I just want to add that its not only Germany, in entire Europe union rules and signs are basically the same, so this aplies almost to all counties in EU on every thing she said.
true, with one exception: The traffic signs in the Republic of Ireland follow the US Standard for the most part (e.g. warning signs are yellow diamonds rather than red triangles like in the rest of Europe)
I think it is even a worldwide standardization (with exceptions). Traffic signs around the world are based on very similar pictograms, shapes and colors rather than written (English) words.
@@arthur_p_dentIreland kind of makes sense... They probably have a *lot* of American tourists, and expecting European drivers to adapt to local rules and signs is more likely to go well then expecting these Americans to...
Basically all road rules following TEN-T rules. And that have nothing to do with EU but is a system that was first worked on in the late 1940s. It started implementation in 1960 is about 90% implemented now and supose to be done to 2035. Its not only about road sign, but also road markings and how speed is set on a road.
I'm from Belgium, and most people here only have one or two cars per household. When I heard you saying that you had 8 cars, I was like "what do you need that many cars for?"
This is mostly about taxes. That’s the thing that makes it expensive for you as a Belgian. For an American having 8 cars doesn’t really cost more then having 1 car at the time, because you don’t drive more. Then also Americans think you need a pickup for things like towing or “going to brico”
@@humanistje79 insurance for 8 car will add up fast... pickup are more diverse than car. it's much easier to overload a car or find a dirt road (campground) a car can't go down. Trucks usually drive better and safer on the highway (at speed), especially with a load (mostly from the weight - they just don't get pushed around)... This is coming from a person that rather have a mid-size car or compact crossovers.
I think not having a car at all even if you have the money for it, is a lot more common here than in the US. I'm speaking for myself who's single and live in the suburbs/city or my brother who has a wife and two kids. Though my brother now have a company car, he didn't had one with his prior company but did all the occasional driving with a renting car.
German traffic signs (like all over Europe and predominant worldwide) follow the Vienna UN Convention on Road Signs and Signals of 1968. All the signs have pictogramms rather than text, thus are easy to understand independent from languages.
After I finished school I worked at a german gas station for a few months. ONE guy once forgot to pay and drove off. He came back about an hour later and apologized for being preoccupied before. Then he bought a chocolate bar and gave it to me as a present for the extra work I had. 🙂
cars towing mobile homes / caravans is actually really common in Europe in general. (and has been for decades) My family did that every summer for years, and we went to the south of France, north Spain or Italy each year (from the Netherlands). Always a long drive and the we stopped at camping for a few weeks (near the sea). It's what we did, and with us millions others, for our summer vacation.
You could tell which families had a caravan as they usually had heavier and larger engined cars as a daily driver, just because it would tow the caravan during holidays. Though there are also smaller caravans which can be pulled by a small car, but they will struggle uphill.
Theres a Finnish sketch show bit from the mid 1990s where a person with a heavy Tampere-accent is complaining about people blocking the roads by towing huge caravans with "their underpowered Taunuses" lol
Same here, my parents used to have a Mazda 626 for towing the caravan. It is also very common to see a Golf size car towing small trailers, is this a thing outside (western) Europe?
I suspect the cost of owning and running vehicles in the US is a lot cheaper , I think I have read somewhere Europe car registration cost is indexed to engine size or something ? someone please correct me if I’m wrong , I suspect fuel also is probably pricier than in the US , not to mention looking at parts of Europe , some of their roads are just no built for gigantic pick ups , and even parking space is limited , again some one correct me if I’m wrong..
one thing that she didn't mention about Pfand (the bottles with deposit) that i'd like to add: it's not just practical for yourself but essential to homeless people as well. if you're going out, carry something to drink with you, but then dont feel like taking an empty bottle home with you, then it's common courtesy to place it underneath or beside a trashcan. so when a homeless person comes by, they dont have to rummage through trash to look for Pfand, which they normally do. they rely heavily on collecting these bottles and i cant imagine how tough it would be without Pfand even existing.
I would say collecting bottles was my first summer job. I got around 20-30€ per day doing that as a teen and I was "working" maybe 1-2h per day. It was a lot of money for a 13 year old. :)
A few days ago I saw two dudes collecting the bottles, and they had a key to open the bins, one guy grabbed, the other organized the bags, they had a whole system. I've seen less efficient work from people supposedly highly trained for their jobs... Left the bins neat and tidy, too... More power to 'em.
When I start living in Germany 10 months ago I was wandering what ppl looking for in trash cans and they didn't looked like homeless ppl, normal dressed ppl. But after some time I found out for the pfand thing. This is a good way to make ppl to bring back the plastic and metal bottles, to be feir I was used to just drop in regular trash the bottles because in my country we don't have pfand system but we have seperate containers for plastic bottles but nobody use them.
The sad fact about this is that people nowadays expect you to collect Pfand bottles if you don't have the money to afford everyday life... what's true for a lot of retired people
The triangle and vest is a legal requirement in most of EU member countries (I believe this includes Germany). In the Czech Republic, if the police stops you they might randomly ask you to show them your the safety kit (Triangle, vest, Medkit), if you don't have it or it's expired (the Medkit) you can get a pretty large fine.
In Sweden we are only requiered to have the triangle and that's it, we have no demand on us to have first aid kit or a reflective vest at all. But most people least in the southern bits would have a vest just to be safe. Northern Sweden is a difirent cookie all together. I myself don't have a vest but my winter jacket is reflective in of it self and i'm 2 meters / 6'5 and a half tall so i'm seen alright. I just resently at least got myself a band aid pack in my car cus it feels nice to have them there with my boy scout background.
Same in Greece. And in winter you can also get fined if they find you don't have a set of chains in the car (even when it's not snowing - which is true for 99% of the winter period).
In Germany it is required by law to have a first aid kit, a reflector triangle as well as a vest for each person in the car. In a traffic control stop you have to show that to the police. Also many young folk esp. in big cities dont have any car at all. Most households have 2 cars max
Also you have to change first aid kit every 5 years(it has an expiration date), which i think is kinda lame. Imagine the waste being created by all those unused kits (i have like 5 of them in my home).
@@JuanMartinez-vf5hd lol yes it is so importent with new boxes ( i use the old in my home they are fine) what is in that box that is usefull, unless you want mickey mouse on you wound when a tick bites you. if you are afraid to kiss dying people it often have a rubber thing for that ofcourse.. but please tell me what can not be replaces by clothing or a paper towel..
In Germany you have to have the triangle on board, otherwise you get a ticket. Same with the warning vest, where you should have one vest for each passenger. And bare in mind, if you think you drive really fast on the Autobahn (AB), like 250km/h (155mp/h), there is always someone faster than you. Always check you're mirrors. Even a VW Polo (smaller than a Golf) can tow trailers (w/ brakes) up to 1200kg. Most sedans, station wagons or SUV could tow 1400 to 2200kg. Most households have two cars, even there is only one earner. Mostly one sedan or station wagon and one small car, like a VW Polo or someting other with this size. Speeds are in town/city 50km/h, in special signed residential or shool areas it's 30km/h. On countra roads mostly 100km/h or 70-80km/h at intersections. Only exceptions from the 50 or 100km/h are posted with signs. Especially on the AB, if you see no posted speed limit past the on-ramp, there is always no speed limit. The driving license is about 2500€, if you take only the necessary hours and pass on the first try. If you need more hours and the driving school has high prices (like in big citys), then it can easyly climb to 3500€ and more. Also, in the first 2 years (trial period) , you're not allowed to drive drunk or get a ticket for speeding or other things over 70€. Then you have to go to a driving school for a retraining (Aufbauseminar) for 200-500€ and your trial period get extended to 4 years. If you have 2 serious violations, like speeding over 21km/h, taking right of way, insufficient safety distance and so on, you have to go to a traffic psychological counseling (MPU). There they look and decide, if you are mentaly and physicaly fit to drive (another 500€). With 3 serious violations your driving license is gone. After 6 months, you're allowed to attend to driving school from the beginnig. But the control density of traffic is much lower, than in the US. Deposit for one-way beverage packaging, like plastic bottles and cans is 25ct. Since introduction in 2005, you see these almost nowere in the environment. At gas stations you are mostly pump first and pay after. Some are not with a shop and you can only pay by card (bank card/credit card), there they block maybe 100€ on your card and you pump what you need and they charge only what you've taken. Single use plastic bags now only allowed for vegetables and fruits in shops or at makets (Wochenmarkt).
Just wanted to add. you're not allowed to drive drunk in germany anyway! BUT...since We germans love our Feierabend Bier...(After work beer) Our Law says its okay if you drive with a blood alcohol level of 0,4 -0,5 which is usually the equivalent to 1-2 beers here in germany.
the tow hitch on "regular" cars isnt just useful for towing - you can also use it to hitch a bike rack to your car ect. its super useful and really opens up a world of possibilities
yeah canadians and americans are totally retarded about cars.. i was shocked when i lived in north american the first time and went to tow things and realized i didnt have a tow ball on my car!!! and when i went to get one it was a big saga. i remember also americans didnt have a good understanding of towing power and what can and cant tow an object. they also seem to have a poor understanding of the actual power of the vehicles that have compared to northern europeans or australians.
@@niklas422 wrong, their tongue weight is much higher and bike racks for US trailer hitches are better than in Europe But the US trailers without handbrake and front wheel (nose wheel) are not practicable.
@@gasauto1675 sure, you are probably right, but it is still fact that the percentage of bicycle riders in the us is much, much lover than in Europe (or Germany).
What she means is that there are default tempo limits. So for example when you drive into a city there is a tempo limit of 50km/h if not stated otherwise. There are exceptions (like speedways in major cities). But in general there are rules for default speed limits. So you can drive into a small city and leave it without seeing any speed limit sign as you know that the speed limit is 50. In us, from what I understood, there would be a speed limit sign
That is absolutely correct. The same is basically true for most European countries, only the default limits differ. If you come visit, make sure to be informed about the local default limits. When you cross a border in a car, there is usually a big sign stating the limits of the country you just entered. As a general rule of thumb, most countries have a limit of around 120kmph on motorways (always recognisable by a special sign on every approach, and usually the general signage has a different colour on motorways - in Germany, for instance, direction signs are usually yellow with black text, but blue with white text on the Autobahn), 100kmph outside city proper, and 50kmph inside, all if not clearly stated otherwise. Germany is the exception, with a recommended speed of 130kmph on motorways (Autobahn and some similar roads, it‘s a bit complicated to explain). Also, it is very clear when you legally enter or exit a town, as they are indicated by distinct signs with the town name - from personal experience that is at least true for Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Ireland and Italy (as I have driven in those countries myself). In the US, it‘s often quite unclear when you really enter or leave city proper, as many town are much larger than the actual built up area. But there are additional speed rules. For instance, the max speed for trucks is 80kmph. Cars pulling any trailer are also restricted to either 80 or 100kmph, depending on the trailer. Vehicles that want to enter the Autobahn must be built to reach at least a max speed of 60kmph and any non-motorised vehicles are banned (as is parking, turning, driving backwards and walking). Yes, it‘s a bit complicated. But that is why it is required to have a kinda extensive „driving school“ (yes, it‘s literally called Fahrschule), with a certain minimum of required practical and theoretical lessons and a practical and theoretical test supervised by a certified official. Also, you must provide a certification of a first aid course and an eye exam (it is possible that the requirement to wear glasses is included in your licence, according to said test). Total cost is about 2000 Euros. Edit: Also, different types of vehicles have different classes of licences, which have to be attained by separate driving lessons, practical and theoretical, including separate tests. The licence classes of licences (I believe it‘s the same for all EU countries) are (I leave out a few obscure classes like B96): Cars - B and BE (trailers over 750kg permissible max weight or over 3.5t PMW of the whole system). Motorbikes, trikes and Quads: A1 (bikes under 125 cubic centimetres displacement), A2 (bikes up to 35kW power), A (all bikes and trikes), AM (light bikes, trikes and quads with max speeds up to 45 kmph), and for Quads there is a restriction for classes A1 and A, which are (or at least, were) included in class B. Trucks: C1 (motor vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tons - a few extras, but generally true), C1E (C1 with trailer), C (all trucks) and CE (trucks with trailer). And Busses: D1 (vehicles of more than 8m in length, built to transport no more than 16 people, including a trailer of less than 750kg PMW), D1E (adding heavier trailers to D1), D (all vehicles built to transport more than 8 people, driver excluded) and DE (adding a trailer to class D). For tractors, there are two separate classes: L (generally tractors under 40kmph max speed) and T (up to 60kmph max speed) - L was included in class B, but I‘m not entirely sure if that‘s still the case. However, if you want to drive a bus (or, for that matter, a taxi) commercially, you require a separate permission to transport people (no test, but a medical and psychological evaluation, an eye exam and a hearing exam). Yes, it‘s complicated. And if you want to drive all available vehicles, including trailers, it would cost a absurd sum - some employers pay for the appropriate licence, though, when they want to hire you as truck or bus driver, with a clause of termination if you fail the test. As for the warning triangles: They are mandatory. There is a set of things every car MUST carry at all times: A warning triangle, safety vests (at least one for the driver, but better enough for all passengers), a valid first aid kit (sterile, and as sterile bandages expire, you have to make sure to replace the kit), and either a tire repair kit or a spare tire. Additionally, every motor vehicle must pass a regular safety check by a certified engineer, there are minimum profile requirements for tires and it‘s mandatory to have appropriate tires for the road condition (meaning: there are winter tires, and driving on summer tires in the snow will result in a hefty fine). Furthermore, you must provide proof of insurance when you register your vehicle, and therefore you don‘t need to carry your proof of insurance with you - your state issued registration card is proof of insurance, and if your insurance cancels your contract the registration will be revoked which results in fines and decommissioning (for lack of a better word) of your vehicle by police when they run your plate. Generally, driving is quite safe in Europe (especially Central Europe), and I personally find driving in Austria and Switzerland downright relaxing.
@@gi0nbecell Not to be that nitpicking guy, because most of what you said is accurate, but speed limit for trucks is generally 90 kph and unlike in the US, they are electronically limited to that speed, so they can't possibly go any faster. Sorry to correct you on that.
@@jacobhaagerup7816 Nope. I’m talking German law. The Traffic Code (StVO) states: Outside city proper, trucks up to 3.5t (and other vehicles with less than 3.5t permissible maximum weight, PMW) are restricted to 100kmph (though I was talking about what Brits call „lorry“, or „semi“ for Americans, so that doesn‘t count; §3 (3) Ziffer 2 c. StVO). Trucks between 3.5 and 7.5t or trucks under 3.5t and a trailer (always permissible maximum weight) are restricted to 80kmph (§3 (3) Ziffer 2 a.; this includes aa), motor vehicles over 3.5t and under 7.5t PMW, personal vehicles (cars, for simplification - Personenkraftwagen) excluded, bb) personal vehicles with a trailer, cc) semi trucks and camper vans up to 3.5t PMW with trailer and dd) busses, including those with luggage trailers). Trucks over 3.5t with trailer or trucks over 7.5t permissible max weight are restricted to 60kmph (or, exactly: §3 (3) Ziffer 2 b. aa) motor vehicles over 7.5t PMW, bb) all motorised vehicles with a trailer, excluding personal vehicles (cars), semis and camper vans up to 3.5t PMW, and cc) busses with passengers who don‘t have a seat.). Edit: Yes, I looked up the latest version of the traffic code, which is the following: Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (StVO), Verordnung vom 06.03.2013 (legal ordinance as of 6th of March, 2013 (BGBl. I S. 367)), in Kraft getreten am 01.04.2013 (in effect by the 1st of April 2013), zuletzt geändert durch Gesetz vom 12.07.2021 (BGBl. I S. 3091) m.W.v. 28.07.2021 (latest change via legislation 12th of July, 2021, effektive by the 28th of July 2021).
A German family has a Kombi. Maybe two. That Kombi: -commutes -goes fast -goes on vacations -gets groceries -gets building supplies -gets furniture -has big trunk -has roof rails -has towing hitch -much more...
About the gas station theory of running away without paying. We have cameras which take note of your license plate in every gas station and you will be fined if caught. My boss actually got caught recently (he was in a call during the process and simply forgot), it was not long until we received a call from the authorities and paid immediatly :D edit: I'm not aware if there was a penalty included.
The pump actually only unlocks when the cameras have successfully recognized the license plate. In the Netherlands it is mandatory to have the monitors visible to the public and it's really cool to see it in action. If the system fails, for example when you drive a big USA truck the staff will get a warning and have to manually activate the pump. This will be the register next to the window.
I work at a gas station (in Austria) and I can confirm, most people just forget or think they payed with card and then pushed the wrong button or things like that. I've been to the police a couple of times and I honestly feel bad every time, because most of the time you can clearly see the people trying to pay with card on the video and I really wish we wouldn't have to file a criminal complaint every time, can't be fun for the people to get a call from the police.
Well it kind of depends where one live. I live in a big town/small city 0-2 cars is the norm here, very few have more. In the village I was born just outside a small town 0 cars is a bit rare, 1-3 is normal an more than that isn't rare.
@@cynic7049 Yea.. where i live most people have 3 cars. Typically 1 "wife car" one work car (often a pickup or a some other type of light truck) and one "husband car". Even people who don´t have a company, they often have a leisure car or veteran car. My neighbor have a rally car, don´t know if that counts. Veteran cars is also very common because they are tax free, and insurance is really low (if its a cheap veteran car). So like Volvo 740 from the late 80 and early 90 is really common as 3rd car. There is a distance drive limitation, but a part from that they can be used how ever you like. Using a moped car as a 3rd car is also fairly common becasue they are also tax free, and with a top speed of 45 km/h, if you live in a village not to far from town, the difference in driving is just a few minutes. The added benefit of moped car is of cause that the children can use it from 15
I am from the Netherlands. To have a American v8 pickup truck it's simple to expensive to drive for a normal family. Except when you have your one construction company then you get discount for road tax than you run the truck on LPG its more or less double. We have high monthly road tax what goes for weight, gasoline cost 2euro a 1liter. That's why we like small economic cars
as a german: (in my region) it is completely and utterly insane to have more than a car per person. there might be cases where you have to drive a big family on one day and a long distance alone on the other, but thats about it. and people will give you weird looks in any case.
yeah it is basically a huge waste of money to have more than one car per person that you could use for so much great things, like a vacation or something. I don´t even own a car. If I need one I borrow one of a family member, but that is it. I mostly walk, sometimes I use the bike, but mostly I use the train. I like our trains.
