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Interesting article: German driving lic.
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Thanks for the good read. I've often heard what a PITA it is to get a German DL. What the article doesn't cover is how easy it is to lose it. I understand they're even more stringent when it comes to citations and especially DUIs. All of this underscores why they get no-speed-limit highways (even if those are getting more rare). Driving is a privilege, and Germans clearly understand that.
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That's a very good post. What happens when you lose it is even worse. I have 2 German friends who got DUIs (One deserved, the other a set-up over soccer of course) It took one guy 12 years and over $15,000 in fees/lawyers etc to get his back. The other 8 years and about $8,000. One got to work on a scooter (You see a lot of older people on them...now you know why) and the other had a 100 K commute via train every day. Somebody should post something about dealing with the TUV...I hear it's as bad or worse than the driving license process!
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Uhh...maybe there wouldn't be as many azz-ho#@ drivers on the road and insurance premiums would go down.Ågent99 said:LOL! Wow...what an ordeal. I wonder what would happend if something that involved was implemented here in the US....
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At least the mass transit system in Germany is a decent fall back position. Imagine having no license in Southern Cal....ugg.woody underwood said:
Unfortunately most cities in this country have laughably inadequate public transportation, especially in SoCal. I think you'd agree that some type of private transportation is an outright neccesity.
But I whole-heartedly agree with you. If the licensing process were more stringent, we'd have fewer puerile nimrods roaming our highways. I'm always amazed by how a simple overpass or slight curve in the road causes everyone to slow to an absolute crawl.
-Brendan
But I whole-heartedly agree with you. If the licensing process were more stringent, we'd have fewer puerile nimrods roaming our highways. I'm always amazed by how a simple overpass or slight curve in the road causes everyone to slow to an absolute crawl.
-Brendan
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"puerile nimrods " I'm going to have to look that up in my Funk and Wagnalls. :dunno:bjacques said:
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I blame law enforcement for bad drivers. The California Highway Patrol could single-handedly close the state's budget gap if they gave traffic fines out for "failure to use turn signals".Ågent99 said:
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Looks like your boys are doing a mighty fine job.... They've pulled me over 4 times within a 5-week period between Dec ~ Jan and handed me 3 citationsMARCUS545 said:
I get the chills these days w/ a glimpse of the CHP emblem. Somebody had instructed them to "Close the deficit gap" :eeps:
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The worst thing I see in Austin is that the cops create traffic jams. We all know that as soon as a person sees a cop they slam on the brakes (they could be 10 mph under speed limit already it doesn't matter). Now the cops pick the busiest part of town (the I35 split if you know it) and setup speed traps there. This takes already slow traffic and brings it to a near halt. Stupid cops.
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Hell yes I advocate more citations! It's the only way people learn to obey the rules of the road.e36M3r said:OUCH!
MARCUS545: FWIW, I rarely see auto enthusiasts urging more citations!
BEEWANG: just what the heck are you doing on our highways that gets you cited so often?????
While I don't agree with the German system of obtaining a drivers license, I feel the U.S. system is inadequate in many ways and it is too easy to get a license, hence all the morons on the roads. Coming from Europe, the insistance to drive on the left side on the highway is driving me insane. I dream of shoooting out the tires on these idiots. Same holds true for passing on the right side, this is down right dangerous. Then (especially here in Michigan) you have these pick-up truck drivers who think they are driving a Porsche and love to perform roll-overs. These should be limited to driving 55 mph! Same for most of the American made SUV's
American drivers are extremely hostile and many remind me of Al pacino (I think) screaming "I'm Walking Here!" when crossing the road. Same with driving, it seems they think it's their God given right to drive any way they please.
I think there's more to driving responsibly than answering a few multiple choice questions and having an eye exam. I think it would benefit everyone if the process of obtaining a drivers license was a bit more involved and one was actually educated on the laws of physics and how long it really takes to stop a car driving at 70 miles an hour (not by a tree).
Just my 2c
American drivers are extremely hostile and many remind me of Al pacino (I think) screaming "I'm Walking Here!" when crossing the road. Same with driving, it seems they think it's their God given right to drive any way they please.
I think there's more to driving responsibly than answering a few multiple choice questions and having an eye exam. I think it would benefit everyone if the process of obtaining a drivers license was a bit more involved and one was actually educated on the laws of physics and how long it really takes to stop a car driving at 70 miles an hour (not by a tree).
Just my 2c
It was Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy, classic line.
Well my pet peeve is the SUVs. Not only should they be limited to 55, but they shouldn't be allowed certain options, like Xenons, etc. And lately I've been seeing all the 3 ton behemoths blinding me with Xenons and FOG lights a blazing. Make these dumb machines a bit less desirable by limiting their options, no driving in the fast lanes, etc.
Well my pet peeve is the SUVs. Not only should they be limited to 55, but they shouldn't be allowed certain options, like Xenons, etc. And lately I've been seeing all the 3 ton behemoths blinding me with Xenons and FOG lights a blazing. Make these dumb machines a bit less desirable by limiting their options, no driving in the fast lanes, etc.
mlahti said:
Oops... I don't mean to offend.
Well, not to stir up a hornets nest. X3 may fall under my weight limit, but probably not the x5. I think there should be some dimensional things, primarily height and weight. Once over you are classified as a ...er.. ah... "big" vehicle. When that happens, its right lane driving, no xenon's, less privileges than a car, etc… We must get real on these whoppers, especially like those huge Caddys, Lincolns, Hummers... etc… :soapbox:
I don't mean to offend.Well, not to stir up a hornets nest. X3 may fall under my weight limit, but probably not the x5. I think there should be some dimensional things, primarily height and weight. Once over you are classified as a ...er.. ah... "big" vehicle. When that happens, its right lane driving, no xenon's, less privileges than a car, etc… We must get real on these whoppers, especially like those huge Caddys, Lincolns, Hummers... etc… :soapbox:
adc said:
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I have dealt with the local TÜV office for driver and vehicle licensing, vehicle homoligation and vehicle inspection. Ours is so incompetent that everyone has as little to do with them as possible, including, as I discovered one day, their colleagues over at the vehicle licensing office. The last time I dealt with the TÜV, I decided it was quicker and cheaper to change the car than to get them to correct their faulty paperwork for the n'th time. It makes me wonder if there is anything significant to having something TÜV approved.woody underwood said:
Fortunately, I haven't made any changes recently that fall within their service monopoly. We also have a friendly and very competent DEKRA office in Fischtown who can do the car's biannual inspections. For example, these guys knew about and were checking E46 subframes before BMW first denied they were cracking.
In closing, I should mention there are perhaps more impossible German bureaucracies to deal with than the TÜV. I might suggest the Deutsche Bahn or Deutsche Telekom. I just concluded another battle with the latter over their dysfunctional data network and hereby apologize if this post seems to have a grumbling undercurrent. (All I can say to those losers, and I mean that literally, is Tschüüüüüüß.)
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Our local Polizei are pretty cool. I have been driving home at 10 km/h over the 50 km/h limit and had them whiz by on their way back to the station at the end of their shift. (I live a half block from the police station.)icemanjs4 said:
A nice thing about Germany is that you don't drive in fear of the police, unless you are a rice boy with a seriously lowered car. But that's another story.
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