What Americans need to understand about driving in Germany

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2025

ความคิดเห็น • 69

  • @arnodobler1096
    @arnodobler1096 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +69

    Winter tires and summer tires not only have different treads because of ice and snow, but the rubber compound is a different hardness. Put a rubber in the fridge and it will become as hard as stone. You can also see this in motorsport.

    • @hansmeiser32
      @hansmeiser32 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +11

      "but the rubber compound is a different hardness"
      resulting in a better (meaning shorter) braking distance of winter tires in cold temperature. That's something many people don't know.

    • @AudriusN
      @AudriusN 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      not just different hardness, compound mixtures are different.

    • @hhier9395
      @hhier9395 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      This was one of the main technical reasons for Challenger disaster.

    • @TakaD20
      @TakaD20 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

      Unfortunatelly a lot of Munich drivers can't drive in 2 mm snow to save their life regardless of tires.

    • @arnodobler1096
      @arnodobler1096 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      @@TakaD20 Münchner sind eh keine Bayern 😜

  • @la-go-xy
    @la-go-xy 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +24

    2:35 to add, in this case, the traffic lights tell you what to do, the sign is the backup rule in case the lights are off

    • @MattSuozzo
      @MattSuozzo  2 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

      makes sense, this also explains why there are sometimes yield signs at stoplights

    • @qLexxyy
      @qLexxyy 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Yeah "Back UP" is a bit off Topic.
      Lights go First in Germany. If the Light are Off or blink only Orange... than the Sign's go first.
      So you only have to look at signs on Trafficlights IF the lights go off or in idle.
      So this sign tells you, you have the right of way on ONLY the next crossing.

  • @rkalle66
    @rkalle66 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +14

    Code in Germany says: The driver of a motor vehicle may only drive on black ice, slippery snow, slush, slippery ice or frost if all wheels are equipped with tires that meet the requirements of ... 3PMSF and at least 1/16" tread depth.
    Just my two cents: Better save than sorry. When you're driving 9000 miles a year or more the only additional effort is changing tires two times a year. The tires you will wear anyway.

    • @MattSuozzo
      @MattSuozzo  2 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

      It’s crazy that in Upstate NY, which has dreadful winter weather, people drive on summer tires in the middle of January. I think Germany has the right idea 💡

  • @gustavmeyrink_2.0
    @gustavmeyrink_2.0 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +14

    Don't forget that when you drive on a Landstrasse (speed limit typically 100km/h) if you come to a village the rectangular yellow sign which tells you the name of that place also has another meaning: Once you passed that sign the speed limit is 50km/h and you are not allowed to use your high beam headlights. These rules apply until you pass a similar sign with the name crossed out by a red diagonal bar.

    • @MattSuozzo
      @MattSuozzo  2 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      learning the speed limits here takes a minute. luckily my car tells me what they are, and sometimes they are even correct.

    • @koarla_w
      @koarla_w 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      The part about high beams is actually not true! However, it is not allowed to use the high beams "on roads with continuous and sufficient lighting" (§17 StVO), which is probably the case in most villages.
      You can find a dpa press statement about this in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
      However, even the ADAC got this part wrong on their website, so I don't blame you.

    • @berndbaasner7445
      @berndbaasner7445 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      And you are not allowed to use tge rear fog light in town.
      Outside town only when you go less than 50.
      Most idiots csn only turn them on

  • @stuborn-complaining-german
    @stuborn-complaining-german 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +22

    From October to April whenever there is snow your car has to be equiped with winter tires or you will get fined (if caught...). Also, if you get into a accident and your car wasn't equipped with the propper tires you will automatically be consudered at least partly at fault...

    • @nriamond8010
      @nriamond8010 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Not only when there is snow, also when there is ice on the street which happens a lot more often than snow in many regions.

    • @stuborn-complaining-german
      @stuborn-complaining-german 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      @nriamond8010 Yes you are right. Any sort of snow, sludge, ice...
      My point is the other way around, they can not give you a ticket so long as there are not actually winter conditions present...

    • @wjhann4836
      @wjhann4836 วันที่ผ่านมา

      NO - if there is ice or snow on your actual drive, you have to have winter tires. Or you have to leave your car unused until that condition disappears.

  • @thiloreichelt4199
    @thiloreichelt4199 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +8

    This is probably the first time I see somebody more or less "complaining" about too few signs in Germany, it usually is the other way round.

  • @robbypolter6689
    @robbypolter6689 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    There is a simple rule in Germany: if there are no traffic lights or traffic signs at intersections, the rule is always right before left. Lowered curbs mark an entrance and exit, so please pay attention to the right of way here. If a street has a large threshold in the intersection area, it is a secondary street and the right of way must be observed here. You can read it in the road traffic regulations. Winter veins are required by law at temperatures below 5° Celsius (October to April). If you are involved in an accident through no fault of your own and summer tires are installed, you will be partially responsible (on average 30 percent of the accident damage).