I'm guessing the exception to this would be if someone owned a classic car, project car or similar, but never more than 1 daily per person. Similar thing here in Ireland, generally 1 car per person.
There's also the question of where do you keep multiple cars? Unless you have land, there's simply not the space. Older houses don't even have garages or off-street parking.
I don't know how it is in the rest of Europe, but in Denmark we pay a yearly tax based on the tonnage of the car, so you'll have to be well-off to have more than 1 per adult, since you'll pay the tax for every single car you own.
What she says about the safety rules does not only apply to Germany, But is the same for actually all of Western Europe This is how we learned it during our driving lessons and the driving license exam
You are right. I think its an European thing now. Peopel learn more by Our driving licenses. they are too exoensive but avoid many things as well. no answer needed. I just wanted to confirm You.
Safety vests and a first aid kit aren't mandatory in the Netherlands though, only the triangle is. And we don't need to take a first aid course either.
I think a big part of the point about not really needing the speed limit signs also comes down to German (and even more so, Dutch) roads being _designed_ to reflect the speed you should be driving at. North American roads, on the other hand, barely have any relation between the design of the road and the intended speed limit; roads that look and feel very similar may have _very_ different speed limits.
And besides designed for a certain speed, they're also standardised, so a certain type of street has a certain speed. Everywhere. Always. (Unless there's a sign telling you different.) You know what type of street you're on, so you automatically know the speed limit.
Czech Republic here: more than one car per household is becoming not rare but it is still by no means "normal" as in "most people do". The most frequent situation is one car for a family and that car is then used for whatever needs to be done. From one person going to work and back to the whole family going to a week long vacation abroad (Croatia most likely for Czechs). So then you get to see sedans and hatchbacks towing trailers at the local DIY store or carrying half a tone of cement bags on the folded rear seats because the owner is renovating a part of their house and why would you buy or rent a special extra car just for that, waste of money. Admitedly we are one of the more DIY nations and hiring a contractor just to rebuild my bathroom or kitchen is only slowly getting normal. Most of us still see this as "real men can learn how to do their own plumbing and electrical instalations". So that increases the number of cases where people just do what they need to do with the car they have. At a local Hornbach (large DIY chain) I once saw a 20 years old Skoda Felicia (a car worth maybe 500 USD) parked next to a Porsche Panamera and both drivers stuffing their cars with building supplies.
This is exactly my Czech experience. Villages have more cars per person than cities but I know maybe one family with more than three cars. Cars are expensive to own so unless you are a collector...
And in Czech you must have triangle and vest in car too. It’s mandatory equipment for car, I think it is in all European countries, but in some countries you must have vest for everyone in car.
@@Buxin135 Correct, the triangle, medkit and vest are mandatory equipment. I know Austria requires a vest for every person in the car. Here I am not sure if one or two is the legal minimum, I just have one per seat stored in the door compartments, they are very cheap so why not.
Depending on the family, normally 1-2 cars. Parking is also a problem in the EU in most urban heavily populated cities, its normally quite expensive. Also insurance doubled in the last 2-3 years.
1-2 is pretty accurate but I feel like suburban families in Denmark at least, have moved towards 2 cars rather than 1, which used to be the norm a couple of decades ago. I guess people make more money now and cars are actually cheaper. Now, I have 4, so I guess that makes me abnormal...
if you want to have multiple cars operational its not just the insurance, but also (at least in Germany) tax for each one plus the mandatory safety checkups (and ofc occasional repairs to pass it) every two years. Also parking space in denly populated areas tends to be expensive aswell. There are some people collecting cars or having a summer car tho, which (atleast in germany) can get different plates which will only allow usage in a predefined season or even switchable plates, which allow you to get one plate for two vehicles and you have to switch it to the one youre currently using (youre only allowed to use one vehicle at a time then obv). So having ready to use cars you dont really drive frequently is burning a lot of money over here. There are Families with more that two cars, but thats usually only common in rural areas where both parents aswell als one or multiple of their children have their own ones to get their daily business done (in rural regions parking space is less of an issue and public transportation is very limited there).
@@XerlashI live in Sweden in the countryside (almost), and is old, and have a number of different kind of vehicles, but only one car "in use", a BMW X3 30d 2011. The "problem" is that this car cost me 1000 euro/year (insurance, tax, yearly (14 month!) car check) even if I don't drive a kilometre, and this cost is quite a lot under the average of ownership. When thinking about towing, very few BMW X3 have been sold in Sweden without towing hitch. I think in Europe and especially in the Nordic countries very few are towing "things" with a weight over 1,600 kg, and that means a B class driving licence is enough. For an X3 that limit is actually at about 1,100 kg, so you normally need an "extension" in your driving license, 750 kg that gives a total of 4250 kg. By the way, does a driving license, class B (för cars/vehicles up to 3,500 kg total weight, in most European countries cost about 1,000-2,000 euro nowadays?
@@leiflillandt1488 at least in my reagion in GER (Ruhr Metropolis) everything under 2k for class b would be a dream. Its about 2.3 to 3k nowadays. For non europeans: Class b is just cars and little trailers up to 3.5 mt including load. No bikes, Busses etc.
First of all, love your video's, great to see these differences! 👍 About the maximum speed: There are (in many European countries) 3 default speeds: within a village/city (50 km/h), outside the village/city (80 or 100 km/h, depending on the country) and the highway (120 or 130 km/h). So when driving around, you indeed already know what speed is allowed. This helps anticipating and predictability. Same applies to the traffic signs: Using symbols in combination with shapes and coloring is safer, it's easier and faster to understand and from a greater distance. This is why the traffic signs are standardized in Europe. In the US (I have been driving there too) there does not seem to be one standard. Frequently there is a whole story written out, that you don't even have time for to fully read. This is confusing and thus less safe 🤷♂
Hi, Austria here, i would say that most of these things can be related to the most countries in Europe. Safety vests and triangles are a must to have with you at least here in austria. We had a Skoda Fabia ( yes, we have just one car, and we had no car for the last two years) and towed a lot of things with it. Very nice channel here btw, love your honest interest in europes culture and behavings, never stop being this open minded, servus!
Yeah, and it's not only campers. I sometimes tow our company work trailer (mobile IT office for events) with our small company Kombi. Not just Autobahn, but also the typical hilly roads to some "here be dragons" part of the map with a smallish village.
2 Carsten is about Anfrage but we got near to non Trucks here so towing with the car is normal and just makes more sense. A car can tow much so you dont need a truck to tow
It is not only more common to have the safety gear, it is mandatory in Germany. You HAVE to have a west for you (and I believe at least 1 or 2 spares). And the warning triangle is also mandatory.
Actually, only one warning vest per car is required by law in Germany. However, it is STRONGLY recommended to have as many as you have seats. When your car breaks down on the Autobahn, you want EVERYBODY in the car to wear one. On that note, place them where you can grab them BEFORE leaving the car - maybe below the seats or in the glove compartment. In an emergency situation at the Autobahn, you don't want to have to open the trunk and possibly search through several layers of load before you can retrieve them.
@@arthur_p_dent which is why I wrote "I believe" :) In my car, both front seats have pockets at their backs. That is where I have my vests. You can easily reach the pocket of the other seat respectively from your seat.
Just to clarify on the no sign speed limits, In EU it generally works like this - City road - you enter a city, the speed limit is 50, you have a sign that you have entered city so you do not need another sign to declare speed limit Country road - any road after the crossed out city name, a.k.a. Outside of city, the speed limit is 90 Highway - you always have a sign notifying you that you are entering a highway, on highway speed limits differ per country, but most often its 130 km/h These are the 3 main types of roads, and they have hard set limits in the law, so you dont need speed signs. Of course, we still have speed signs, but these almost exclusively declare a change in speed limit (for instance a dangerous section of a highway may have speed limit reduced to 110) These limits apply until there is another sign specifically cancelling this restriction, or an intersection. Any Intersection automatically cancels any speed limit set by a traffic sign, so if you pass an intersection and the limit is intended to be reduced still, immediately after the intersection there will be a sign re-instating the reduced speed limit. It’s simple really, I had no idea you had different standards in america to be honest.
i looked up the towing capacity for a 2014 VW Golf GTI on a american homepage and it stated 1000lbs - on a german site it's 3500lbs for trailers with brakes and 1500lbs for trailers without brakes - so it's all a regulation thing to protect the pickup-marked in the us
I belive its becuse in USA you need higer pressure on the tow hitch. In Europe its common to have 80-90kg and USA have i think 10-15%. If you follow that rule And i have 3 passengers (adult) in my car i can put 74 kg of cargo in car. If i follow the european rule i can put 144kg of cargo. And some cars that are alllowed to tow 3500kg here in europe cant tow that in usa becouse the cargo weight in car is not enough for passengers and trailer
@@fulf Yes, the U.S. requires a higher tongue weight (for a given trailer weight) than Europe and that then requires a beefier towing vehicle in America. In addition, an ‘automatic’ trailer brake that is actuated when the trailer pushes into the trailer hitch (as will happen when the towing vehicle brakes) is common/mandatory for certain ranges of trailers. I think these two aspects (tongue weight) and trailer brakes are feeding into each other. If the trailer itself can brake better/more, it requires less braking force to be transferred via the hitch from the vehicle to the trailer (and thus it can be stable with a lower tongue weight).
Even in europe the tow weights are heavily outdated to the lower end. With todays more powerful cars with much better brakes than in the old days, you could more or less double the permissable tow weight. The only realistic danger is wobble because of faulty hitch pressure, but thats a problem you can encounter even within the current rules.
@@aphextwin5712 In Europe we need brakes on the trailer ift it weighs over 750kg. What i can tell USA uses some kind of electrical brakes on trailers. Here in europe we uses cables and drum brakes. We dont use saftey chains becouse we have an ebrake that brakes the trailer if it comes deattached. Maximum trailer weight is 3500kg (special drivers license) over that you need a semi truck license.
@@GoldenCroc The towing weights arent outdated at all, they are just too fucking high here in europe and due to this we're forced to drive so awkwardly slow with the only exception being czechia. Most US dudes can chill at 130 while towing their trailer, meanwhile we have to crawl at 80.
When my nephew bought his first car him came home with an old Saab. I, thinking there can't be much street credit in that, ask him what made him buy? "It's was the only car in my price range that's got enginepower enough to pull a horse trailer. I thought, then Dad don't have to drive Littlesister and her horse to her equestian events EVERY weekend." Well, this Auntie thought, I suppose there's some street credit in driving around with a horse 😄 - and shead a tear: He's so cute and thoughtfull🥰
The German standard for having warning vests in the car aren't the highest in Europe, because it's allowed to keep anywhere in the car (even in the trunk, which means in case of an accident you have to get out and walk around the car to get the vest). If you go on vacation in spain, you have to keep vests for all persons that could sit in that car (mostly 5) AND you have to store it where everyone can put it on before getting out. That's the much safer option if you asked me!
In Austria and Germany you basically have a speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph) in town. Though in some parts of cities there is only 30 km/h (20 mph) but also sometimes 70 km/h (45 mph) but this exceptions are always given by a sign. The normal 50 km/h in town is not given by a speed limit sign but by a "begin of town" and "end of town" sign, which is basically simply a big standardised sign with the name of the town.
In the United States 25 mph (40 kph) in residential or school districts, 55 mph (88 kph) on rural highways, and 70 mph (112 kph) on rural Interstate highways. Those are all the standard speed limits, unless otherwise posted.
I am a big fan of splitting the children for different schools. That way the children in each school learn at a similar rate and it does not happen so fast that someone is completely left behind or totally bored by the things that are discussed in class. None of the schools is a dead end and after finisching the "Realschule" or even "Hauptschule" you can still move to the Gymnasium and get educated for university but you had the chance to learn at your rate and got a year longer to learn at a slower pace. This way, those who understand faster and want to go to higher education get the chance for a more focussed and faster education but others still have all possibilities.
11:15 In most of Europe there are actually rules in place preventing that exact thing. There is a minimum mandatory distance of 5 metres between two sign posts, and no sign post can have more than 3 distinct boards on it (including auxiliary signs which specify time frames, or exceptions)
I think it was mentioned in one of your other videos that European countries have a far more developed public transport system, giving us far less need for more than one vehicle. It has become more common to see two car families, especially if both partners are working, but also partly due to the rise in out of town shopping centres that do not have a connecting bus route.
Is that even that true. When I look at this videos is always a American moving from a suburban area into the core of a big European city. The core of every city have good public transport. It's not like we have magic public transport out in the suburbian areas, ut it looks like people form the US just never se the suburbian areas in Europe. Almost like they belive they don't even exist.
7:50 we as a german household currently have 4 cars for 3 people, however one is without a number plate and kind of just sits there. So we have 1 car per person, which is above average for Germany. Many people stop at 2 cars, no matter how big the family.. When I recently turned 18 I never even thought of buying a truck. Im a car guy too so I ended up with a 1998 BMW E36 compact, and yes I was hoping it had a trailer hinge, but it does not sadly (but its ok because we still have 1 car with that has one). all 4 cars are small to crossover sized, since we don't need more space. Also instead of a Pickup truck we have a small car trailer for hauling bigger things (which seems like it would be laughed at in the USA) Edit: Also often after the 2nd car the problem is not the cars being expensive, but the parking space doing so. Houses are officially required to have 2 parking lots per household, and since land is so incredibly expensive here (at least in south germany, city and countryside) most people don't build more that needed, to fit more buildings in a smaller area
One aspect that feeds into the size of vehicles common in Europe is that generally you need an extra truck driving license to drive any vehicle with a gross weight of more than 3.5 tons (in some countries the standard driving license is good up to 7.5 tons if you got that license before about 1995, as at that time the different license categories were harmonised across the EU).
I got my German license in 1999 before the new EU regs came into force, and still can drive a truck with 7,5 tons max gross weight. I was in a hurry to complete my driving test in 1999, because the following year, the rules changed to the standardized EU driving license classes (Old German class 3 -> New EU class B, which only allowed a max gross weight of 3,5 tons). Turns out I didn't need it, haven't driven a meter in a truck over 3,5 tons yet 😄.
Correct- You had to finish your 18th Birthday up to the 31st of December 1998 and had to have already started your driving lessons to get the „old“ drivers license. The old one also included the permission to tow with your car. To get this permission with the „new“ license you had to take special lessons in towing… Luckily I also was one of the last to get the old one! 😁
@@thomast.7329, here in the UK you had to have passed your driving test by 31st December 1996 to gain the extra categories, the new rules came in on 1st January 1997. But now we have left the EU, we are giving everyone the right to tow trailers with combined weight of 3.5t & there has been discussions about allowing people to drive up to 7.5t.
Hi, well I live in Belgium, which is a small country. So it doesn't take a long time to reach any border. At border crossings there will usually be big signs indicating the general rules on how fast you can go on all the different types of roads. (typically there's different speeds for residential zones (30 ~ 50km / h) - roads outside of residential zones ( 70 or 90km/h usually) - highways (120ish in most European countries). Most roads in Belgium/Netherlands are designed to make people drive at a certain speed. So even if you don't know what the speed limit is, if you just drive what is a 'safe speed', you'll be in the right ballpark anyway. It just won't feel safe to drive 50km/h in a 30 zone. Also in Europe it's mandatory to have high-visibility jackets for everyone in the car, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kid and an emergency triangle sign).
The towing difference really surprises me as a European because most people tow stuff like trailers and caravans with regular family cars rather than SUVs and pickups. There's even a case in The Netherlands of someone towing with a regular sized caravan with a Smart car, which is an extreme but it's been done.
Regarding cars per household, I'm from Austria and my parents, who are higher middle class (doctor + teacher), share one car, although they both work full time. My dad rides his bicycle to the train station and then uses public transport to get to work.
Here in Australia it's common practice to put whatever amount of fuel in your car and then pay for it in shop, I think they still do this because it tempts you to buy other goods while your in the shop such as food and drink. You also have the option of paying at the pump with card.
I have heard the same rational mentioned for Germany. It is said that the margins on the actual sale of fuel is pretty low and that gas stations make more money with all the other things they sell.
Same in UK. My local petrol station is part of our big Sainsbury supermarket. You pick up the hose to fuel and it asks whether you want to pay at the pump or in store, so the cashiers have notice that the pump is running. And I can use my loyalty card to spend or accumulate points.
From Sweden here, and almost all she said is the same here as well. I've never been in a car here without safety triangles, vests, an axe, a towing line and such. When my siblings and I got our licences we were 5 adults sharing 2 cars (we had a really shitty one for emergencies too but we never really used that). Now I live in a town with lots of public transport, so I don't need a car at all and am mostly fine with my bike :) We have always used family cars to do heavy work, like pulling up small trees, ship gravel and towing a bunch of stuff. Also, probably not exactly the same as in Germany. But generally we have 70 km/h on general country roads, 50 km/h in urban areas, 100 km/h for roads with 2 lanes one direction and one lane the other (with mid-rail), and motorways 110/km/h. Otherwise, there can also be stated speed limits with a number on the sign.
having a second car in a family is a rather new trend result of more moms having a job herself or needing a car to get the kids around. Also keep in mind most german towns have good public transports which make needing a car more of a point for transporting goods or getting where no busses are
I think outside of cities it has always been relatively common. Traditionally the father would drive to work and the mother needed a car for grocery shopping/ taking the kids to friends or hobbies
Well, in my house (formerly my parent's house) there have been at least two cars for more than 25 years and three cars for the best part of 24 years. But we live in a rural area where everyone with a job basically needs a car.
