jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost) writes:  >There are a few things to keep in mind about Europe, since you brought >it up.  My Autobahn knowledge is admittedly second-hand, but I believe >the following to be true:  My knowledge about driving in the U.S. is also second-hand, but I think I can correct your statements about our Autobahn:  >1. Drivers are much better disciplined in Europe than they are here.  Oh yeah, that would be paradise... in fact, you can forget it. From all I've heard from my U.S. relatives, drivers esp. here in Germany are much more agg- ressive, but not disciplined. One of my relatives, a L.A. resident, hired a car at the Nuernberg airport and went about 18 miles to our home. He said then that he grew about 1 year older during this ride and swore he'd never drive a car in Germany again (this was in 1982 and he kept his promise - the situation now is even worse as effect of the increased volume of traffic). What you mean by `better disciplined' should perhaps be considered `cautious due to fear':  When driving around here, you always *have* to take into consideration that the majority of the other drivers absolutely relies on you: They expect that nobody fails or sleeps; many of them exploit this by driving as fast as their car can go (of course only where that is allowed, you might think - dream on :). So any mistake you make is a very high risk to your health - and if you're ex- posed to such a situation from your very first day as a driver, you learn to handle it - or you lose...  That's the way I and most people I know experience our traffic situation -  whether you think this is pleasant or efficient is up to you; I think we handle a very high volume of traffic and that at high speeds with modest (compared to the volume) and decreasing rates of lethal accidents - OTOH, more and more people (esp. women) dislike driving (because they feel overtaxed and threatened) and each accident is one accident too much.  >2. The roads comprising the Autobahn are much better designed than >   they are here, and usually include animal fences.  This makes them >   far more predictable than most US highways.  Better designed and maintained, may be - but animal fences are very rare. Auto- bahnen and many other streets have guard-rails (I hope that's the right word -  a plank made from thick steel sheet fixed on uprights; it's about 2 feet high); those guard-rails are designed for keeping vehicles on the road. Smaller animals can crawl under the plank, bigger ones can easily jump over it. The point is that esp. larger animals are very rare in Germany; they tend also to be very timid. Accidents caused by animals are a neglegible danger.  >3. Not all of Europe is the Autobahn.  Most places in Europe have >   speed limits that aren't out-of-line with what we used to have in >   the US -- if my friends weren't lying to me they're typically not >   much higher than 120km/h.  You're right (there are speed linits even on the major part of the Autobahn) - but the attitude towards driving (see above) seems to be very similar to that in Germany (I've been in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands) - besides that, you really can't rely on the residents abiding the local speed limits. I've got quite a lot of practise (~120k miles) and I'm used to travel at 130 mph (FYI, with a car even smaller than a rabbit), but I consider driving on the highways round Paris or Milano really a thrill...  >I strongly suspect you won't find a lot of Rabbit owners doing 120mph >(nearly 200km/h) on the Autobahn, but I could be wrong. ...  Sorry, but you'll find quite a lot rabbit-class-car (or even smaller, mine is a Peugeot 205) owners going that fast; small cars with much HP are very `hip' over here - and most people buying such cars aren't afraid to let them run.  >                                                      ...  Some people >have no respect for their own lives.  I disagree; the size or weight of a car is rather irrelevant. Formula-1 cars weigh less than 700 kg and the drivers have a chance to survive accidents at 130 mph or higher - OTOH when crashing against a solid object at 130 mph, it makes no difference whether you sit in a Porsche, a Mercedes, a tank or on a bicycle: Your're dead.  Bye, Stefan --- Stefan Dalibor (dalibor@immd3.uni-erlangen.de)