Comment by zepearl | Hacker News Reader

Comment by zepearl | Hacker News Reader

My additional rules:

- if I'm driving on the right lane and I'm approaching a car in front of me while some other car approaches me on the left lane to overtake me (or even if it's on the right lane but quickly approaching) then I usually slightly break even if I wouldn't need it. This way the car approaching from the back will see my break lights and will know that I don't intend to suddenly change to the left lane to overtake the car in front of me. This is nice for the other person and makes the traffic more fluid.

- the faster I drive the more I have to force myself to look more in the distance to be prepared for anything unexpected (sudden traffic jam, animals, debris, etc...). Sounds obvious but in other countries I usually drive up to max 140 km/h but with 200km/h I need a lot more space to react.

- I try to anticipate and modulate the speed more than in other countries. E.g. even if the pavement is dry where I am driving, if I see a dark cloud in the distance I usually start slowing down as it could be that a few km ahead even, if it's not raining, there might still be a lot of water if a heavy cloud just did a pass-by.

All in all I usually loved driving in Germany, with the exception of during the hours when people go or come back from work (can be quite hectic).

Here's some more random rules:

- Any maneuvering should be done with the gas pedal only. If you have to brake you are too fast. (Unless there was one single(!) idiot.)

- In general, it's good to track every car you see and extrapolate their intentions. There is a lot of communication going on. The range extends more if there are less cars.

- Pay close attention to cars trying to enter the Autobahn. Either move a lane to the left if there is space or speed up/slow down obviously enough they can adapt and get up to speed properly. When entering, speed up to ~60 kph and watch the others to see which space they offer you. You can mostly rely on them making space if you adapt a little. (Slow down if they speed up and vice versa.) It's extremely hard and dangerous to re-enter from a stop, so be confident and trust it will work out.

- About the distance thing: They started checking this, so pay attention. You can pay a high fine or lose your license!

- Going fast is really bad for your fuel economy. You'll have to get gas more often.

- Before and while travelling, keep close track of sudden 'Vollsperrung', which means the whole road is blocked (eg caused by accident, or eg quite recently they found an unexploded bomb from WWII under one of the main autobahns). If you drive into it and are unlucky you can get stuck all day. Be prepared for this to happen on longer journeys, so keep enough water and things to keep you warm in the car. 'Stau' is unpleasant, but 'Vollsperrung' can be a nightmare.

- There are two kinds of rest stops. The comfortable ones now all have toilets where you have to pay. If you stop at the small ones the toilets are free (but also a lot dirtier), so if you're stingy, stop there.

Two more things this made me remember, at least based on the savoir vivre in Poland (not sure if that's part of the culture in Germany too):

- It's considered very polite (kinda gentleman-grade polite) to change to the left (i.e. higher-speed) lane when you see a car building up speed to join the traffic from an acceleration lane (on the far right), to open a place in the traffic for them. That said, it's not "mandatory": you should only ever consider this as a lowest priority gesture, i.e. if noone's in sight getting ready to overcome you on the left. Conversely, if you're already driving fast on the acceleration lane and have trouble merging into the main traffic, and are already approaching the end of the acceleration lane, I've heard it recommended to stay on the subsequent "emergency lane" instead of e.g. reducing speed to a halt and trying to merge (or, obviously, forcing your way into some other car in the main lanes). It feels kinda risky, but the alternative of outright stopping, although it may feel tempting from basic instincts, is actually a huge immediate danger to you and everyone around.

- If you notice an unexpected, sudden congestion ahead, it's also considered good manners to blink your emergency lights, to signal a danger to drivers behind you. That said, I personally find it a rather difficult feat, given that if the congestion is sudden and unexpected, by definition it means I'm surprised by the situation, and thus quite busy handling the car and the gear trying to decelerate quickly but safely, while looking in all the mirrors and ahead at once to actively monitor the situation around. Searching for the rarely-used emergency lights switch is a risky distraction.

Typically you'll see a "wave" of blinking emergency lights arriving well before the sudden congestion, you pass that on for those behind you, and prepare to slow down.

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