I think insurance can affect Car number also. In Finland (and EU) insurance is per Car and in USA it is by driver? So in Finland You pay 8 insurance fee from 8 cars, but there is 1 driver
Here in Germany having a lot of cars is pretty rare from what I've seen. Most Families have one to two cars for both Parents to get to work or to be mobile when one is at work. Mostly at max 3 if there is an Adult child living with them. Some families have a smaller and a Bigger car for example. To have usage options. And if something bigger is needed it is often times simply Rented. In My Family, for example, my Parents always had two cars, my Father was Retired, my Mom still working so Mom took her car to work while Dad did grocery shopping and such when my Mother retired shortly before my 18th Birthday her car was kept and given to me when i had my license otherwise it would have been sold since it wasn't needed anymore.
And it was probably true that we actually attach all sorts of things to all cars that have a trailer hitch, only recently saw an Audi S6 that towed a big Mercedes Sprinter, looks very strange, but from my point of view not crazy. 😅😂
I live on a hill farm in northern England, we have 3 drivers in the family and 4 cars: a small French diesel French hatchback to keep the fuel costs down, a Renault Convertible as a toy, a really basic Citroen MPV - again for cheap lugging and a top of the range Mitsubishi Montero/Shogun for towing, winter and holidays. The Puegeot hatch back and Citroen Berlingo have 1.6 diesel and petrol engines respectively and have 50% less fuel consumption than the Mitsubisi has on the country roads around our home so we tend to use them and use the Truck in the snow or when we have a long distance to drive on motorways where the MPG is MUCH better.
Same for me. My Mum always had the bigger car for family trips and work while my dad had a smaller car to get to work. Now it's a bit diffrent. We have 4 cars because I got the old one from my dad when he bought a new one and my sister bought one for herself to get to work/university
In Sweden it costs ~$500 to get a drivers license and it's 4 different tests. If you need drivers lessons too, the cost can easily jump to $1500-$2000. Most need to spend at least 20 hours in a car and 5 hours studying to be able to pass the tests.
Here in NL you at least need 24hour and 2 tests. All togetter you will pay around 3500euro to get it (but then you still have to pay for you license card that can ferry between 35/70euro depending on the province) and you loose your license way faster then you got it😅
i like your reaction videos, because it feels like you're genuine. there are a lot of channels that make me feel the person is trying to cater to a european (specifical) audience for views, but you have actually things to say about what you watch. i really appreciate that.
The yellow sign Hayley mentions at 9:23 means that you are entering a urban area (actually the sign she shows is the one telling you that you are leaving the town, it has a red cross line though its name. The name above is the next town or village). The general speed limit in such an area is 50 km /h. Outside on normal highways the general speed limit is 100 km/h. These limits are valid unless there is a specific sign giving a different speed limit (usually lower, e.g. in places with a lot of accidents). The restriction is valid until the next intersection or a white sign with the speed limit figures crossed ouzt by black lines. In the Netherlands they have small speed limit signs every 100 meters on the edge markers of their freeways, to remind the drivers of a speed limit.
In Finland it's pretty much the same but I think (due to more longer distances), every major road needs speed signs every so often, I thinks max limit is few kilometers? In south this usually isn't a problem as there's plenty of intersections with other main roads or residential streets (all of which need to have their own enter/leave speed signs to valid directions) but somewhere like Upper-Central Fin or Lapland you could easily go for 10s of kilometers and have nothing but maybe random forest track or small non-residential zone community of 10-15 houses. So it's nice to have a reminder every now and then about "was this 80? maybe 60 due that village? a summer 100?". Here those white speed signs are being gradually changed to normal yellows as it's been long clear that people (and these days even those sign cameras) don't always read them right. Why have a sign that doesn't work?
In Germany, most households have one or two cars. I think a big factor here is the maintenance costs for a car in Germany. These are relatively high. These are the tax, which is calculated according to cylinder capacity, then the insurance, which is calculated depending on the driver and vehicle and of course costs for fuel and repairs. Not to forget the TÜV, which must be renewed every two years. Grüße aus Deutschland!
Vienna, Austria: We are a family of three with one car (Skoda Fabia Kombi). We mostly use the public transportation systems unless you have to transport heavy stuff. We take the car to go to rural areas or on vacation in Central Europe. On very rare occasions we could need a second car, but to own 3 or more cars is unthinkable. If you need a truck once in a while you go and borrow one.
Back in Finland in the 1980s families had strictly one car which was used multifunctionally. Even rather small cars, Fiats etc. had towing hooks and roof bars installed. Any car was kind of expensive at the time and most people simply couldn't afford to have a fleet of cars. However the number of off-road vehicles, Land Cruisers etc. was higher than expected. They were tax-free to encourage people buy them, since in case of war they could have been taken by the military.
1 car in our family (2 adults, 2 kids), and it stands in front of the house most of the time. We mostly take it out on the weekends. Daily commuting is by public transport.
In Denmark, We tend to have none til two cars in general. Because the distance is smaller, and we have a much better public transportation, a Big bikeculture and a much heavy tax on cars, well it make sense. Thanks for your reactions ♥️🥰 Greetings from Denmark 🇩🇰🇩🇰
I can say many bad things about Denmark but 5 years there and I only needed a car maybe three times. And I didn't even have a bike. When you Danes get something right, you tend to get it really right.
Cars towing stuff is common across Europe. Traditionally in Europe, Volvo saloons and estates have been ideal for towing caravans, trailers, horseboxes etc. What is interesting to me is that Volvos have always been popular in the US, but obviously not chosen for (amongst many other things) their ample towing capabilities!
Back in the 80s in Kentucky we towed our 16' ski boat boat with my father's Volvo 244 from Lexington to a lake getting into the eastern Kentucky mountains. Higher altitudes, etc. out west, maybe not a good idea, but in east, no problem.
@Matti Virta You'd be surprised how much you can get done with a basemodel 2.4L 140hp i5 Volvo V70 and a towhitch, probably more than most American truck owners do
In Germany families have one, sometimes two cars, if one is away the whole day to bring one to work and the other one is for purposes to handle the kids or other extras. But every family has typically one bike per person, to make the small ways by bike, if you don't walk to school, to train, to the grocery store.
The things with speed limits, there are designated speed limits based on the class of road you are on, not needed to be signposted - you are expected to know, any variation away from the standard, the the speed limit will be posted. The US system is to post the speed limit repeatedly, on a sign that says ‘speed limit’. Also, the European system allows different categories of vehicle to have different speed limits without complicated signs, in the US 18 wheelers have the same limits as cars.
I live in The Netherlands and have German relatives, it's quite normal to have only one or maybe two cars. Also public transport is very good and there are cycle paths everywhere so there is no need to have many cars because we have choice. Our own daily car is a Volvo V70 which my wife takes to work every day and can tow a caravan during holidays but also takes lots of load, like IKEA flatpacks. I also have a small sports car with a tow hook (a Volvo 480, designed for but never sold in the USA) with which I actually towed a trailer once! Though the tow bar is usually used for a bike rack.
I know only a few families that have more than 2 cars and often one of the cars is a company car provided by the employer of one of the family members. Sometimes 2 cars are needed because one of the partners works in shifts and then public transport does not run as regularly. Many also forget that car maintenance can be expensive: taxes, insurance, regular certified car inspections, not to mention gas prices.
@@manub.3847 My neighbour has two cars for tax reasons. He has large panel van from his employer which he cannot use privately more than 500 km per year otherwise he has to pay €385 tax a month. So he has also a cute little Renault Twingo which is cheap to run and still practical and two motorcycles for fun. Also he knows he has a friendly neighbour with a Volvo estate 😂
Here in Norway, I would say I've seen houses with either 2 cars or rarely 3 cars, and sometimes I've seen some that have more but it's either a broken down car or it's not working just sitting there until they decide to sell it as body parts where people can pay for the part they want or need.
The amount of cars per household blew my mind when I first noticed it. I noticed that when I used to visit the States a lot is that one of the driving factors to have more cars per household, is space. In Arkansas, you *had* to have a car to go to the store, or to get anywhere really. That suddenly means that only 1 car per household is a much more impactful than over here in Europe where walking or biking to a store, or taking public transport to work is much more viable. A lot of places even had one or two seemingly derelict cars parked outside, either as a spare or for use as spare parts source.
I'm from Romania... here is mandatory by law to have 2 reflective triangles, a (small) fire extinguisher and a first aid kit in the car at all times. The reflective vest is not mandatory but is recommended and pretty much everyone has it. ❤
About Pfand, it's a little different than what she said - every container that contains something to drink, except for a few exceptions at the moment, you have to pay a deposit between 8ct and 25ct per container. But starting next year (2024) there are no exceptions anymore. The deposits depends on the container. If it is reused like beer bottles the Pfand is lower and if it has to be recycled the Pfand is high. And by "high" I mean 25ct. Some people that are not bothered to bring the container back to the shop just drop them next to a public garbage can. Homeless or poor will collect them and bring the container back to the shop to get the Pfand. About school - she is missing information about the system - unlike she said you can change between the different paths. Primary includes grade 4 and with grade 5 you start secondary in one of three paths and grade 5 and 6 are like try out years. One path is a more practical school (Hauptschule), one is more theoretical (Gymnasium) and leads to university qualification and the last school type (Realschule or Mittelschule) is between both. After grade 6 you can change to another path and after grade 10 you can change to the school that leads to university if you are qualified. If not you learn a trade and go to vocational school. But after learning a trade and going to vocational school that can still qualify you for a university in your trade - for example a machinist can study to be a mechanical engineer.
Gas stations in Europe will send you a bill if you forget to pay. They have cameras that take a picture of your license plate, so they will figure out who you are and send a letter "pay us or we sue you". We also have pumps with payment terminals that work the same way as in the US, but not all gas stations have them. Sometimes, you'll also get a station that has one payment terminal which you can go to instead of going inside to pay.
In very rural areas in Germany you'll often find gas stations that *only* have payment terminals because they're not getting enough traffic to pay for employees. I didn't even know these types gas stations existed until I moved to a less populated area though.
There are 2 categories for car trailers in the EU. The first category is sub 750 kg (light trailers), no extra licence required, most of the cars can tow such trailers. The second category is above 750 kg and that's where you need a special licence and a proper car.
In Germany (as well as Austria, were I live) you know that once you pass a city limits sign, you are normally supposed to not go faster than 50km/h. There could be additional signs if another speed limit is valid. In Austria, sometimes a city limits sign is accompanied by a "70" sign, meaning you go 70km/h until the speed limit is reduced to 50 (by a crossed out white 70 sign or a "50" sign. It also can be a 30 or 40 sign (the latter seems to be more common in Western Austria (where I live).
It's the same un Latvia and i would've say in most of Europe. One of the first thing you learn in driveing school is 50 km/h in city, town and 90 km/h when you leaving city/town boarders. Also with accompanied signs with limit nost commonly 100, 70 ir 30, wich are reduced either by crossroads or 50/90 sign etc.
@@Zeek951 yeah. A maximum of 50 inside of urban areas is probably the norm in Europe. Outside the cities and highways the general speed limit seems to range from 80 to 100. Sometimes maybe 110 or 120 on selected expressways that are just ranked slightly below highways. Eg. in France the Route Nationale got a speed limit of 110 if there 4 lanes.
In most big cities in Germany, people often don't even have a car because there is not enough space for it and the search for a parking space can be very exhausting. In the more rural areas, people usually all have at least one car. Families usually have two vehicles. But as was already clear in the video, Germans do not have a special vehicle for every occasion, but use vehicles somewhat more universally. Of course, there are people (like me) who own several vehicles because it's a hobby ;-) By the way, I think your videos are very good and I am glad that, contrary to widespread opinion, there is not just the stereotypical American who has no idea about the rest of the world and doesn't want to have one. I watched your video about the Citroen 2 CV earlier and found your comments very appropriate. By the way, the car is nicknamed "Ente" (Duck) in Germany. I grew up with these cars and I am pleased that you have recognised exactly the essence of the vehicle. It is not fast, it decelerates the mind, it has its very own charm that you either understand or not. I am glad that I stumbled across your channel and hope for many more videos. Kind regards from Bornheim, Nordrhein Westphalen, Germany
I live in Norway and we have 2 cars and I use my car to pull my camper. The thing with recycling bottles. Here in Norway over 92% of bottles get recycled.
I live in Finland and one of my friends needed more space for his old Volvo coffin hatchback to haul his painting tools and such. He basically disassembled the back seat and used (now actually impressive amount) of space to haul his tools and paints and ladders ect. around. I think he even registered it as a van so it was less taxed. If he ever needed to carry people to something, it took him like 20 minutes to re-assemble the back seats and he was good to go.
Those old Volvos are just insane when it comes to cargo space. My dad always said "you can fit your whole bedroom in that damn thing and probably still use it" 😂
Where I live in Germany, there is an average of about one car per adult. This may vary by location, as in bigger cities there are less parking spaces but instead more public transportation.
An emergency First Aid kit (check the expiration date and REPLACE!), Warning triangle and High visibility vests, one for EACH seat 0 5 seats? 5 vests) are mandatory in each vehicle. I rent per Car sharing in Berlin, and the vests are in the glovebox. You have to access them before you exit the car.
There are 10 of thousands of people towing caravans all over the Uk and the rest of Europe ( manly pissing off other drivers 😵💫😵💫🤣🤣🤣) I used to do it for years when our kids where little , I was always trying not to hold up other traffic but I know I did from time to time
Australia also has pump first pay after for petrol. We do have most bowsers with amount selection also so if you only want $20 you can select that pump that and it cuts off automatically. on rare occasions there might be petrol thief's, but they are usually caught by police pretty fast as their number plate is read when they drive in.
@5:09 As a german i have never seen someone tow with a microcar lol. But the rest checks out. Also love the sign @9:48 the golf zooming on the Autobahn :D
In Sweden, I would say it is common to have one car per adult in the household so if a hosehold has more than 2 cars it is because it has adult kids still living at home, unless you live in an appartment where the family would have far fewer cars.
@@MaskinJunior Well.. yea sort of.. but it can probobly be specificed more. Downtown pretty much everyone have no cars, some few people have 1. In the "projects", high density suburbs, 0-1 cars are common. In the low density suburbs and the villages everyone have one car, most people have 2. Out about in nowhere pretty much everyone have at least 2 cars, and allot of people have 3. Where i live most families have 3, even families with just two adults.
I'd say that one or two cars per household is generally how it is in Europe. I live in Denmark (Northern Europe), and just the insurance cost for a car is pretty damn high here, not to mention purchase price, so you are spot on. Thank you for all your fun and educational videos 👍🏻 It's always interesting to get a different PoV on things wish you and yours a nice weekend 😃.... Oh, and the same to everyone here of course 🤗
Germany is similar, two per household outside cities is common. I've also been asked why I fully insure (Vollkasko) my 2012 car (that insurance covers accidents where you are at fault, breakins and natural causes, like a tree falling onto the roof): Simply, the market price of a similar car is way over it's value atm. Therefore, it makes sense to spend more on insurance than the car is worth.
@@lyaneris 👍 I expected it to be something similar in Germany, thank you for confirming that. I don't own a car personally. Public transportation is great in my area, and my work is only 20 kilometers away from where I live. Sure II could have a car, but I don't really need one. If insurance prices were lower I would have one for sure
At Europe it's illegal to drive car which does not have "warning triangle", if you are spotted they sometimes check your safety gear. If something is missing, you might get fine.
Here in The Netherlands cars are very expensive. Even if you dont drive it a lot, there are taxes, insurance etc. Most families have 1 car, families where man and wife both work sometimes have 2, depending how far they have to travel every day.
WOW! I never knew this about the US! Aussies use sedans to tow caravans all the time, with RTA approval of course, so the German photos looked normal to me! It’s very rare for Aussies to own more than one car. Families with grown children might have a car each for independence, but eventually they move out. Most cars are parked in the garage,whether attached or separate, but only the wealthy have a double garage or park on the street.
