permit) can not be used as a workshop. Garages can ONLY be used to park a car or a motorcycle - even storing your bicycle or lawnmower in a garage is not permitted. But - nobody cares! Everybody uses a garage to store stuff in it, many people don't even know that it is not allowed. And this law is not really enforced anyways.
So: many work on their car - many in their garage. It is totally legal to work on your car and NOBODY will ask WHERE you did it or even if you have the skills. Only if it's done right - next TÜV will be the judge (or if the execution of the work was obviously poor the next best police patrol.)

So this is a building code issue, not a car-related issue. It is totally normal for many people to work on their cars and there is no law against that.

More ppl want a speedlimit is propaganda!

Years ago, when I lived in Germany, cars were sold with first aid kits. They had to come with the cars. not the drivers. Back then the autobahn had no speed limits, but when I went back, much of the autobahn had speed limits, but people still think there aren't speed limits there. Several American states didn't speed limits on the big highways, but were pressured to post speed limits now, that are not enforced.

You don't lost your car, you loose your driving licence, if you break the rules. at first you must pay a fee,afterwards you get points in Flensburg, then you loose your licence.

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???

No right to repair on your car in Germany is some neo liberal capitalist B.S. Also, the inspections is primarily to boost the economy.

I love the fact that Germany has sections of Autobahn where there is a minimum speed. Usually 70 km/h (43.5 mph)

That thing about not being allowed to work on your car yourself is generally not true!
I never even heard of that before...
If you do everything correctly its fine, if anything isn't done properly you may have to redo it after failing at TÜV (/Dekra/..) but you absolutely can do it yourself.
Aftermarket parts is another thing. Some are classified by the manufacturer and can be built in without any further inspection, some have to get checked by TÜV and are then written on the papers of your vehicle, some are strictly prohibited

Wow germany so relaxed, tuv only once in 2 years and after first 3 years... here its every year after first 2 years.

Regarding the car maintenance in your own garage or forecourt in Germany: NOBODY CARES, we all do it if we can& have the tools

Sadly driving in Germany is seen by most as a daily competition and the car is your investment in it to be faster than the others (and now with all the SUVs also "safer than the others" - the latter happens in the US now too - bigger bigger bigger to be "safer" as the other cars get bigger too).

At assessment centers for managerial / management position recruiting a car drive used to be part of it "to show whether you can push your will to succeed" and "to be persuasive to others" to win minutes in traffic and appearing dominant. If you were a friendly driver not part pushing for your right and power you would be seen as too weak for the position.

And that never changed. Driving - especially on the Autobahn - is a daily war in Germany or at least a fierceful competition. As soon as you leave Germany to Belgium or France suddenly driving is no stress anymore.

I always hated that part of Germany but sadly it seems the Germans want it like that.

I really do not understand why any US citizen would subject themselves to living under a total lack of freedom as these two have. She's from Illinois which is a non freedom state because of Chicago and he may be Caniadian detected by the long O.

Hallo Ihr Lieben........ : ))) Ich war 1976 in den USA und was mich damals wirklich geschockt hat ist die Fettleibigkeit der Amerikaner und hier ganz besonder die der Frauen. Als ich wieder in Deutschland war und man mich fragte wie es denn war in den USA habe ich allen erzählen müssen......: Ich habe noch nie so viele dicke Frauen gesehen wie in den USA.......!!!!!!!!!!!

It was not only a culture shock, but ended up in an accident when I first drove a car in the US.
My company send me to San Fransisco as a consultant and it started with the the flight being in the late afternoon from Germany. So I ended up with terrible jet lag in SF because for my inner clock it was already in the middle of the night. So I picked up a rental car at the airport and started my trip to Sacramento. I felt a little tiered so I planned to take a short nap after leaving the city, expecting to find some parking lot aside the highway (as it is common in Germany).

As you might already know, to no avail.

So I thought to myself: Just get to the next exit, leave the highway and head for the next little town.
Suddenly, just before the next exit there was car in front which was literally in a walking pace on the highway!
My reaction time was already to slow to stop, so I crushed into it with around 60mph.

Nobody was seriously injured. But it was a formative experience.

It is not only about Germany, the most of the rules are the same in the whole EU. Only in other countries it is not allowed to drive unlimited speed, but other rules are mostly the same.
And no, polls are not correct, Germans want no limit on their motorways where possible, they dont like this what is green communism doing today in general with Germany, not only car industry

AFAIK, Germany (and EU in general) does not have 4-way stops... no wonder Germans got confused when you did not follow normal traffic rules.

Yep....rarely can one drive more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time at a speed above 140km/h. STAU, STAU, STAU.....!!!. Avoided a couple just yesterday.

"Tagesschau " really? Keine seriöse Quelle Leute 😂. Alles was von den öffentlich rechtlichen Sendern ( Staatssendern) kommt ,kann man davon ausgehen das es gefaket ist 😅

I am a German. There is no law here that prohibits you from repairing a car yourself in your garage as long as you don't pollute the environment. You can do with your car whatever you want. Only for conversions that are not part of the specification do you have to go to the TÜV to have them approved; e.g. B. if the performance changes.

As with the TUV examine in the UK an equivalent MOT test is required after three years but retests are then performed every 12 months. There are no rules about who is allowed the service a car or car washing.

I liked the video!

I have two aspects I was surprised to not see covered in this video:
- Driving on roundabouts: which is quite rare in North America, but commonplace in Europe;
- Only changing to the left lane when you are passing / overtaking another car, and always return to the far right lane (slow lane) afterwards;

Moreover, I think you should withhold the conclusion to the end of the video, instead of mentioning it several times: the focus on safety and the privilege vs. right.

Regardless, overall I liked the video 😀

To me it is a shock that Americans do not:
- Have to take their cars to a regular (once a year) inspection, and can drive whatever they want down the public road;
- Have to take a full driving test, both theoretical and practical, in order to get a full driving license - compounded by the fact that they can drive when they are 16 years-old.
I see it as just bad decisions.
Moreover, the more relaxed approach to driving, coupled with the sheer amount of traffic lights and huge cars but especially trucks, make for a quite dangerous experience when driving in North America - which is not the case in Germany, and Europe in general, despite our narrower roads, quick cars, and high speed limits.

Cheers!

Yeah just came back from the US. Spend 4 weeks for work over there and man am i glad to be back in Europe!. Things are getting really crazy in the US imo.

I might have missed it but did you mentioned that an insurance is mandatory and that there is no type of underinsurance in the most ways ? The "Haftpflichtversicherung" which is some kind of basic insurance with no cover of your own damages, covers 7,5 Million € on damage to persons and 1,2 Million € on damage to property. You do not get a car registered without insurance and such no licence plate.