  • @la-go-xy
    @la-go-xy 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    1:23 There are other rules, too, without need for separate signs. Maybe you should mention the speed limits "innerorts", on "Landstrassen" and in "Spielstraße". And that you are required to drive responsibly, always...

  • @davidhadden-ii5hs
    @davidhadden-ii5hs วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I use all weather tires. Got tired of changing wheels all the time.....

  • @no-damn-alias
    @no-damn-alias 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    All season tyres also pass the regulation for winter tyres.
    You see them increasingly on cars.
    They need to have the 3PMSF symbol.

  • @helfgott1
    @helfgott1 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    Just because you dont know how to drive doesnt mean all these rules are nonsence.

  • @LasseGreiner
    @LasseGreiner 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

    Left before right in UK, is it not?

    • @thiloreichelt4199
      @thiloreichelt4199 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      No. The UK does not have a hard rule on that. You are supposed to come to an agreement with other drivers. Australia and New Zealand however do have right before left even in spite of driving on the left side.

    • @evanherk
      @evanherk 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@thiloreichelt4199 NO! Right still goes first! But in the UK they have the additional rule, (not in the rest of europe) that the traffic coming onto a throughgoing road has to yield. And they have very few crossroads type intersections, where the right first rule would apply. The usually shift the side roads wrt to each other so that they don´t enter the main road at the same point. Or they make a roundabout. So it doesn´t come up that often.

    • @gustavmeyrink_2.0
      @gustavmeyrink_2.0 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      In the UK roads that have to yield have a white line across it at the intersection. At roundabouts you have to yield to traffic from the right. If somebody is coming towards you on the same road but indicates to his right while you want to go straight he does count as coming from the right and you will have to yield.

    • @nicolasblume1046
      @nicolasblume1046 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Through roads always have the right of way, not just in the UK ​@@evanherk

  • @rairei
    @rairei 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

    Yeah ... driving in Germany/Europe is driving and not to do anything else 🙂
    What to do in January: Use every sunny day 🙂 Unfortunately we lost ice and snow a lot (climatic change) so at Nymphenburger Kanal when the water was frozen in ealier days a lot of people were on the ice (ice scating, other sports or just for fun)

    • @stuborn-complaining-german
      @stuborn-complaining-german 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      Yes, I used to go ice skating on the Nymphenburg canal in winter when visiting my aunt who lived nearby. They also used to anounce the ice thikness and safety warnings for the canal and lakes around on the radio...

  • @mikethespike7579
    @mikethespike7579 วันที่ผ่านมา

    It can snow quite a lot in Munich in some winters, so those winter tyres make a lot of sense.
    BTW, the UK doesn't use the right-before-left rule (I'm a Brit). If there are no traffic signs the right of way is marked according to how the road is surfaced or how wide the road is. Narrow roads give way to wider roads. Vehicles entering roundabouts give way to traffic already on the roundabout. And if the right of way is not clear, both sides have to stop and first agree per hand signals who passes first. This is all just to confuse foreigners and hope this will make them stay away.

  • @michaellaudahn
    @michaellaudahn 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Did you mention that the overall dominating prority regulation is the one with priority signs? WP article 'Priority to the right', subsection Signage explains it well, imagery included. 'No signs' (= right over left) is usually found in the kind of residential areas you drove through - the type of wards where speed ought to remain on the moderate side.

  • @typeon3g4t1v3
    @typeon3g4t1v3 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I always change to winter tires here near Philly, but I am probably in the minority. I wasn't brave enough to try driving in Munich when I was there.

  • @vonpfrentsch
    @vonpfrentsch วันที่ผ่านมา

    Snow tires are not only required in Germany, but also in Austria, Italy, Switzerland...all in all in 20 countries. What is wrong with this?

  • @gerhard6105
    @gerhard6105 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    You need the winter tyres during "winterly conditions". Here in the Netherlands you don't have to have them on your car. We also have the rechts-gaat-voor rule. Recht goes first. This on equal cross roads like you showed. But when the road from the right is a dirt road, it does not apply. Also here 🇳🇱, on parking lots, drivers coming from the right have priority. Thus also when they come from the side lanes. We also do not have to have a fire extinguisher, yellow safety vests or triangle in the car. During WW2, the German occupier ordered that faster traffic has the right of way when coming from the right (on an equal crossing). This law stayed for about 50 years. Now also bicycles have the right of way when coming from the right.

  • @andreytcd
    @andreytcd 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Hi from Munich. Nobody drives 30 unless it's a designated school area and even then it's more like 40. Most people do 10 over the speed limit, otherwise you'll get honked and pushed out of traffic.