I can say pretty sure that the most common to see for a family living in a villa/house usually have 2 cars, due to the different jobs and or different times starting work etc. but in the city i live in its normally 1-2 cars on a household ``) I live in sweden ``). Great video IWrocker, keep up the good work ♥
In Germany, we have tons of road signs. So many, in fact, that we often say it's a "Schilderwald" - a forest of signs - out there. It can get confusing as heck... What Hayley was explaining is that there are general rules for speed limits that are not specifically made clear to you by signs. In towns or cities, you are expected to go 50 km/h. Out of towns or cities, you can go up to 100 km/h, and on the Autobahn we have the notorious "no speed limit" rule, but a recommended max of 130 km/h. All of these can and will be supplemented by signs, though. So if you get into a town and go 50, but then see a sign that says 30, you have to go 30. Sometimes in big cities you may even be allowed to go faster than 50 km/h, like 60 or 70 - sometimes there's even highways within the city limits, like in Berlin for example. Out of town you may often encounter a speed limit of 80 or 70, since those back roads are not always super wide, in great condition, or they're very winding and not super easy to drive fast on. On the Autobahn, a lot of parts are max 120 km/h. I'd even say more parts of the Autobahn have speed limits than don't. But that's just my personal experience. Also, on the topic of safety vests, those are mandatory to have. Some countries in Europe mandate them only for the driver, some for every person you could potentially have in your car (so if you have 5 seats you need 5 vests, even if you mostly drive your car alone). You'll also need an "up to date" first aid kit. Usually you need to replace that every few years because the sterile parts in it (bandages, bandaids, etc.) won't be sterile anymore. And that reflective triangle Hayley mentioned at the start is also a must. If you ever get into a traffic control, they might not only ask for your paperwork, but also these three things. Getting my license cost around 3,000 euros and took about three months. We take a theory exam and then we do a practical one where we are accompanied by our driving teacher and the person evaluating us as they give us instructions on where to drive and what to do (so we can show that we know what to do in any given situation). Our license doesn't expire, though sometimes there's discussion on whether it should, because people don't always adhere to the rules anymore after having their license for a while, or senior citizens might not be as well-equipped to handle cars anymore as they used to be when they got their license. On the topic of having multiple cars per person, I simply wouldn't be able to afford it. The insurance, fuel, and maintenance cost would far exceed my disposable income. I also wouldn't have any space to put them, and I don't have any need for special-purpose vehicles like trucks or pick-ups or whatever else there may be. As for the gas stations, we have the ones with a shop and clerk attached, and those without (self-service). For the ones with clerk you pay after pumping, for the self-service ones you put your card in upfront and set a maximum amount that they can deduct from your account - I think this is what you described as well. Anyway, I wrote a novel. To anyone who read all of this: Have a cookie. 🍪
I moved to Germany from NZ 2020. I simply swapped my NZ drivers licence over for a German one. I understand why it costs so much for one and also why it takes as long as it does. (Plus the exam/test, thats just with most things German really sorry to say) German citizens have a higher and stricter education when it comes to Driving where as my country for Example, I can get my full licence in a matter of 18mnths after the age of 15yrs old.
They forgot that the diesel nozzle in Germany is thicker than the petrol nozzle, so it's difficult to fill up with the wrong fuel. super written.greetings from Germany
From Spain here. Normally we have around here 1 or maybe 2 cars, depending on the income of the household or the needs from the family. High insurance and road taxes costs are the main deterrent for us to own more vehicles.
i live in switzerland and i tow trailers with the mercedes vito(company car for work). it can tow. if you do not overload the trailer it works fine. but you are limited to 2 tons of weight. a dodge ram tows a little bit more than double. in some areas you pay high amounts of money in term of yearly taxes which are applying to horsepower or engine size. so it makes sense to tow with a 2 liter 4 cylinder turbo engine instead of an 6.7 liter v8. insurance is also higher for high horsepower cars.
Regarding towing and stuff like that: To be honest there are tons of things you notice as a non-american of how some marketing departments/commercials have some things in the US especially in an iron grip... Not to say that isnt the case elsewhere because it surely is but you get the feeling people get more of their info about all kinds of stuff strictly from commercials in the US... I can name a few examples on top of the "you need a massive pickup, preferably a "dualie" to tow even a small trailer" which seem to be generally accepted. "you need a massive pickup, preferably with 35" monster mudder tires to go on an unpaved road" and "you need a massive pickup, preferably a "dualie" to transport a small hand pulled lawn mower..." Now that I think about it, seems like massive pick ups is the common denominator in a lot of car myths. Pretty funny.
To get the driving licence '23 here in germany you have to invest around 2.000 €/$ (or more) for theoretical and practical driving tests... That's really insane! 😳
You have to think that the death rate in traffic accidents in US are about seven times higher per million people than in Sweden. That is insane! I think the death rate in Germany is only slightly higher than in Sweden. Sweden has about 200-220 deaths per 10.5 million people, and of these about 30-45 are motorcyclists, even though the motorcyclists are only about 300,000. It's a huge cost for the society (the taxpayers!!!) if a 20-30 years old person die or get severe hurt. So would be very interesting to have an efficient driving license education for the society. And now I only think of the money!
My grandma has a caravan/RV company and I'd really like to be allowed to drive the larger RVs -usually around 4.2t. I could actually get the 7.5t license with an 5.5t RV, but it still costs 10 000€ and since I won't be working full time at the company, that's just not worth it. On the other hand, I'm one of 6 people at the company who is confident driving trailers (while 20+ are allowed to - old license advantages). My B was 2400€ in 2018, BE was 800€ I believe and I did it in 6 days (all licenses are really expensive, imo).
People in Europe tow racecars to the track with either by an open trailer towed by a van or a regular car or with emregency rescue vehicles - these are basically van chassis but with a platform behind the cab, vehicles like VW Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter, Fiat Ducato, Iveco Daily.
Greetings from Finland! Road culture in Germany is almost similar to Finland. Even the signs looked quite similar. It is true that when you drive in the city, for example, the speed limit is 50, but the speed sign can be "missing" because everyone knows what the speed limit in the city is 50, except if you drive on a restricted street or a courtyard street, when the sign shows 30/20. In Finland, the price of a driver's license starts at around 600e - The B course(passenger car) includes the basic teaching of the passenger car course (10 driving hours of your choice with a car/simulator, a risk management course, learning environment, learning material, and the use of a car in the first driving test), as well as EAS online theory[Ensimmäisen Ajokortin Suorittajan / First driver's license training] lessons of your choice. Recycling has increased tremendously in the last decade in Finland, and a lot of drinking bottles/cans are recycled. Speaking of recycling and cars, a friend of mine raised the money for his first car by collecting bottles.
As for speed limits - usually when you cross the country border there usually are some general rules what apply for the country - in the city, outside the city, at the highway (in Czechia, it's 50, 90, 130 km/h). There are another limitations, where it makes sense - around the schools, in dangerous places (where e. g. lot of accidents happened), in the areas where is lot of pedestrians,...
The school system in Germany is much more complicated and dynamic than shown. I was on the "Realschule" (Junior high School) and had the chance to do the upper grades (11,12,13) on the Gymnasium (since my grades were good enough) but i decided to do a dual system vocational training with the possibility to continue onto a technical college (in my field of training since my grades were good enough). I did two years of work after the 13th grade and went to the advanced technical college afterwards where i got my "Diplom" (comparable to a bachelors degree). The "Diplom" is no longer possible since our system was changed to the bachelor and master degree system after i had finished my education. Children can switch horizontally if their grades allow it and they get a recommendation from the school.
Cars, in general, are much more expensive here in Europe than is the USA. Also, referring your earlier reaction video, public transportation is much more readily available and thus the need to have a many cars per household is greatly reduced. So in the end, I guess the combined effect is that we have to use our cars more “efficiently”. 8:30 I just found your channel and I have to thank you for doing it. Keep up the excellent work, your videos are interesting, entertaining and informative all at the same time. 👍😎
right. depending on the type of car, you spend around 2k EUR on Tax an Insurance /pa for each car. That does not include one driven mile gasoline or maintenance... Especially in Germany, the far left wing "Green" Party is doing its best, to hinder you from using your car in cities. furthermore, they add each year increasing moronic "co2"-costs onto your gasoline bill. Unless your houshold income belongs to the upper 10%-class, you absolutly have no chance to own more than one or two cars...
Here in Bulgaria the speed limits are 50 km/h in population centers, on intercity roads 90 km/h, on the highway 120 km/h. You do have areas with a lower speed limit, but it's often obvious why. For example, intersections on intercity roads you often have a sign for 60 km/h speed limit. The lower speed limit is in effect for a short distance after the sign, in this example usually just enough to cover the intersection.
Regarding the school systems: From my own experience in US schools and my daughter in German schools plus in international schools. I went to a high school that had up to three levels of classes per subject: regular classes, advanced placement classes and classes for kids who were slower or had more difficulty in a certain subject matter. Personally, I think this is the optimal system because it allows children to be challenged and move forward more quickly in subjects where they have strnghts and at the same time be in regular classes or get help where they are just "average" or are having difficulties. This allows education to be more tailored to each child's abilities rather than categorising a child overall based on certain subject matters which is definitely unfair and can penalise and hold back a child.
In Norway every store selling cans and bottles are required to take the empty bottles and pay you for them. That's why almost every store will have a reverse vending machine for them to save staff from counting them. We have a few guys in my town who go around collecting bottles, because there's actually a lot of money in it. I think they make somewhere between $20-50 a day.
@@m0rd1c3 I actually work with Tomra, which is the largest suppliers of reverse vending machines for bottles and cans. They have over 82000 machines worldwide, with Germany being the biggest market.
There is some rules here in Sweden regarding speed-limits. When passing a sign with village-name the speed is 50km/h when exiting village it’s 70km/h. Signs with different speeds may follow.
The thing with owning multiple cars in Germany, I would say, depends a lot from the demographic/area you live in. I've found some numbers stating that the average german household has about 1,14 cars. I myself currently own 2 cars, a compact car for daily use and a "fun" car for summer/weekend driving or an occasional track day. Speaking of track days, from time to time I am looking into options for trailering my car to the track and most of the time I would choose a van, because the extra storage space for tires, tools etc is very attractive for me.
germany has 0,63 vehicles per capita and america 0.89 vehicles per capita with this they are one of the highest ratios on the globe only small city states are in front of them and these numbers are only registered vehicles.
In Europe there are standard speed limits, one in city/urban area, one on the roads outside urban areas and a third one on motorways. So unless something else is specified by a sign, you always know what the limit is just by knowing on which of these three types of roads you are on.
We had to stop using single use plastic bags in Australia too about 5 years ago and instead they sell multiple use plastic bags for 15 cents each or you can buy good cooler bags for keeping your cold and frozen food and drinks until you get home except that you have to make sure you remember to bring them with when you go shopping lol.
@@kilsestoffel3690 well we have too many bags so I would go back home to grab them or if I’m just getting a few things we would carry them in our hands but if there’s quite a few things we would leave them in the trolley and load them in the car bag them after we get home lol
Back in the day, we had two horses, which we moved around with an Audi A4. It was a quattro with 3 liter diesel, so it worked just fine, It had a rating of 1.8 metric tons I think. Before that we had a Skoda octavia 4x4, that was ok to tow a trailer with one horse, two was a bit of a struggle 😅
As an Australian living in the US, i used a Ford F150 to tow my 32 ft camper, In Australia i used a Ford Falcon with a V8 motor to tow 18 ft camper. I Used helper springs and air shocks to tow a camper or a car trailer. it was the normal way to tow back 30 or 40 years ago.
Hi :) Here in Denmark, it is very normal to have a hook at the back of the car, for either a caravan or a trailer, which is widely used to drive larger items to the recycling center or for larger purchases, e.g. in IKEA, or a hardware store. In Denmark, the speeds are 50 km/h in cities (unless otherwise indicated on signs, e.g. near schools, etc.), and 80 km/h on main roads, and 90 km/h on motorways (near motorways, where is prohibited for cyclists and pedestrians), and finally 110 /130 km/h on motorways. Here in Denmark, you must have completed a minimum of hours on traffic theory and pass both a theory and driving test before you can get a driving license. We have a lot of signs which are very close to standard in Europe, but for the most, you don't need too many signs, 'cause you do learn how to respond to the surroundings when you have passed a driving test. :) We also have a well-functioning recycling system, each home or apartment building has different waste containers to sort the home's waste, both for plastic, metal, paper, cardboard, glass and residual waste from the kitchen etc. Here, it is most normal to use your petrol or payment card and enter it in the payment machine at the pump before starting. It registers the number of liters you pump out, and you can get a receipt immediately, and if you use a petrol payment card, you will also be sent an email with all the information about quantity, price, place and time. I use my petrol payment card, and do fill up the tank completely, because that way, after each refueling, I can calculate what my average consumption of petrol per kilometer has been since the last refueling, and is a good way to keep an eye on whether something might be wrong with the car, or you have been driving fast for a long time, or perhaps you have forgotten to check the air pressure in the tires. :)
Small correction: There are only three general speed limits in Denmark: 50 km/h (city roads), 80 km/h and 130 km/h (motorways). These can be overridden by signs with other limits, both higher and lower. Not above 130 km/h, though. The standard speed limits are posted on large signs when you enter Denmark by road. Large trucks (> 3500 kg) are limited to 80 km/h. Cars with trailers are limited to 80 km/h, unless the trailer is "Tempo 100" approved, in which case the limit is 100 km/h on motorways.
When I was a kid, in Australia (many decades ago), there was a 5c deposit on glass soft drink bottles that would be refunded at Point of Sale everywhere. When our family went to large outdoor events my siblings and I would walk through the crowd, soliciting their empties. We would then return them to the concession stands in exchange for drinks and food. This not only kept us busy, fed and happy. It also took the pressure off of our parents to go broke in pursuit of peace. Saved a lot of cleanup work and dangerous broken glass for the venues.
I think what she's saying about the speed limits is that a lot of signs have different meanings. Like the example she mentioned, if you leave a town you know there is a speed limit of 100 that is the "regular" speed, and the sign that indicates you are leaving the town is also the sign that indicates the speed even if there is nothing about the speed explicitly on the sign. What this leads to is that if you're driving along on a country road and if for whatever reason you are unsure of the speed limit you can pretty much make an educated guess based on where you are and most likely you'll be correct. It takes a bit more energy to learn the full meaning of all signs, but when you do know them I believe it makes you a more cognizant driver.
German here. Whether and how many cars you have depends on where you live. Many people who live in big cities don't have a car because they don't need one because public transport is very well developed. Many large cities are now trying to remove cars entirely from the inner cities, so there are fewer and fewer parking spaces at ever higher prices or driving bans are imposed on some vehicles. I live in a very rural area and here you need a car because public transport is far too rare here. In contrast to a city, practically every family has at least one car here. We have two cars as my wife and I both work. Our children are now teenagers and will soon be getting their driver's license and then their own cars.
It really shows how skewed towards the Cities the discussion about general limiting of driving in EU is when you start to realize that if you live anywhere outside the direct suburban areas, there's almost literally no public transportation. Sure, you may have busses and/or trains stopping several times a day but they're either at unusable times or at unusable distances. This is universal problem everywhere and it is.. oh so convenient.. to forget when talking about this. Living in FIN, I'm still extremely salty about them deciding that the direct morning (0730 and 0830) "school bus runs" would NOT take other commuters. Yeah, those "school bus runs" were a lifeline for many working people in this community. 1st "normal run" was at 1015, with change.. Yeah, that's a no-go. And trains? We get like.. 2 stops, per direction, per day despite being on the Main Line.
G'day Ian. Towing using cars was common in Australia too. Needed to make sure the caravan or trailer being towed was not too heavy and so on the small side. This kept Australian production Holden, Falcon and Valiant cars in production as being better able to cope with towing. A film from about 1949 Victoria, before the Holden cars became common , with lots of towing by cars for summer holidays : th-cam.com/video/EJBtElrbdtw/w-d-xo.html Early colour film insight to a different era we have evolved from.
I just want to add that its not only Germany, in entire Europe union rules and signs are basically the same, so this aplies almost to all counties in EU on every thing she said.
true, with one exception: The traffic signs in the Republic of Ireland follow the US Standard for the most part (e.g. warning signs are yellow diamonds rather than red triangles like in the rest of Europe)
I think it is even a worldwide standardization (with exceptions). Traffic signs around the world are based on very similar pictograms, shapes and colors rather than written (English) words.
@@wWvwvV But as with the metric system, worldwide standardisation can exclude the United States.
@@arthur_p_dentIreland kind of makes sense...
They probably have a *lot* of American tourists, and expecting European drivers to adapt to local rules and signs is more likely to go well then expecting these Americans to...
Basically all road rules following TEN-T rules. And that have nothing to do with EU but is a system that was first worked on in the late 1940s. It started implementation in 1960 is about 90% implemented now and supose to be done to 2035.
Its not only about road sign, but also road markings and how speed is set on a road.
I'm from Belgium, and most people here only have one or two cars per household. When I heard you saying that you had 8 cars, I was like "what do you need that many cars for?"
Well if you can afford it. As a Euro, where tf would I even park 8 cars? Space is way more limited
This is mostly about taxes. That’s the thing that makes it expensive for you as a Belgian. For an American having 8 cars doesn’t really cost more then having 1 car at the time, because you don’t drive more.
Then also Americans think you need a pickup for things like towing or “going to brico”
@@humanistje79 insurance for 8 car will add up fast... pickup are more diverse than car. it's much easier to overload a car or find a dirt road (campground) a car can't go down. Trucks usually drive better and safer on the highway (at speed), especially with a load (mostly from the weight - they just don't get pushed around)... This is coming from a person that rather have a mid-size car or compact crossovers.
I think not having a car at all even if you have the money for it, is a lot more common here than in the US. I'm speaking for myself who's single and live in the suburbs/city or my brother who has a wife and two kids. Though my brother now have a company car, he didn't had one with his prior company but did all the occasional driving with a renting car.
And Belgium is a heavily car dependant Country. I live in Belgium and I am shocked by the amount of cara
German traffic signs (like all over Europe and predominant worldwide) follow the Vienna UN Convention on Road Signs and Signals of 1968. All the signs have pictogramms rather than text, thus are easy to understand independent from languages.
I can see the problem. A UN convention. Systematically ignored by the US.
After I finished school I worked at a german gas station for a few months. ONE guy once forgot to pay and drove off. He came back about an hour later and apologized for being preoccupied before. Then he bought a chocolate bar and gave it to me as a present for the extra work I had. 🙂
basic german man, respect is everything when it is shared :)
That is absolutely normal here in Germany. Most people are honest, fair and peaceful.Virtues are basic part of growing up.
cars towing mobile homes / caravans is actually really common in Europe in general. (and has been for decades) My family did that every summer for years, and we went to the south of France, north Spain or Italy each year (from the Netherlands). Always a long drive and the we stopped at camping for a few weeks (near the sea). It's what we did, and with us millions others, for our summer vacation.
You could tell which families had a caravan as they usually had heavier and larger engined cars as a daily driver, just because it would tow the caravan during holidays. Though there are also smaller caravans which can be pulled by a small car, but they will struggle uphill.
