Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - autobahn in the US

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I’ve driven on a lot of roads in a lot of countries and the one thing I can generalize about is that you can’t generalize about anything. There are horrible, inept, inconsiderate, dangerous, selfish, overly fast and overly slow drivers in every country and on every road, and then there are skilled, courteous, and attentive drivers right behind them (way behind, most of the time.) The thing is, that most people, Euros and non-Euros alike, have only the dimmest idea as to how much carnage their iron ponies can create, for themselves and others, and unfortunately the “learn from your mistakes” approach has a high personal cost in most cases. And it’s a public health issue, no matter how much people want to go on about their “rights” and think of their cars like the Lone Ranger thought about Silver (Hi Yo, Toyota! Away!) Your freedom to feel the surge of adrenalin and roar up the Autostrada or I-15 (near Butte, boy, that’s a place made for 100 mph) ends at my bumper, maybe even my rear-view mirror if you’re flashing me with those damn Xenon bulbs and causing retinal damage. Yeah, you may crunch that M3 and have a bad day for the rest of your life, but how about those of us who hit the ditch/verge to avoid your ass or pay the taxes for the rescue teams? Or who pay higher insurance bills because you want an infantile rush every time you lane-hop on the Santa Monica Freeway or the M25? (Or you, Pappy, in that Mercury Marquis going 30 mph on I-95 south of Jacksonville? Still able to pass the eye test, huh?) Approve autobahn speeds in the US? Hell, no. Make getting a driving license as hard as getting a secondary school diploma? At least. Maybe this could be taken up by the European Parliament, too, since they seem pretty comfy about regulating everything else well into the ozone.

John, I respectfully disagree with you about not being able to generalize about drivers. While I've only driven in France (Provence), I can assure you that I've NEVER seen people hog the passing lane on the autoroutes there like they do on freeways in the U.S. (or, specifically the Seattle area where I live.)

Capo, I have, in Provence and even in Italy, where one would assume they wouldn't live long enough to be observed by overseas visitors. And I generalize, too, especially when it comes to our fellow Washington state drivers, or worse, our Oregonian neighbors, for whom the idea of turn signals is a communist plot. Or Portuguese drivers, who should have been the subject of Freud's PhD dissertation. But those generalities are actual fact, of course, not just one traveler's opinion...

In Germany, drivers are taught during their driver's ed that you cannot pass a car on the right and they can be fined for doing so. The US does not have this law and it will take at least a generation to change. In Texas we have signs saying "Slower drivers keep right" and sometimes it works.

I am german and Ican tell you that in germany you can get punished if you block the left lane by low. There is even police on the autobahn controling that.

Here's the mother of all roads regulations: "Travelling in India is an almost hallucinatory potion of sound, spectacle and experience. It is frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable - and, when you are on the roads, extremely dangerous. Most Indian road users observe a version of the Highway Code based on an ancient text. These 12 rules of the Indian road are published for the first time in English. ARTICLE I The assumption of immortality is required of all road users. ARTICLE II The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to: cows, elephants, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, camels, light trucks, buffalo, Jeeps, ox-carts, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, pigs, pedal rickshaws, goats, bicycles (goods- carrying), handcarts, bicycles (passenger-carrying), dogs, pedestrians. ARTICLE III All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Indian drivers' mantra. ARTICLE IV Use of horn (also known as the sonic fender or aural amulet): Cars (IV,1,a-c): Short blasts (urgent) indicate supremacy, ie in clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path. Long blasts (desperate) denote supplication, ie to oncoming truck, "I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die". In extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights (frantic). Single blast (casual) means "I have seen someone out of India's 870 million whom I recognize", "There is a bird in the road (which at this speed could go through my windscreen)" or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes." Trucks and buses (IV,2,a): All horn signals have the same meaning, viz, "I have an all-up weight of approximately 12.5 tons and have no intention of stopping, even if I could." This signal may be emphasized by the use of headlamps (insouciant). Article IV remains subject to the provision of Order of Precedence in Article II above ARTICLE V All manoeuvres, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment. ARTICLE VI In the absence of seat belts (which there is), car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These should be kept fastened at all times. ARTICLE VII Rights of way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So has traffic from the right, and also traffic in the middle. Lane discipline (VII,1): All Indian traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road. ARTICLE VIII Roundabouts: India has no roundabouts. Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression should be ignored. ARTICLE IX Overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake every other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken you. Overtaking should only be undertaken in suitable conditions, such as in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in the middle of villages/city centres. No more than two inches should be allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing - and one inch in the case of bicycles or pedestrians. ARTICLE X Nirvana may be obtained through the head-on crash. ARTICLE XI Reversing: no longer applicable since no vehicle in India has reverse gear. ARTICLE XII The 10th incarnation of God was as an articulated tanker."

Another common thing that one encounters here in the USA with drivers is this one: you're driving along on a road at the speed limit and a car suddenly pulls out into your lane from the right out of a driveway or business and he/she pulls out right in front of you so you have to put on the brakes to avoid hitting them. 100% of the time when that happens I look in my rear view mirror right afterwards and sure enough, there are *no cars* behind me as far as I can see. So this idiot pulls right out in front of me and makes me almost hit him and behind me the road is totally clear. But could he wait 10 seconds for me to pass his location before he pulls out and almost causes an accident? Nah. That's drivers in the USA.