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sassy_cheddar t1_iy8mn3o wrote

Reply to comment by JayArrgh in June, 1955. My grandfather was happy to return home after a few years on the east coast by Nixx_Mazda

I think we might benefit from the more assertive driving style of the East Coast. Had a colleague from Boston talk about how weird our lack of honking was to her ("If you don't use your horn, how will they learn?"). Made me smile extra when she upped her Bostonian accent to say it.

Best driving I've ever had was Germany though. It's a privilege, not a right, and so the standard for your driving skill and your regard for other drivers is high. And even their two-lane country roads were gorgeously maintained.

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Thundrpigg t1_iy8v2vk wrote

It’s a privilege here too but the bar to entry is set so low it might as well be a right

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sassy_cheddar t1_iy9pzel wrote

Compared to Germany, we invested much less in infrastructure that would let us not be car dependent, especially for lower income folks. It's very expensive to live within walking/biking distance of a transit center, a grocery store, and important services like banking and healthcare in much of the United States.

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Thundrpigg t1_iy9xmgs wrote

Fully agree, I just think the testing requirements need to be overhauled in the US. Driving at road legal speeds is very easy, but we should have a better system for ensuring competency.

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NF-104 t1_iy9sz3t wrote

Traffic school in Germany is required and expensive (several thousand Euro 20 years ago) and driving infractions are expensive, so the professionalism of drivers is more on par with that of pilots. Plus Germans love to follow laws.

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TallGuyGreg13 t1_iyahzhy wrote

When I was a driver's Ed teacher, I told my students that the horn was the least used tool for most drivers. It's one of the best things to use and NEEDS to be used way more often! If they wouldn't honk, I would do it for them (if it wasn't a dangerous moment, of course). Drivers are especially apt to cut off drivers' ed cars to get in front of them, so I would warn them and tell them that they should honk if someone is making things dangerous for their driving.

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