Theres a Finnish sketch show bit from the mid 1990s where a person with a heavy Tampere-accent is complaining about people blocking the roads by towing huge caravans with "their underpowered Taunuses" lol
Same here, my parents used to have a Mazda 626 for towing the caravan. It is also very common to see a Golf size car towing small trailers, is this a thing outside (western) Europe?
I suspect the cost of owning and running vehicles in the US is a lot cheaper , I think I have read somewhere Europe car registration cost is indexed to engine size or something ? someone please correct me if I’m wrong ,
I suspect fuel also is probably pricier than in the US , not to mention looking at parts of Europe , some of their roads are just no built for gigantic pick ups , and even parking space is limited , again some one correct me if I’m wrong..
Dutch people driving around with their caravans is actually a well known trope in Germany.
one thing that she didn't mention about Pfand (the bottles with deposit) that i'd like to add: it's not just practical for yourself but essential to homeless people as well.
if you're going out, carry something to drink with you, but then dont feel like taking an empty bottle home with you, then it's common courtesy to place it underneath or beside a trashcan. so when a homeless person comes by, they dont have to rummage through trash to look for Pfand, which they normally do. they rely heavily on collecting these bottles and i cant imagine how tough it would be without Pfand even existing.
Not just homeles,, there are people who goes around and collects those cans and bottles to get some extra money. Even teenagers.
I would say collecting bottles was my first summer job. I got around 20-30€ per day doing that as a teen and I was "working" maybe 1-2h per day. It was a lot of money for a 13 year old. :)
A few days ago I saw two dudes collecting the bottles, and they had a key to open the bins, one guy grabbed, the other organized the bags, they had a whole system. I've seen less efficient work from people supposedly highly trained for their jobs... Left the bins neat and tidy, too... More power to 'em.
When I start living in Germany 10 months ago I was wandering what ppl looking for in trash cans and they didn't looked like homeless ppl, normal dressed ppl. But after some time I found out for the pfand thing. This is a good way to make ppl to bring back the plastic and metal bottles, to be feir I was used to just drop in regular trash the bottles because in my country we don't have pfand system but we have seperate containers for plastic bottles but nobody use them.
The sad fact about this is that people nowadays expect you to collect Pfand bottles if you don't have the money to afford everyday life... what's true for a lot of retired people
The triangle and vest is a legal requirement in most of EU member countries (I believe this includes Germany). In the Czech Republic, if the police stops you they might randomly ask you to show them your the safety kit (Triangle, vest, Medkit), if you don't have it or it's expired (the Medkit) you can get a pretty large fine.
In Sweden we are only requiered to have the triangle and that's it, we have no demand on us to have first aid kit or a reflective vest at all. But most people least in the southern bits would have a vest just to be safe. Northern Sweden is a difirent cookie all together. I myself don't have a vest but my winter jacket is reflective in of it self and i'm 2 meters / 6'5 and a half tall so i'm seen alright. I just resently at least got myself a band aid pack in my car cus it feels nice to have them there with my boy scout background.
Same in Greece. And in winter you can also get fined if they find you don't have a set of chains in the car (even when it's not snowing - which is true for 99% of the winter period).
In Lithuania it's the same, but we also must have a fire extinguisher that is not expired
in Poland it is required to have a triangle and fire extinguisher (and it doesn't matter if it is expired or not). I think medkit isn't mandatory.
Same in Luxembourg
In Germany it is required by law to have a first aid kit, a reflector triangle as well as a vest for each person in the car. In a traffic control stop you have to show that to the police.
Also many young folk esp. in big cities dont have any car at all. Most households have 2 cars max
And we have to do a first aid course to get our driver license 😌
@Lady Metalhead really? I didn't know that. They don't have that in the uk but that really is a great idea
Also you have to change first aid kit every 5 years(it has an expiration date), which i think is kinda lame. Imagine the waste being created by all those unused kits (i have like 5 of them in my home).
Its the same in Norway. 😄
@@JuanMartinez-vf5hd lol yes it is so importent with new boxes ( i use the old in my home they are fine)
what is in that box that is usefull, unless you want mickey mouse on you wound when a tick bites you.
if you are afraid to kiss dying people it often have a rubber thing for that ofcourse..
but please tell me what can not be replaces by clothing or a paper towel..
In Germany you have to have the triangle on board, otherwise you get a ticket. Same with the warning vest, where you should have one vest for each passenger.
And bare in mind, if you think you drive really fast on the Autobahn (AB), like 250km/h (155mp/h), there is always someone faster than you. Always check you're mirrors.
Even a VW Polo (smaller than a Golf) can tow trailers (w/ brakes) up to 1200kg. Most sedans, station wagons or SUV could tow 1400 to 2200kg.
Most households have two cars, even there is only one earner. Mostly one sedan or station wagon and one small car, like a VW Polo or someting other with this size.
Speeds are in town/city 50km/h, in special signed residential or shool areas it's 30km/h. On countra roads mostly 100km/h or 70-80km/h at intersections.
Only exceptions from the 50 or 100km/h are posted with signs. Especially on the AB, if you see no posted speed limit past the on-ramp, there is always no speed limit.
The driving license is about 2500€, if you take only the necessary hours and pass on the first try. If you need more hours and the driving school has high prices (like in big citys), then it can easyly climb to 3500€ and more. Also, in the first 2 years (trial period) , you're not allowed to drive drunk or get a ticket for speeding or other things over 70€. Then you have to go to a driving school for a retraining (Aufbauseminar) for 200-500€ and your trial period get extended to 4 years. If you have 2 serious violations, like speeding over 21km/h, taking right of way, insufficient safety distance and so on, you have to go to a traffic psychological counseling (MPU). There they look and decide, if you are mentaly and physicaly fit to drive (another 500€). With 3 serious violations your driving license is gone. After 6 months, you're allowed to attend to driving school from the beginnig. But the control density of traffic is much lower, than in the US.
Deposit for one-way beverage packaging, like plastic bottles and cans is 25ct. Since introduction in 2005, you see these almost nowere in the environment.
At gas stations you are mostly pump first and pay after. Some are not with a shop and you can only pay by card (bank card/credit card),
there they block maybe 100€ on your card and you pump what you need and they charge only what you've taken.
Single use plastic bags now only allowed for vegetables and fruits in shops or at makets (Wochenmarkt).
Just wanted to add.
you're not allowed to drive drunk in germany anyway! BUT...since We germans love our Feierabend Bier...(After work beer)
Our Law says its okay if you drive with a blood alcohol level of 0,4 -0,5 which is usually the equivalent to 1-2 beers here in germany.
Regarding towing. I've seen Smart towing a 500kg one-axle.
one vest per person is NOT the rule in germany, it's one vest per car. which is dumb because the vest-less people are technically stuck in the car.
@@icannotbeseen Thanks, I was wondering if I remember something wrong...
the tow hitch on "regular" cars isnt just useful for towing - you can also use it to hitch a bike rack to your car ect. its super useful and really opens up a world of possibilities
yeah canadians and americans are totally retarded about cars.. i was shocked when i lived in north american the first time and went to tow things and realized i didnt have a tow ball on my car!!! and when i went to get one it was a big saga. i remember also americans didnt have a good understanding of towing power and what can and cant tow an object. they also seem to have a poor understanding of the actual power of the vehicles that have compared to northern europeans or australians.
great for mounting stripper poles 🤣🤣
It really is, but Americans dont ride bikes 🤣🤣
@@niklas422 wrong, their tongue weight is much higher and bike racks for US trailer hitches are better than in Europe
But the US trailers without handbrake and front wheel (nose wheel) are not practicable.
@@gasauto1675 sure, you are probably right, but it is still fact that the percentage of bicycle riders in the us is much, much lover than in Europe (or Germany).
What she means is that there are default tempo limits. So for example when you drive into a city there is a tempo limit of 50km/h if not stated otherwise. There are exceptions (like speedways in major cities). But in general there are rules for default speed limits. So you can drive into a small city and leave it without seeing any speed limit sign as you know that the speed limit is 50. In us, from what I understood, there would be a speed limit sign
That is absolutely correct. The same is basically true for most European countries, only the default limits differ. If you come visit, make sure to be informed about the local default limits. When you cross a border in a car, there is usually a big sign stating the limits of the country you just entered. As a general rule of thumb, most countries have a limit of around 120kmph on motorways (always recognisable by a special sign on every approach, and usually the general signage has a different colour on motorways - in Germany, for instance, direction signs are usually yellow with black text, but blue with white text on the Autobahn), 100kmph outside city proper, and 50kmph inside, all if not clearly stated otherwise. Germany is the exception, with a recommended speed of 130kmph on motorways (Autobahn and some similar roads, it‘s a bit complicated to explain).
Also, it is very clear when you legally enter or exit a town, as they are indicated by distinct signs with the town name - from personal experience that is at least true for Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Ireland and Italy (as I have driven in those countries myself). In the US, it‘s often quite unclear when you really enter or leave city proper, as many town are much larger than the actual built up area.
But there are additional speed rules. For instance, the max speed for trucks is 80kmph. Cars pulling any trailer are also restricted to either 80 or 100kmph, depending on the trailer. Vehicles that want to enter the Autobahn must be built to reach at least a max speed of 60kmph and any non-motorised vehicles are banned (as is parking, turning, driving backwards and walking). Yes, it‘s a bit complicated. But that is why it is required to have a kinda extensive „driving school“ (yes, it‘s literally called Fahrschule), with a certain minimum of required practical and theoretical lessons and a practical and theoretical test supervised by a certified official. Also, you must provide a certification of a first aid course and an eye exam (it is possible that the requirement to wear glasses is included in your licence, according to said test). Total cost is about 2000 Euros.
Edit: Also, different types of vehicles have different classes of licences, which have to be attained by separate driving lessons, practical and theoretical, including separate tests. The licence classes of licences (I believe it‘s the same for all EU countries) are (I leave out a few obscure classes like B96): Cars - B and BE (trailers over 750kg permissible max weight or over 3.5t PMW of the whole system). Motorbikes, trikes and Quads: A1 (bikes under 125 cubic centimetres displacement), A2 (bikes up to 35kW power), A (all bikes and trikes), AM (light bikes, trikes and quads with max speeds up to 45 kmph), and for Quads there is a restriction for classes A1 and A, which are (or at least, were) included in class B. Trucks: C1 (motor vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tons - a few extras, but generally true), C1E (C1 with trailer), C (all trucks) and CE (trucks with trailer). And Busses: D1 (vehicles of more than 8m in length, built to transport no more than 16 people, including a trailer of less than 750kg PMW), D1E (adding heavier trailers to D1), D (all vehicles built to transport more than 8 people, driver excluded) and DE (adding a trailer to class D). For tractors, there are two separate classes: L (generally tractors under 40kmph max speed) and T (up to 60kmph max speed) - L was included in class B, but I‘m not entirely sure if that‘s still the case. However, if you want to drive a bus (or, for that matter, a taxi) commercially, you require a separate permission to transport people (no test, but a medical and psychological evaluation, an eye exam and a hearing exam). Yes, it‘s complicated. And if you want to drive all available vehicles, including trailers, it would cost a absurd sum - some employers pay for the appropriate licence, though, when they want to hire you as truck or bus driver, with a clause of termination if you fail the test.
As for the warning triangles: They are mandatory. There is a set of things every car MUST carry at all times: A warning triangle, safety vests (at least one for the driver, but better enough for all passengers), a valid first aid kit (sterile, and as sterile bandages expire, you have to make sure to replace the kit), and either a tire repair kit or a spare tire. Additionally, every motor vehicle must pass a regular safety check by a certified engineer, there are minimum profile requirements for tires and it‘s mandatory to have appropriate tires for the road condition (meaning: there are winter tires, and driving on summer tires in the snow will result in a hefty fine). Furthermore, you must provide proof of insurance when you register your vehicle, and therefore you don‘t need to carry your proof of insurance with you - your state issued registration card is proof of insurance, and if your insurance cancels your contract the registration will be revoked which results in fines and decommissioning (for lack of a better word) of your vehicle by police when they run your plate. Generally, driving is quite safe in Europe (especially Central Europe), and I personally find driving in Austria and Switzerland downright relaxing.
@@gi0nbecell Not to be that nitpicking guy, because most of what you said is accurate, but speed limit for trucks is generally 90 kph and unlike in the US, they are electronically limited to that speed, so they can't possibly go any faster. Sorry to correct you on that.
@@jacobhaagerup7816 that's not true, trucks can absolutely go faster than 90
@@jacobhaagerup7816 in Norway the speedlimit for trucks is 80 km/h and the top speed is capped of at 90 km/h.
@@jacobhaagerup7816 Nope. I’m talking German law. The Traffic Code (StVO) states: Outside city proper, trucks up to 3.5t (and other vehicles with less than 3.5t permissible maximum weight, PMW) are restricted to 100kmph (though I was talking about what Brits call „lorry“, or „semi“ for Americans, so that doesn‘t count; §3 (3) Ziffer 2 c. StVO). Trucks between 3.5 and 7.5t or trucks under 3.5t and a trailer (always permissible maximum weight) are restricted to 80kmph (§3 (3) Ziffer 2 a.; this includes aa), motor vehicles over 3.5t and under 7.5t PMW, personal vehicles (cars, for simplification - Personenkraftwagen) excluded, bb) personal vehicles with a trailer, cc) semi trucks and camper vans up to 3.5t PMW with trailer and dd) busses, including those with luggage trailers). Trucks over 3.5t with trailer or trucks over 7.5t permissible max weight are restricted to 60kmph (or, exactly: §3 (3) Ziffer 2 b. aa) motor vehicles over 7.5t PMW, bb) all motorised vehicles with a trailer, excluding personal vehicles (cars), semis and camper vans up to 3.5t PMW, and cc) busses with passengers who don‘t have a seat.).
Edit: Yes, I looked up the latest version of the traffic code, which is the following: Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (StVO), Verordnung vom 06.03.2013 (legal ordinance as of 6th of March, 2013 (BGBl. I S. 367)), in Kraft getreten am 01.04.2013 (in effect by the 1st of April 2013), zuletzt geändert durch Gesetz vom 12.07.2021 (BGBl. I S. 3091) m.W.v. 28.07.2021 (latest change via legislation 12th of July, 2021, effektive by the 28th of July 2021).
A German family has a Kombi. Maybe two.
That Kombi:
-commutes
-goes fast
-goes on vacations
-gets groceries
-gets building supplies
-gets furniture
-has big trunk
-has roof rails
-has towing hitch
-much more...
"goes fast"- "Wasn das fürn Kombi?!"
@@OLidartz😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Legendär
About the gas station theory of running away without paying.
We have cameras which take note of your license plate in every gas station and you will be fined if caught.
My boss actually got caught recently (he was in a call during the process and simply forgot), it was not long until we received a call from the authorities and paid immediatly :D
edit: I'm not aware if there was a penalty included.
The pump actually only unlocks when the cameras have successfully recognized the license plate. In the Netherlands it is mandatory to have the monitors visible to the public and it's really cool to see it in action. If the system fails, for example when you drive a big USA truck the staff will get a warning and have to manually activate the pump. This will be the register next to the window.
I work at a gas station (in Austria) and I can confirm, most people just forget or think they payed with card and then pushed the wrong button or things like that.
I've been to the police a couple of times and I honestly feel bad every time, because most of the time you can clearly see the people trying to pay with card on the video and I really wish we wouldn't have to file a criminal complaint every time, can't be fun for the people to get a call from the police.
In Sweden it's mostly common to have 1 or 2 cars, but quite a number of households also do well without a car.
I have never owned a car, I rent when I need one. I own a motorcycle though 🙂
I would say anything from 0 to 3 is pretty common.
Well it kind of depends where one live. I live in a big town/small city 0-2 cars is the norm here, very few have more. In the village I was born just outside a small town 0 cars is a bit rare, 1-3 is normal an more than that isn't rare.
Dane here: I gave up the car when my youngest could bike himself (5y). I live in the centre of a town, and parking was such a hussle!
@@cynic7049 Yea.. where i live most people have 3 cars. Typically 1 "wife car" one work car (often a pickup or a some other type of light truck) and one "husband car".
Even people who don´t have a company, they often have a leisure car or veteran car. My neighbor have a rally car, don´t know if that counts.
Veteran cars is also very common because they are tax free, and insurance is really low (if its a cheap veteran car). So like Volvo 740 from the late 80 and early 90 is really common as 3rd car. There is a distance drive limitation, but a part from that they can be used how ever you like.
Using a moped car as a 3rd car is also fairly common becasue they are also tax free, and with a top speed of 45 km/h, if you live in a village not to far from town, the difference in driving is just a few minutes. The added benefit of moped car is of cause that the children can use it from 15
I am from the Netherlands. To have a American v8 pickup truck it's simple to expensive to drive for a normal family. Except when you have your one construction company then you get discount for road tax than you run the truck on LPG its more or less double. We have high monthly road tax what goes for weight, gasoline cost 2euro a 1liter. That's why we like small economic cars
as a german: (in my region) it is completely and utterly insane to have more than a car per person. there might be cases where you have to drive a big family on one day and a long distance alone on the other, but thats about it. and people will give you weird looks in any case.
yeah it is basically a huge waste of money to have more than one car per person that you could use for so much great things, like a vacation or something. I don´t even own a car. If I need one I borrow one of a family member, but that is it. I mostly walk, sometimes I use the bike, but mostly I use the train. I like our trains.
I'm guessing the exception to this would be if someone owned a classic car, project car or similar, but never more than 1 daily per person. Similar thing here in Ireland, generally 1 car per person.
There's also the question of where do you keep multiple cars? Unless you have land, there's simply not the space. Older houses don't even have garages or off-street parking.