  • @inyobill
    @inyobill 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    Re: getting passed when you're at the speed limit", yah, Germans aren't the rule followers they believe themselves to be. I see other drivers often getting VERY irritated with me when I'm following the rules. 02:26: Yield to traffic to the right, unless otherwise signed. Watch for stop lines on the roads. "don't need to look right"? Ahem, I have saved others from accidents many times because I slowed down and looked.

  • @wjhann4836
    @wjhann4836 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I think most of your mentioned rules apply according to the Vienna Agreement. So valid for at least Europe - most of the world.

  • @Hollaraedulioe
    @Hollaraedulioe วันที่ผ่านมา

    Always keep in mind: Munich is the northern most city of Italy :))

  • @berndbaasner7445
    @berndbaasner7445 วันที่ผ่านมา

    No stop sigins...of course we have stopsigins...and if you do not want to loose your licence for a month (and some money)...you better stop (all the way).
    Right for left rule means, that you do not have to stop all the way..but the one from the right is first.
    Winter tire.
    You onky need them when there is ice or snow snd you want to drive. Saftey reasons.
    And a set of winter tyres safes on summer tires.

    • @Syndur
      @Syndur วันที่ผ่านมา

      Yes, we have stop signs -- but, compared to the US, they are quite rare. Yield signs are considerably more common.

  • @Patrick-on2ty
    @Patrick-on2ty 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    nö, nur weil es in den USA kaum Fußgänger gibt😅

  • @erictrumpler9652
    @erictrumpler9652 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Germans are required to have suitable winter tires

  • @PeterNGloor
    @PeterNGloor 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

    If a snow tire mandate is crazy.....you must be American. In Europe it's normal. Just try to drive on snow and see for yourself.

  • @vonpfrentsch
    @vonpfrentsch วันที่ผ่านมา

    Sorry for having rules different from yours! Germany will review them for you.

  • @CavHDeu
    @CavHDeu วันที่ผ่านมา

    Nobody drives 30 in a 30 zone 😂 same with 40 50 60 70 and so on

  • @arnomrnym6329
    @arnomrnym6329 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    👍🏾😎

  • @wernerkl4036
    @wernerkl4036 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    In winter in Austria and Swiss you have to have winter tires. Otherwise you are not allowed to cross the border.

  • @ankra12
    @ankra12 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

    That is just basic traffic rules.

  • @petervanderwoude6316
    @petervanderwoude6316 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    Wrong !
    Even if you have priority you have to look to the right.
    There might be an ambulance, firetruck or police car with blue lights flashing coming from the right, and you MUST yield.
    Having priority is NOT a right and having to yield is a duty.

    • @muemelification
      @muemelification 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

      Wrong! Ambulances etc. with Blue lights only don’t have priority, they need to start the siren, too (which they will do while aproaching the intersection/traffic lights). While it is always good to check your surroundings, priority is priority.

    • @moover123
      @moover123 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      you will hear them from "a mile away" lol

    • @petervanderwoude6316
      @petervanderwoude6316 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      @muemelification theoretically and by law that is correct, you must not yield, but it's better to do so anyway because there must be a reason those lights are on.

    • @muemelification
      @muemelification 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @ oh please. They have the button for the siren. If they consider their trip important and urgent enough, they can push it and I will yield, that‘s what the siren is for. If I happen to see them with Blue lights, I probably will yield, too. But I certainly won‘t check at every intersection for the slight chance that they might be coming with lights only (how often is that the case?)
      Also, your initial statement was that the Video is wrong which it is clearly not like you Write yourself in your second. Also, you meant ‚needn‘t‘ not ‚mustn‘t‘

    • @inyobill
      @inyobill 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@muemelification THen, there are the drivers driving 'way too fast for conditions, you have to watch for also. We see regular accidents in our d
      Dorf because people do not look. Yielding to emergency vehicles with their lights on ids always a good policy.

  • @benndii
    @benndii 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Ugly street signs everywhere? Less is more!

  • @cosmicdebris2223
    @cosmicdebris2223 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    ugh... yet *_another_* video of the now 1000s from the US about ..."driving in Germany". Oh well... let's wait and watch the next one, let me guess, in the next 2 weeks perhaps.

  • @Janina-z6u
    @Janina-z6u 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I very much hope that you use your eyes and brain while driving a car 😂

  • @simonspeechley2859
    @simonspeechley2859 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    You mean the British drive on the right side of the road whereas most foreigners drive on the wrong side.

    • @MattSuozzo
      @MattSuozzo  2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      xD

    • @McGhinch
      @McGhinch 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Actually they do. IIRC, Napoleon changed this for the continental part just to do it differently. But honestly, as long as there is right before left, left hand traffic is safer.