I don't know how it is in the rest of Europe, but in Denmark we pay a yearly tax based on the tonnage of the car, so you'll have to be well-off to have more than 1 per adult, since you'll pay the tax for every single car you own.
I think 1 car per adult in the family or less is pretty common. More then one would be rare and quite frankly a waste most of the time.
What she says about the safety rules does not only apply to Germany,
But is the same for actually all of Western Europe
This is how we learned it during our driving lessons and the driving license exam
not same for "all of Western Europe" but basically all Europe, we Slavs have triangles and vests mandatory as well :)
You are right. I think its an European thing now. Peopel learn more by Our driving licenses. they are too exoensive but avoid many things as well.
no answer needed. I just wanted to confirm You.
Safety vests and a first aid kit aren't mandatory in the Netherlands though, only the triangle is. And we don't need to take a first aid course either.
I think a big part of the point about not really needing the speed limit signs also comes down to German (and even more so, Dutch) roads being _designed_ to reflect the speed you should be driving at. North American roads, on the other hand, barely have any relation between the design of the road and the intended speed limit; roads that look and feel very similar may have _very_ different speed limits.
And besides designed for a certain speed, they're also standardised, so a certain type of street has a certain speed. Everywhere. Always. (Unless there's a sign telling you different.) You know what type of street you're on, so you automatically know the speed limit.
In Italian cities the signs are A4 paper size!😂
Czech Republic here: more than one car per household is becoming not rare but it is still by no means "normal" as in "most people do". The most frequent situation is one car for a family and that car is then used for whatever needs to be done. From one person going to work and back to the whole family going to a week long vacation abroad (Croatia most likely for Czechs). So then you get to see sedans and hatchbacks towing trailers at the local DIY store or carrying half a tone of cement bags on the folded rear seats because the owner is renovating a part of their house and why would you buy or rent a special extra car just for that, waste of money.
Admitedly we are one of the more DIY nations and hiring a contractor just to rebuild my bathroom or kitchen is only slowly getting normal. Most of us still see this as "real men can learn how to do their own plumbing and electrical instalations". So that increases the number of cases where people just do what they need to do with the car they have. At a local Hornbach (large DIY chain) I once saw a 20 years old Skoda Felicia (a car worth maybe 500 USD) parked next to a Porsche Panamera and both drivers stuffing their cars with building supplies.
This is exactly my Czech experience. Villages have more cars per person than cities but I know maybe one family with more than three cars.
Cars are expensive to own so unless you are a collector...
@@mortisCZ Also, people in a village have more space for parking.
And in Czech you must have triangle and vest in car too. It’s mandatory equipment for car, I think it is in all European countries, but in some countries you must have vest for everyone in car.
@@Buxin135 Correct, the triangle, medkit and vest are mandatory equipment. I know Austria requires a vest for every person in the car. Here I am not sure if one or two is the legal minimum, I just have one per seat stored in the door compartments, they are very cheap so why not.
Depending on the family, normally 1-2 cars. Parking is also a problem in the EU in most urban heavily populated cities, its normally quite expensive. Also insurance doubled in the last 2-3 years.
Very true, 1 or 2 cars is usually the maximum, or none if u use a bike or public transport to go where u need to go.
1-2 is pretty accurate but I feel like suburban families in Denmark at least, have moved towards 2 cars rather than 1, which used to be the norm a couple of decades ago. I guess people make more money now and cars are actually cheaper.
Now, I have 4, so I guess that makes me abnormal...
if you want to have multiple cars operational its not just the insurance, but also (at least in Germany) tax for each one plus the mandatory safety checkups (and ofc occasional repairs to pass it) every two years. Also parking space in denly populated areas tends to be expensive aswell. There are some people collecting cars or having a summer car tho, which (atleast in germany) can get different plates which will only allow usage in a predefined season or even switchable plates, which allow you to get one plate for two vehicles and you have to switch it to the one youre currently using (youre only allowed to use one vehicle at a time then obv).
So having ready to use cars you dont really drive frequently is burning a lot of money over here.
There are Families with more that two cars, but thats usually only common in rural areas where both parents aswell als one or multiple of their children have their own ones to get their daily business done (in rural regions parking space is less of an issue and public transportation is very limited there).
@@XerlashI live in Sweden in the countryside (almost), and is old, and have a number of different kind of vehicles, but only one car "in use", a BMW X3 30d 2011.
The "problem" is that this car cost me 1000 euro/year (insurance, tax, yearly (14 month!) car check) even if I don't drive a kilometre, and this cost is quite a lot under the average of ownership.
When thinking about towing, very few BMW X3 have been sold in Sweden without towing hitch.
I think in Europe and especially in the Nordic countries very few are towing "things" with a weight over 1,600 kg, and that means a B class driving licence is enough. For an X3 that limit is actually at about 1,100 kg, so you normally need an "extension" in your driving license, 750 kg that gives a total of 4250 kg.
By the way, does a driving license, class B (för cars/vehicles up to 3,500 kg total weight, in most European countries cost about 1,000-2,000 euro nowadays?
@@leiflillandt1488 at least in my reagion in GER (Ruhr Metropolis) everything under 2k for class b would be a dream. Its about 2.3 to 3k nowadays.
For non europeans: Class b is just cars and little trailers up to 3.5 mt including load. No bikes, Busses etc.
First of all, love your video's, great to see these differences! 👍
About the maximum speed: There are (in many European countries) 3 default speeds: within a village/city (50 km/h), outside the village/city (80 or 100 km/h, depending on the country) and the highway (120 or 130 km/h). So when driving around, you indeed already know what speed is allowed. This helps anticipating and predictability.
Same applies to the traffic signs: Using symbols in combination with shapes and coloring is safer, it's easier and faster to understand and from a greater distance. This is why the traffic signs are standardized in Europe. In the US (I have been driving there too) there does not seem to be one standard. Frequently there is a whole story written out, that you don't even have time for to fully read. This is confusing and thus less safe 🤷♂
Hi, Austria here, i would say that most of these things can be related to the most countries in Europe. Safety vests and triangles are a must to have with you at least here in austria. We had a Skoda Fabia ( yes, we have just one car, and we had no car for the last two years) and towed a lot of things with it.
Very nice channel here btw, love your honest interest in europes culture and behavings, never stop being this open minded, servus!
Yeah, and it's not only campers. I sometimes tow our company work trailer (mobile IT office for events) with our small company Kombi. Not just Autobahn, but also the typical hilly roads to some "here be dragons" part of the map with a smallish village.
I have a towhook on my 206cc lol
Servas
2 Carsten is about Anfrage but we got near to non Trucks here so towing with the car is normal and just makes more sense. A car can tow much so you dont need a truck to tow
@@ReneSchickbauer Didnt know that my coworker was towing her horse in a camper with her Fiesta. ;)
It is not only more common to have the safety gear, it is mandatory in Germany. You HAVE to have a west for you (and I believe at least 1 or 2 spares). And the warning triangle is also mandatory.
Actually, only one warning vest per car is required by law in Germany.
However, it is STRONGLY recommended to have as many as you have seats. When your car breaks down on the Autobahn, you want EVERYBODY in the car to wear one.
On that note, place them where you can grab them BEFORE leaving the car - maybe below the seats or in the glove compartment. In an emergency situation at the Autobahn, you don't want to have to open the trunk and possibly search through several layers of load before you can retrieve them.
@@arthur_p_dent which is why I wrote "I believe" :)
In my car, both front seats have pockets at their backs. That is where I have my vests. You can easily reach the pocket of the other seat respectively from your seat.
in winter you also need the snow chains with you for certain areas by law
Not only in Germany. Its mandatory in most of the European countries.
@@arthur_p_dent Wasn't it one vest *per occupant*?
Just to clarify on the no sign speed limits, In EU it generally works like this -
City road - you enter a city, the speed limit is 50, you have a sign that you have entered city so you do not need another sign to declare speed limit
Country road - any road after the crossed out city name, a.k.a. Outside of city, the speed limit is 90
Highway - you always have a sign notifying you that you are entering a highway, on highway speed limits differ per country, but most often its 130 km/h
These are the 3 main types of roads, and they have hard set limits in the law, so you dont need speed signs.
Of course, we still have speed signs, but these almost exclusively declare a change in speed limit (for instance a dangerous section of a highway may have speed limit reduced to 110)
These limits apply until there is another sign specifically cancelling this restriction, or an intersection.
Any Intersection automatically cancels any speed limit set by a traffic sign, so if you pass an intersection and the limit is intended to be reduced still, immediately after the intersection there will be a sign re-instating the reduced speed limit.
It’s simple really, I had no idea you had different standards in america to be honest.
i looked up the towing capacity for a 2014 VW Golf GTI on a american homepage and it stated 1000lbs - on a german site it's 3500lbs for trailers with brakes and 1500lbs for trailers without brakes - so it's all a regulation thing to protect the pickup-marked in the us
I belive its becuse in USA you need higer pressure on the tow hitch.
In Europe its common to have 80-90kg and USA have i think 10-15%.
If you follow that rule And i have 3 passengers (adult) in my car i can put 74 kg of cargo in car.
If i follow the european rule i can put
144kg of cargo.
And some cars that are alllowed to tow 3500kg here in europe cant tow that in usa becouse the cargo weight
in car is not enough for passengers and trailer
@@fulf Yes, the U.S. requires a higher tongue weight (for a given trailer weight) than Europe and that then requires a beefier towing vehicle in America. In addition, an ‘automatic’ trailer brake that is actuated when the trailer pushes into the trailer hitch (as will happen when the towing vehicle brakes) is common/mandatory for certain ranges of trailers.
I think these two aspects (tongue weight) and trailer brakes are feeding into each other. If the trailer itself can brake better/more, it requires less braking force to be transferred via the hitch from the vehicle to the trailer (and thus it can be stable with a lower tongue weight).
Even in europe the tow weights are heavily outdated to the lower end. With todays more powerful cars with much better brakes than in the old days, you could more or less double the permissable tow weight.
The only realistic danger is wobble because of faulty hitch pressure, but thats a problem you can encounter even within the current rules.
@@aphextwin5712 In Europe we need brakes on the trailer ift it weighs over 750kg.
What i can tell USA uses some kind of electrical brakes on trailers.
Here in europe we uses cables and drum brakes.
We dont use saftey chains becouse we have an ebrake that brakes the trailer if it comes deattached.
Maximum trailer weight is 3500kg (special drivers license) over that you need a semi truck license.
@@GoldenCroc The towing weights arent outdated at all, they are just too fucking high here in europe and due to this we're forced to drive so awkwardly slow with the only exception being czechia. Most US dudes can chill at 130 while towing their trailer, meanwhile we have to crawl at 80.
When my nephew bought his first car him came home with an old Saab. I, thinking there can't be much street credit in that, ask him what made him buy?
"It's was the only car in my price range that's got enginepower enough to pull a horse trailer.
I thought, then Dad don't have to drive Littlesister and her horse to her equestian events EVERY weekend."
Well, this Auntie thought, I suppose there's some street credit in driving around with a horse 😄 - and shead a tear: He's so cute and thoughtfull🥰
My household has two cars because my husband and i work in far appart places and have very different schedules.
The German standard for having warning vests in the car aren't the highest in Europe, because it's allowed to keep anywhere in the car (even in the trunk, which means in case of an accident you have to get out and walk around the car to get the vest). If you go on vacation in spain, you have to keep vests for all persons that could sit in that car (mostly 5) AND you have to store it where everyone can put it on before getting out. That's the much safer option if you asked me!
9 cars would be like 9000€ in insurance and registration costs only
In Austria and Germany you basically have a speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph) in town. Though in some parts of cities there is only 30 km/h (20 mph) but also sometimes 70 km/h (45 mph) but this exceptions are always given by a sign. The normal 50 km/h in town is not given by a speed limit sign but by a "begin of town" and "end of town" sign, which is basically simply a big standardised sign with the name of the town.
In the United States 25 mph (40 kph) in residential or school districts, 55 mph (88 kph) on rural highways, and 70 mph (112 kph) on rural Interstate highways. Those are all the standard speed limits, unless otherwise posted.
I am a big fan of splitting the children for different schools. That way the children in each school learn at a similar rate and it does not happen so fast that someone is completely left behind or totally bored by the things that are discussed in class. None of the schools is a dead end and after finisching the "Realschule" or even "Hauptschule" you can still move to the Gymnasium and get educated for university but you had the chance to learn at your rate and got a year longer to learn at a slower pace.
This way, those who understand faster and want to go to higher education get the chance for a more focussed and faster education but others still have all possibilities.
11:15 In most of Europe there are actually rules in place preventing that exact thing. There is a minimum mandatory distance of 5 metres between two sign posts, and no sign post can have more than 3 distinct boards on it (including auxiliary signs which specify time frames, or exceptions)
Well. No more than 3 traffic rule boards. They can have more if its information signs.
I think it was mentioned in one of your other videos that European countries have a far more developed public transport system, giving us far less need for more than one vehicle. It has become more common to see two car families, especially if both partners are working, but also partly due to the rise in out of town shopping centres that do not have a connecting bus route.
Is that even that true.
When I look at this videos is always a American moving from a suburban area into the core of a big European city. The core of every city have good public transport.
It's not like we have magic public transport out in the suburbian areas, ut it looks like people form the US just never se the suburbian areas in Europe. Almost like they belive they don't even exist.
7:50 we as a german household currently have 4 cars for 3 people, however one is without a number plate and kind of just sits there. So we have 1 car per person, which is above average for Germany. Many people stop at 2 cars, no matter how big the family.. When I recently turned 18 I never even thought of buying a truck. Im a car guy too so I ended up with a 1998 BMW E36 compact, and yes I was hoping it had a trailer hinge, but it does not sadly (but its ok because we still have 1 car with that has one). all 4 cars are small to crossover sized, since we don't need more space. Also instead of a Pickup truck we have a small car trailer for hauling bigger things (which seems like it would be laughed at in the USA)
Edit: Also often after the 2nd car the problem is not the cars being expensive, but the parking space doing so. Houses are officially required to have 2 parking lots per household, and since land is so incredibly expensive here (at least in south germany, city and countryside) most people don't build more that needed, to fit more buildings in a smaller area
One aspect that feeds into the size of vehicles common in Europe is that generally you need an extra truck driving license to drive any vehicle with a gross weight of more than 3.5 tons (in some countries the standard driving license is good up to 7.5 tons if you got that license before about 1995, as at that time the different license categories were harmonised across the EU).
I got my German license in 1999 before the new EU regs came into force, and still can drive a truck with 7,5 tons max gross weight. I was in a hurry to complete my driving test in 1999, because the following year, the rules changed to the standardized EU driving license classes (Old German class 3 -> New EU class B, which only allowed a max gross weight of 3,5 tons). Turns out I didn't need it, haven't driven a meter in a truck over 3,5 tons yet 😄.
Correct-
You had to finish your 18th Birthday up to the 31st of December 1998 and had to have already started your driving lessons to get the „old“ drivers license.
The old one also included the permission to tow with your car.
To get this permission with the „new“ license you had to take special lessons in towing…
Luckily I also was one of the last to get the old one! 😁
@@thomast.7329, here in the UK you had to have passed your driving test by 31st December 1996 to gain the extra categories, the new rules came in on 1st January 1997. But now we have left the EU, we are giving everyone the right to tow trailers with combined weight of 3.5t & there has been discussions about allowing people to drive up to 7.5t.
Hi, well I live in Belgium, which is a small country. So it doesn't take a long time to reach any border. At border crossings there will usually be big signs indicating the general rules on how fast you can go on all the different types of roads. (typically there's different speeds for residential zones (30 ~ 50km / h) - roads outside of residential zones ( 70 or 90km/h usually) - highways (120ish in most European countries). Most roads in Belgium/Netherlands are designed to make people drive at a certain speed. So even if you don't know what the speed limit is, if you just drive what is a 'safe speed', you'll be in the right ballpark anyway. It just won't feel safe to drive 50km/h in a 30 zone. Also in Europe it's mandatory to have high-visibility jackets for everyone in the car, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kid and an emergency triangle sign).
Not in the Netherlands though. They are only recommended but not mandatory.
The towing difference really surprises me as a European because most people tow stuff like trailers and caravans with regular family cars rather than SUVs and pickups. There's even a case in The Netherlands of someone towing with a regular sized caravan with a Smart car, which is an extreme but it's been done.
Regarding cars per household, I'm from Austria and my parents, who are higher middle class (doctor + teacher), share one car, although they both work full time. My dad rides his bicycle to the train station and then uses public transport to get to work.
Here in Australia it's common practice to put whatever amount of fuel in your car and then pay for it in shop, I think they still do this because it tempts you to buy other goods while your in the shop such as food and drink. You also have the option of paying at the pump with card.
I have heard the same rational mentioned for Germany. It is said that the margins on the actual sale of fuel is pretty low and that gas stations make more money with all the other things they sell.
Same here in NZ re: paying in shop.
Unless, it's self-service (no shop to go in to pay) - Waitomo fuel, are purely self-service (pay by card only)
@@aphextwin5712 in whole europe you fill up first an then you go to pay,..
Same in UK. My local petrol station is part of our big Sainsbury supermarket. You pick up the hose to fuel and it asks whether you want to pay at the pump or in store, so the cashiers have notice that the pump is running. And I can use my loyalty card to spend or accumulate points.
In nz we mostly prepare, to many drive offs. Either in shop, at pump or app
From Sweden here, and almost all she said is the same here as well.
I've never been in a car here without safety triangles, vests, an axe, a towing line and such. When my siblings and I got our licences we were 5 adults sharing 2 cars (we had a really shitty one for emergencies too but we never really used that). Now I live in a town with lots of public transport, so I don't need a car at all and am mostly fine with my bike :) We have always used family cars to do heavy work, like pulling up small trees, ship gravel and towing a bunch of stuff.
Also, probably not exactly the same as in Germany. But generally we have 70 km/h on general country roads, 50 km/h in urban areas, 100 km/h for roads with 2 lanes one direction and one lane the other (with mid-rail), and motorways 110/km/h. Otherwise, there can also be stated speed limits with a number on the sign.
having a second car in a family is a rather new trend result of more moms having a job herself or needing a car to get the kids around. Also keep in mind most german towns have good public transports which make needing a car more of a point for transporting goods or getting where no busses are
I think outside of cities it has always been relatively common. Traditionally the father would drive to work and the mother needed a car for grocery shopping/ taking the kids to friends or hobbies
Well, in my house (formerly my parent's house) there have been at least two cars for more than 25 years and three cars for the best part of 24 years. But we live in a rural area where everyone with a job basically needs a car.
I think insurance can affect Car number also. In Finland (and EU) insurance is per Car and in USA it is by driver? So in Finland You pay 8 insurance fee from 8 cars, but there is 1 driver
Here in Germany having a lot of cars is pretty rare from what I've seen.
Most Families have one to two cars for both Parents to get to work or to be mobile when one is at work.
Mostly at max 3 if there is an Adult child living with them. Some families have a smaller and a Bigger car for example. To have usage options. And if something bigger is needed it is often times simply Rented.
In My Family, for example, my Parents always had two cars, my Father was Retired, my Mom still working so Mom took her car to work while Dad did grocery shopping and such when my Mother retired shortly before my 18th Birthday her car was kept and given to me when i had my license otherwise it would have been sold since it wasn't needed anymore.
Well having a 2nd summer car is not unheard aswell like a sporty vehicle
And it was probably true that we actually attach all sorts of things to all cars that have a trailer hitch, only recently saw an Audi S6 that towed a big Mercedes Sprinter, looks very strange, but from my point of view not crazy. 😅😂
I live on a hill farm in northern England, we have 3 drivers in the family and 4 cars: a small French diesel French hatchback to keep the fuel costs down, a Renault Convertible as a toy, a really basic Citroen MPV - again for cheap lugging and a top of the range Mitsubishi Montero/Shogun for towing, winter and holidays. The Puegeot hatch back and Citroen Berlingo have 1.6 diesel and petrol engines respectively and have 50% less fuel consumption than the Mitsubisi has on the country roads around our home so we tend to use them and use the Truck in the snow or when we have a long distance to drive on motorways where the MPG is MUCH better.
Same for me. My Mum always had the bigger car for family trips and work while my dad had a smaller car to get to work.
Now it's a bit diffrent. We have 4 cars because I got the old one from my dad when he bought a new one and my sister bought one for herself to get to work/university
In Sweden it costs ~$500 to get a drivers license and it's 4 different tests. If you need drivers lessons too, the cost can easily jump to $1500-$2000. Most need to spend at least 20 hours in a car and 5 hours studying to be able to pass the tests.
German here: learned to drive/got my driving licence 2014/15 and it cost me around 2500€ and i passed both tests on 1st try
Here in NL you at least need 24hour and 2 tests. All togetter you will pay around 3500euro to get it (but then you still have to pay for you license card that can ferry between 35/70euro depending on the province) and you loose your license way faster then you got it😅
i like your reaction videos, because it feels like you're genuine. there are a lot of channels that make me feel the person is trying to cater to a european (specifical) audience for views, but you have actually things to say about what you watch. i really appreciate that.
The yellow sign Hayley mentions at 9:23 means that you are entering a urban area (actually the sign she shows is the one telling you that you are leaving the town, it has a red cross line though its name. The name above is the next town or village). The general speed limit in such an area is 50 km /h. Outside on normal highways the general speed limit is 100 km/h. These limits are valid unless there is a specific sign giving a different speed limit (usually lower, e.g. in places with a lot of accidents).
The restriction is valid until the next intersection or a white sign with the speed limit figures crossed ouzt by black lines.
In the Netherlands they have small speed limit signs every 100 meters on the edge markers of their freeways, to remind the drivers of a speed limit.
Also to keep in mind: speeding tickets inside urban areas are way more expensive than those outside ^^
In Finland it's pretty much the same but I think (due to more longer distances), every major road needs speed signs every so often, I thinks max limit is few kilometers? In south this usually isn't a problem as there's plenty of intersections with other main roads or residential streets (all of which need to have their own enter/leave speed signs to valid directions) but somewhere like Upper-Central Fin or Lapland you could easily go for 10s of kilometers and have nothing but maybe random forest track or small non-residential zone community of 10-15 houses. So it's nice to have a reminder every now and then about "was this 80? maybe 60 due that village? a summer 100?".
Here those white speed signs are being gradually changed to normal yellows as it's been long clear that people (and these days even those sign cameras) don't always read them right. Why have a sign that doesn't work?
In Germany, most households have one or two cars. I think a big factor here is the maintenance costs for a car in Germany. These are relatively high. These are the tax, which is calculated according to cylinder capacity, then the insurance, which is calculated depending on the driver and vehicle and of course costs for fuel and repairs. Not to forget the TÜV, which must be renewed every two years. Grüße aus Deutschland!
Vienna, Austria: We are a family of three with one car (Skoda Fabia Kombi). We mostly use the public transportation systems unless you have to transport heavy stuff. We take the car to go to rural areas or on vacation in Central Europe. On very rare occasions we could need a second car, but to own 3 or more cars is unthinkable. If you need a truck once in a while you go and borrow one.
Back in Finland in the 1980s families had strictly one car which was used multifunctionally. Even rather small cars, Fiats etc. had towing hooks and roof bars installed. Any car was kind of expensive at the time and most people simply couldn't afford to have a fleet of cars. However the number of off-road vehicles, Land Cruisers etc. was higher than expected. They were tax-free to encourage people buy them, since in case of war they could have been taken by the military.
1 car in our family (2 adults, 2 kids), and it stands in front of the house most of the time. We mostly take it out on the weekends. Daily commuting is by public transport.
In Denmark, We tend to have none til two cars in general. Because the distance is smaller, and we have a much better public transportation, a Big bikeculture and a much heavy tax on cars, well it make sense. Thanks for your reactions ♥️🥰 Greetings from Denmark 🇩🇰🇩🇰
I can say many bad things about Denmark but 5 years there and I only needed a car maybe three times. And I didn't even have a bike. When you Danes get something right, you tend to get it really right.
Cars towing stuff is common across Europe. Traditionally in Europe, Volvo saloons and estates have been ideal for towing caravans, trailers, horseboxes etc. What is interesting to me is that Volvos have always been popular in the US, but obviously not chosen for (amongst many other things) their ample towing capabilities!
I have three Volvos, all three have a tow bar! 😅
Back in the 80s in Kentucky we towed our 16' ski boat boat with my father's Volvo 244 from Lexington to a lake getting into the eastern Kentucky mountains. Higher altitudes, etc. out west, maybe not a good idea, but in east, no problem.
@@MrZcar350 Works fine everywhere. A 16 foot boat is very light, relatively.
diesel engine SUV have only ideal perfect tow to caravans. if have small car not can tow. no power.
@Matti Virta You'd be surprised how much you can get done with a basemodel 2.4L 140hp i5 Volvo V70 and a towhitch, probably more than most American truck owners do
In Germany families have one, sometimes two cars, if one is away the whole day to bring one to work and the other one is for purposes to handle the kids or other extras.
But every family has typically one bike per person, to make the small ways by bike, if you don't walk to school, to train, to the grocery store.
The things with speed limits, there are designated speed limits based on the class of road you are on, not needed to be signposted - you are expected to know, any variation away from the standard, the the speed limit will be posted. The US system is to post the speed limit repeatedly, on a sign that says ‘speed limit’. Also, the European system allows different categories of vehicle to have different speed limits without complicated signs, in the US 18 wheelers have the same limits as cars.
I live in The Netherlands and have German relatives, it's quite normal to have only one or maybe two cars. Also public transport is very good and there are cycle paths everywhere so there is no need to have many cars because we have choice. Our own daily car is a Volvo V70 which my wife takes to work every day and can tow a caravan during holidays but also takes lots of load, like IKEA flatpacks. I also have a small sports car with a tow hook (a Volvo 480, designed for but never sold in the USA) with which I actually towed a trailer once! Though the tow bar is usually used for a bike rack.
I know only a few families that have more than 2 cars and often one of the cars is a company car provided by the employer of one of the family members. Sometimes 2 cars are needed because one of the partners works in shifts and then public transport does not run as regularly. Many also forget that car maintenance can be expensive: taxes, insurance, regular certified car inspections, not to mention gas prices.
@@manub.3847 My neighbour has two cars for tax reasons. He has large panel van from his employer which he cannot use privately more than 500 km per year otherwise he has to pay €385 tax a month. So he has also a cute little Renault Twingo which is cheap to run and still practical and two motorcycles for fun. Also he knows he has a friendly neighbour with a Volvo estate 😂
Here in Norway, I would say I've seen houses with either 2 cars or rarely 3 cars, and sometimes I've seen some that have more but it's either a broken down car or it's not working just sitting there until they decide to sell it as body parts where people can pay for the part they want or need.
The amount of cars per household blew my mind when I first noticed it.
I noticed that when I used to visit the States a lot is that one of the driving factors to have more cars per household, is space. In Arkansas, you *had* to have a car to go to the store, or to get anywhere really. That suddenly means that only 1 car per household is a much more impactful than over here in Europe where walking or biking to a store, or taking public transport to work is much more viable.
A lot of places even had one or two seemingly derelict cars parked outside, either as a spare or for use as spare parts source.
I remember going from Germany to Sardinia/ Italy crossing the Alps towing our camper trailer with a Mini Cooper. It was a funny thing to watch 😅
I'm from Romania... here is mandatory by law to have 2 reflective triangles, a (small) fire extinguisher and a first aid kit in the car at all times. The reflective vest is not mandatory but is recommended and pretty much everyone has it. ❤
About Pfand, it's a little different than what she said - every container that contains something to drink, except for a few exceptions at the moment, you have to pay a deposit between 8ct and 25ct per container. But starting next year (2024) there are no exceptions anymore. The deposits depends on the container. If it is reused like beer bottles the Pfand is lower and if it has to be recycled the Pfand is high. And by "high" I mean 25ct. Some people that are not bothered to bring the container back to the shop just drop them next to a public garbage can. Homeless or poor will collect them and bring the container back to the shop to get the Pfand.
About school - she is missing information about the system - unlike she said you can change between the different paths. Primary includes grade 4 and with grade 5 you start secondary in one of three paths and grade 5 and 6 are like try out years. One path is a more practical school (Hauptschule), one is more theoretical (Gymnasium) and leads to university qualification and the last school type (Realschule or Mittelschule) is between both. After grade 6 you can change to another path and after grade 10 you can change to the school that leads to university if you are qualified. If not you learn a trade and go to vocational school. But after learning a trade and going to vocational school that can still qualify you for a university in your trade - for example a machinist can study to be a mechanical engineer.
Gas stations in Europe will send you a bill if you forget to pay. They have cameras that take a picture of your license plate, so they will figure out who you are and send a letter "pay us or we sue you". We also have pumps with payment terminals that work the same way as in the US, but not all gas stations have them. Sometimes, you'll also get a station that has one payment terminal which you can go to instead of going inside to pay.
Here in Denmark we have pay by plate, in major gas stations.. no need to get your money or cred card out.
In very rural areas in Germany you'll often find gas stations that *only* have payment terminals because they're not getting enough traffic to pay for employees. I didn't even know these types gas stations existed until I moved to a less populated area though.
There are 2 categories for car trailers in the EU. The first category is sub 750 kg (light trailers), no extra licence required, most of the cars can tow such trailers. The second category is above 750 kg and that's where you need a special licence and a proper car.
In Germany (as well as Austria, were I live) you know that once you pass a city limits sign, you are normally supposed to not go faster than 50km/h. There could be additional signs if another speed limit is valid. In Austria, sometimes a city limits sign is accompanied by a "70" sign, meaning you go 70km/h until the speed limit is reduced to 50 (by a crossed out white 70 sign or a "50" sign. It also can be a 30 or 40 sign (the latter seems to be more common in Western Austria (where I live).
It's the same un Latvia and i would've say in most of Europe. One of the first thing you learn in driveing school is 50 km/h in city, town and 90 km/h when you leaving city/town boarders. Also with accompanied signs with limit nost commonly 100, 70 ir 30, wich are reduced either by crossroads or 50/90 sign etc.
@@Zeek951 yeah. A maximum of 50 inside of urban areas is probably the norm in Europe. Outside the cities and highways the general speed limit seems to range from 80 to 100. Sometimes maybe 110 or 120 on selected expressways that are just ranked slightly below highways. Eg. in France the Route Nationale got a speed limit of 110 if there 4 lanes.
Same in Lithuania
@@philippk819 When i started driving around 7 years ago some highways were 140, now most of them are 80 to 100. 😔
In most big cities in Germany, people often don't even have a car because there is not enough space for it and the search for a parking space can be very exhausting.
In the more rural areas, people usually all have at least one car. Families usually have two vehicles. But as was already clear in the video, Germans do not have a special vehicle for every occasion, but use vehicles somewhat more universally. Of course, there are people (like me) who own several vehicles because it's a hobby ;-)
By the way, I think your videos are very good and I am glad that, contrary to widespread opinion, there is not just the stereotypical American who has no idea about the rest of the world and doesn't want to have one.
I watched your video about the Citroen 2 CV earlier and found your comments very appropriate. By the way, the car is nicknamed "Ente" (Duck) in Germany. I grew up with these cars and I am pleased that you have recognised exactly the essence of the vehicle. It is not fast, it decelerates the mind, it has its very own charm that you either understand or not.
I am glad that I stumbled across your channel and hope for many more videos.
Kind regards from Bornheim, Nordrhein Westphalen, Germany
I live in Norway and we have 2 cars and I use my car to pull my camper. The thing with recycling bottles. Here in Norway over 92% of bottles get recycled.
I live in Finland and one of my friends needed more space for his old Volvo coffin hatchback to haul his painting tools and such. He basically disassembled the back seat and used (now actually impressive amount) of space to haul his tools and paints and ladders ect. around. I think he even registered it as a van so it was less taxed. If he ever needed to carry people to something, it took him like 20 minutes to re-assemble the back seats and he was good to go.
Those old Volvos are just insane when it comes to cargo space. My dad always said "you can fit your whole bedroom in that damn thing and probably still use it" 😂
Where I live in Germany, there is an average of about one car per adult. This may vary by location, as in bigger cities there are less parking spaces but instead more public transportation.
An emergency First Aid kit (check the expiration date and REPLACE!), Warning triangle and High visibility vests, one for EACH seat 0 5 seats? 5 vests) are mandatory in each vehicle. I rent per Car sharing in Berlin, and the vests are in the glovebox. You have to access them before you exit the car.
There are 10 of thousands of people towing caravans all over the Uk and the rest of Europe ( manly pissing off other drivers 😵💫😵💫🤣🤣🤣)
I used to do it for years when our kids where little , I was always trying not to hold up other traffic but I know I did from time to time
Australia also has pump first pay after for petrol. We do have most bowsers with amount selection also so if you only want $20 you can select that pump that and it cuts off automatically. on rare occasions there might be petrol thief's, but they are usually caught by police pretty fast as their number plate is read when they drive in.
@5:09 As a german i have never seen someone tow with a microcar lol. But the rest checks out. Also love the sign @9:48 the golf zooming on the Autobahn :D
On the rare ocasion that I see a microcar pull a caravan it's verry lightweight and often foldable. They know where their limits are.
In Sweden, I would say it is common to have one car per adult in the household so if a hosehold has more than 2 cars it is because it has adult kids still living at home, unless you live in an appartment where the family would have far fewer cars.
Well.. people that have a business.car typical have one aditinall car, and that is not to uncommon.
@@matsv201 yes like I said, basically one car per adult in the household which on average is 2 cars.
@@MaskinJunior Well.. yea sort of.. but it can probobly be specificed more.
Downtown pretty much everyone have no cars, some few people have 1.
In the "projects", high density suburbs, 0-1 cars are common.
In the low density suburbs and the villages everyone have one car, most people have 2.
Out about in nowhere pretty much everyone have at least 2 cars, and allot of people have 3. Where i live most families have 3, even families with just two adults.
@@matsv201 I you have been with the business for a longer time, it's common to not own a second vehicle in Germany.
I'd say that one or two cars per household is generally how it is in Europe. I live in Denmark (Northern Europe), and just the insurance cost for a car is pretty damn high here, not to mention purchase price, so you are spot on.
Thank you for all your fun and educational videos 👍🏻
It's always interesting to get a different PoV on things
wish you and yours a nice weekend 😃.... Oh, and the same to everyone here of course 🤗
Germany is similar, two per household outside cities is common.
I've also been asked why I fully insure (Vollkasko) my 2012 car (that insurance covers accidents where you are at fault, breakins and natural causes, like a tree falling onto the roof):
Simply, the market price of a similar car is way over it's value atm. Therefore, it makes sense to spend more on insurance than the car is worth.
@@lyaneris 👍
I expected it to be something similar in Germany, thank you for confirming that.
I don't own a car personally. Public transportation is great in my area, and my work is only 20 kilometers away from where I live.
Sure II could have a car, but I don't really need one. If insurance prices were lower I would have one for sure
Really? None is now very normal among young people. Getting a car as soon as you legally can is not a thing anymore.
@@iamTheSnark A lot of young people usually own a car here, as soon as they can afford one. It gives a sense of freedom and independence
At Europe it's illegal to drive car which does not have "warning triangle", if you are spotted they sometimes check your safety gear. If something is missing, you might get fine.
Here in The Netherlands cars are very expensive.
Even if you dont drive it a lot, there are taxes, insurance etc.
Most families have 1 car, families where man and wife both work sometimes have 2, depending how far they have to travel every day.
WOW! I never knew this about the US! Aussies use sedans to tow caravans all the time, with RTA approval of course, so the German photos looked normal to me! It’s very rare for Aussies to own more than one car. Families with grown children might have a car each for independence, but eventually they move out. Most cars are parked in the garage,whether attached or separate, but only the wealthy have a double garage or park on the street.
I can say pretty sure that the most common to see for a family living in a villa/house usually have 2 cars, due to the different jobs and or different times starting work etc. but in the city i live in its normally 1-2 cars on a household ``) I live in sweden ``). Great video IWrocker, keep up the good work ♥
In Germany, we have tons of road signs. So many, in fact, that we often say it's a "Schilderwald" - a forest of signs - out there. It can get confusing as heck...
What Hayley was explaining is that there are general rules for speed limits that are not specifically made clear to you by signs. In towns or cities, you are expected to go 50 km/h. Out of towns or cities, you can go up to 100 km/h, and on the Autobahn we have the notorious "no speed limit" rule, but a recommended max of 130 km/h.
All of these can and will be supplemented by signs, though. So if you get into a town and go 50, but then see a sign that says 30, you have to go 30. Sometimes in big cities you may even be allowed to go faster than 50 km/h, like 60 or 70 - sometimes there's even highways within the city limits, like in Berlin for example. Out of town you may often encounter a speed limit of 80 or 70, since those back roads are not always super wide, in great condition, or they're very winding and not super easy to drive fast on. On the Autobahn, a lot of parts are max 120 km/h. I'd even say more parts of the Autobahn have speed limits than don't. But that's just my personal experience.
Also, on the topic of safety vests, those are mandatory to have. Some countries in Europe mandate them only for the driver, some for every person you could potentially have in your car (so if you have 5 seats you need 5 vests, even if you mostly drive your car alone). You'll also need an "up to date" first aid kit. Usually you need to replace that every few years because the sterile parts in it (bandages, bandaids, etc.) won't be sterile anymore. And that reflective triangle Hayley mentioned at the start is also a must. If you ever get into a traffic control, they might not only ask for your paperwork, but also these three things.
Getting my license cost around 3,000 euros and took about three months. We take a theory exam and then we do a practical one where we are accompanied by our driving teacher and the person evaluating us as they give us instructions on where to drive and what to do (so we can show that we know what to do in any given situation). Our license doesn't expire, though sometimes there's discussion on whether it should, because people don't always adhere to the rules anymore after having their license for a while, or senior citizens might not be as well-equipped to handle cars anymore as they used to be when they got their license.
On the topic of having multiple cars per person, I simply wouldn't be able to afford it. The insurance, fuel, and maintenance cost would far exceed my disposable income. I also wouldn't have any space to put them, and I don't have any need for special-purpose vehicles like trucks or pick-ups or whatever else there may be.
As for the gas stations, we have the ones with a shop and clerk attached, and those without (self-service). For the ones with clerk you pay after pumping, for the self-service ones you put your card in upfront and set a maximum amount that they can deduct from your account - I think this is what you described as well.
Anyway, I wrote a novel. To anyone who read all of this: Have a cookie. 🍪
you did great in explaining
@@MichaelDeSanta. Thank you very much!
Here in Italy you do need to renew your license, at first every 10 years, older people every 5, 3, 2, and finally every year
I moved to Germany from NZ 2020. I simply swapped my NZ drivers licence over for a German one. I understand why it costs so much for one and also why it takes as long as it does. (Plus the exam/test, thats just with most things German really sorry to say) German citizens have a higher and stricter education when it comes to Driving where as my country for Example, I can get my full licence in a matter of 18mnths after the age of 15yrs old.
They forgot that the diesel nozzle in Germany is thicker than the petrol nozzle, so it's difficult to fill up with the wrong fuel. super written.greetings from Germany
From Spain here. Normally we have around here 1 or maybe 2 cars, depending on the income of the household or the needs from the family. High insurance and road taxes costs are the main deterrent for us to own more vehicles.
i live in switzerland and i tow trailers with the mercedes vito(company car for work). it can tow. if you do not overload the trailer it works fine. but you are limited to 2 tons of weight. a dodge ram tows a little bit more than double.
in some areas you pay high amounts of money in term of yearly taxes which are applying to horsepower or engine size. so it makes sense to tow with a 2 liter 4 cylinder turbo engine instead of an 6.7 liter v8.
insurance is also higher for high horsepower cars.
Regarding towing and stuff like that: To be honest there are tons of things you notice as a non-american of how some marketing departments/commercials have some things in the US especially in an iron grip... Not to say that isnt the case elsewhere because it surely is but you get the feeling people get more of their info about all kinds of stuff strictly from commercials in the US...
I can name a few examples on top of the "you need a massive pickup, preferably a "dualie" to tow even a small trailer" which seem to be generally accepted.
"you need a massive pickup, preferably with 35" monster mudder tires to go on an unpaved road" and "you need a massive pickup, preferably a "dualie" to transport a small hand pulled lawn mower..." Now that I think about it, seems like massive pick ups is the common denominator in a lot of car myths. Pretty funny.
* this
To get the driving licence '23 here in germany you have to invest around 2.000 €/$ (or more) for theoretical and practical driving tests...
That's really insane! 😳
ich melde mich bald an und es sind bei mir 3200...
You have to think that the death rate in traffic accidents in US are about seven times higher per million people than in Sweden.
That is insane!
I think the death rate in Germany is only slightly higher than in Sweden. Sweden has about 200-220 deaths per 10.5 million people, and of these about 30-45 are motorcyclists, even though the motorcyclists are only about 300,000.
It's a huge cost for the society (the taxpayers!!!) if a 20-30 years old person die or get severe hurt.
So would be very interesting to have an efficient driving license education for the society. And now I only think of the money!
My grandma has a caravan/RV company and I'd really like to be allowed to drive the larger RVs -usually around 4.2t. I could actually get the 7.5t license with an 5.5t RV, but it still costs 10 000€ and since I won't be working full time at the company, that's just not worth it.
On the other hand, I'm one of 6 people at the company who is confident driving trailers (while 20+ are allowed to - old license advantages).
My B was 2400€ in 2018, BE was 800€ I believe and I did it in 6 days (all licenses are really expensive, imo).
People in Europe tow racecars to the track with either by an open trailer towed by a van or a regular car or with emregency rescue vehicles - these are basically van chassis but with a platform behind the cab, vehicles like VW Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter, Fiat Ducato, Iveco Daily.
Greetings from Finland! Road culture in Germany is almost similar to Finland. Even the signs looked quite similar. It is true that when you drive in the city, for example, the speed limit is 50, but the speed sign can be "missing" because everyone knows what the speed limit in the city is 50, except if you drive on a restricted street or a courtyard street, when the sign shows 30/20. In Finland, the price of a driver's license starts at around 600e - The B course(passenger car) includes the basic teaching of the passenger car course (10 driving hours of your choice with a car/simulator, a risk management course, learning environment, learning material, and the use of a car in the first driving test), as well as EAS online theory[Ensimmäisen Ajokortin Suorittajan / First driver's license training] lessons of your choice. Recycling has increased tremendously in the last decade in Finland, and a lot of drinking bottles/cans are recycled. Speaking of recycling and cars, a friend of mine raised the money for his first car by collecting bottles.
As for speed limits - usually when you cross the country border there usually are some general rules what apply for the country - in the city, outside the city, at the highway (in Czechia, it's 50, 90, 130 km/h). There are another limitations, where it makes sense - around the schools, in dangerous places (where e. g. lot of accidents happened), in the areas where is lot of pedestrians,...
As a Dutchy i have a 5 door hatchback car with tow hook, a motorbike and ofcourse a bicycle. This is plenty to do all i want. No 6 cars needed.
The school system in Germany is much more complicated and dynamic than shown.
I was on the "Realschule" (Junior high School) and had the chance to do the upper grades (11,12,13) on the Gymnasium (since my grades were good enough) but i decided to do a dual system vocational training with the possibility to continue onto a technical college (in my field of training since my grades were good enough). I did two years of work after the 13th grade and went to the advanced technical college afterwards where i got my "Diplom" (comparable to a bachelors degree). The "Diplom" is no longer possible since our system was changed to the bachelor and master degree system after i had finished my education.
Children can switch horizontally if their grades allow it and they get a recommendation from the school.
Cars, in general, are much more expensive here in Europe than is the USA. Also, referring your earlier reaction video, public transportation is much more readily available and thus the need to have a many cars per household is greatly reduced. So in the end, I guess the combined effect is that we have to use our cars more “efficiently”. 8:30
I just found your channel and I have to thank you for doing it. Keep up the excellent work, your videos are interesting, entertaining and informative all at the same time. 👍😎
Thank you! Glad to have you as part of this awesome community 🎉
right. depending on the type of car, you spend around 2k EUR on Tax an Insurance /pa for each car. That does not include one driven mile gasoline or maintenance... Especially in Germany, the far left wing "Green" Party is doing its best, to hinder you from using your car in cities. furthermore, they add each year increasing moronic "co2"-costs onto your gasoline bill. Unless your houshold income belongs to the upper 10%-class, you absolutly have no chance to own more than one or two cars...
Here in Bulgaria the speed limits are 50 km/h in population centers, on intercity roads 90 km/h, on the highway 120 km/h.
You do have areas with a lower speed limit, but it's often obvious why. For example, intersections on intercity roads you often have a sign for 60 km/h speed limit. The lower speed limit is in effect for a short distance after the sign, in this example usually just enough to cover the intersection.
Regarding the school systems: From my own experience in US schools and my daughter in German schools plus in international schools. I went to a high school that had up to three levels of classes per subject: regular classes, advanced placement classes and classes for kids who were slower or had more difficulty in a certain subject matter. Personally, I think this is the optimal system because it allows children to be challenged and move forward more quickly in subjects where they have strnghts and at the same time be in regular classes or get help where they are just "average" or are having difficulties. This allows education to be more tailored to each child's abilities rather than categorising a child overall based on certain subject matters which is definitely unfair and can penalise and hold back a child.
Therefore you've got dif. Schools in Germany. ;)
(Grundschule; basics, everyone goes through it, then there's Hauptschule; Wirtschaftsschule, Realschule, Gymnasium)
In Norway every store selling cans and bottles are required to take the empty bottles and pay you for them. That's why almost every store will have a reverse vending machine for them to save staff from counting them.
We have a few guys in my town who go around collecting bottles, because there's actually a lot of money in it. I think they make somewhere between $20-50 a day.
In Germany it's the same ;)
@@m0rd1c3 I actually work with Tomra, which is the largest suppliers of reverse vending machines for bottles and cans. They have over 82000 machines worldwide, with Germany being the biggest market.
Wait you get paid??? In Germany we just get the deposit back that we paid on top of the actual price
@@Gapb_TheRealOneTho Yes. That's how it works, so reverse vending other people's bottles is basically stealing... lawfully.
@@AudunWangen In Germany it's legal except for taking them out of trash cans, but I guess stealing trash is illegal in most countries.
There is some rules here in Sweden regarding speed-limits.
When passing a sign with village-name the speed is 50km/h when exiting village it’s 70km/h. Signs with different speeds may follow.
The thing with owning multiple cars in Germany, I would say, depends a lot from the demographic/area you live in. I've found some numbers stating that the average german household has about 1,14 cars.
I myself currently own 2 cars, a compact car for daily use and a "fun" car for summer/weekend driving or an occasional track day.
Speaking of track days, from time to time I am looking into options for trailering my car to the track and most of the time I would choose a van, because the extra storage space for tires, tools etc is very attractive for me.
germany has 0,63 vehicles per capita and america 0.89 vehicles per capita with this they are one of the highest ratios on the globe only small city states are in front of them and these numbers are only registered vehicles.
I bet if you take out everyone living in cities you get around 1 per adult/2 per classical household.
In Europe there are standard speed limits, one in city/urban area, one on the roads outside urban areas and a third one on motorways. So unless something else is specified by a sign, you always know what the limit is just by knowing on which of these three types of roads you are on.
We had to stop using single use plastic bags in Australia too about 5 years ago and instead they sell multiple use plastic bags for 15 cents each or you can buy good cooler bags for keeping your cold and frozen food and drinks until you get home except that you have to make sure you remember to bring them with when you go shopping lol.
Or you forget these bags, buy everytime one or two or three new bags. I have a good pile of reusable cloth bags at home (Germany) 😕
@@kilsestoffel3690 well we have too many bags so I would go back home to grab them or if I’m just getting a few things we would carry them in our hands but if there’s quite a few things we would leave them in the trolley and load them in the car bag them after we get home lol
@@andyossie yeah, the bag with the bag next to the door... I always forget to Grab it
Back in the day, we had two horses, which we moved around with an Audi A4. It was a quattro with 3 liter diesel, so it worked just fine, It had a rating of 1.8 metric tons I think. Before that we had a Skoda octavia 4x4, that was ok to tow a trailer with one horse, two was a bit of a struggle 😅
As an Australian living in the US, i used a Ford F150 to tow my 32 ft camper, In Australia i used a Ford Falcon with a V8 motor to tow 18 ft camper. I Used helper springs and air shocks to tow a camper or a car trailer. it was the normal way to tow back 30 or 40 years ago.
Hi :) Here in Denmark, it is very normal to have a hook at the back of the car, for either a caravan or a trailer, which is widely used to drive larger items to the recycling center or for larger purchases, e.g. in IKEA, or a hardware store.
In Denmark, the speeds are 50 km/h in cities (unless otherwise indicated on signs, e.g. near schools, etc.), and 80 km/h on main roads, and 90 km/h on motorways (near motorways, where is prohibited for cyclists and pedestrians), and finally 110 /130 km/h on motorways.
Here in Denmark, you must have completed a minimum of hours on traffic theory and pass both a theory and driving test before you can get a driving license. We have a lot of signs which are very close to standard in Europe, but for the most, you don't need too many signs, 'cause you do learn how to respond to the surroundings when you have passed a driving test. :)
We also have a well-functioning recycling system, each home or apartment building has different waste containers to sort the home's waste, both for plastic, metal, paper, cardboard, glass and residual waste from the kitchen etc.
Here, it is most normal to use your petrol or payment card and enter it in the payment machine at the pump before starting. It registers the number of liters you pump out, and you can get a receipt immediately, and if you use a petrol payment card, you will also be sent an email with all the information about quantity, price, place and time.
I use my petrol payment card, and do fill up the tank completely, because that way, after each refueling, I can calculate what my average consumption of petrol per kilometer has been since the last refueling, and is a good way to keep an eye on whether something might be wrong with the car, or you have been driving fast for a long time, or perhaps you have forgotten to check the air pressure in the tires. :)
Small correction: There are only three general speed limits in Denmark: 50 km/h (city roads), 80 km/h and 130 km/h (motorways). These can be overridden by signs with other limits, both higher and lower. Not above 130 km/h, though. The standard speed limits are posted on large signs when you enter Denmark by road.
Large trucks (> 3500 kg) are limited to 80 km/h. Cars with trailers are limited to 80 km/h, unless the trailer is "Tempo 100" approved, in which case the limit is 100 km/h on motorways.
When I was a kid, in Australia (many decades ago), there was a 5c deposit on glass soft drink bottles that would be refunded at Point of Sale everywhere. When our family went to large outdoor events my siblings and I would walk through the crowd, soliciting their empties. We would then return them to the concession stands in exchange for drinks and food. This not only kept us busy, fed and happy. It also took the pressure off of our parents to go broke in pursuit of peace. Saved a lot of cleanup work and dangerous broken glass for the venues.
I think what she's saying about the speed limits is that a lot of signs have different meanings. Like the example she mentioned, if you leave a town you know there is a speed limit of 100 that is the "regular" speed, and the sign that indicates you are leaving the town is also the sign that indicates the speed even if there is nothing about the speed explicitly on the sign. What this leads to is that if you're driving along on a country road and if for whatever reason you are unsure of the speed limit you can pretty much make an educated guess based on where you are and most likely you'll be correct. It takes a bit more energy to learn the full meaning of all signs, but when you do know them I believe it makes you a more cognizant driver.
German here. Whether and how many cars you have depends on where you live. Many people who live in big cities don't have a car because they don't need one because public transport is very well developed. Many large cities are now trying to remove cars entirely from the inner cities, so there are fewer and fewer parking spaces at ever higher prices or driving bans are imposed on some vehicles.
I live in a very rural area and here you need a car because public transport is far too rare here. In contrast to a city, practically every family has at least one car here. We have two cars as my wife and I both work. Our children are now teenagers and will soon be getting their driver's license and then their own cars.
It really shows how skewed towards the Cities the discussion about general limiting of driving in EU is when you start to realize that if you live anywhere outside the direct suburban areas, there's almost literally no public transportation. Sure, you may have busses and/or trains stopping several times a day but they're either at unusable times or at unusable distances. This is universal problem everywhere and it is.. oh so convenient.. to forget when talking about this.
Living in FIN, I'm still extremely salty about them deciding that the direct morning (0730 and 0830) "school bus runs" would NOT take other commuters. Yeah, those "school bus runs" were a lifeline for many working people in this community. 1st "normal run" was at 1015, with change.. Yeah, that's a no-go. And trains? We get like.. 2 stops, per direction, per day despite being on the Main Line.
G'day Ian. Towing using cars was common in Australia too. Needed to make sure the caravan or trailer being towed was not too heavy and so on the small side.
This kept Australian production Holden, Falcon and Valiant cars in production as being better able to cope with towing.
A film from about 1949 Victoria, before the Holden cars became common , with lots of towing by cars for summer holidays :
th-cam.com/video/EJBtElrbdtw/w-d-xo.html
Early colour film insight to a different era we have evolved from.