Quote:
Originally Posted by Kankles
Yes. Lived in Europe for five years and moved back this past year. As previously mentioned they have more prerequisite training and driving still seen as a privilege and not a right. They predominantly drive manual transmission cars as well, which, from a learning to drive perspective, makes for a more engaged driver. This isn't to say there aren't idiot drivers in Europe, there are plenty. (They're called Italians). A good gauge is how they efficiently use the passing lane and promptly GTFO after they pass. The US is so bad with random people constantly hanging out in the left lane and backing up traffic, causing passive-aggressive accidents.
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I live in Germany right now and i can tell you with absolute certainty that you can find idiot drivers everywhere. I mean this. even the Germans. You can argue the ratio between the idiot vs. sensible drivers all day long but it only takes one to fuck it all up for the rest. German autobahns are not forgiving when it comes to idiot drivers and mistakes done while driving on them. I've lost count of all the accidents around my area because of Geisterfahrer (wrong way drivers), Under-powered vehicles lane changing on to a fast lane without looking, All the Michael Schumacher wanna-bes that have died on Autobahns as well as back roads causing 15km or longer traffic jams.. Dont get me started with motorcycle drivers... even with their top notch 3k euro driving schools and training, you get almost as many accidents and near-death experiences as the US and Canada.
In the end it is all cultural and every where i go i see one trend. Monkey see - Monkey Do...
I consider myself a good driver by US Standards and i still do and when i moved to Europe i quickly discovered that the U.S style of driving was not fitting in Germany and i quickly had to adapt or else risk it.
Likewise when i drive in the US, the German style of driving quickly becomes cumbersome and sometimes dangerous and again i have to adapt quickly.
The question becomes not so much as who is the best driver which the answer is not as black and white as most think but rather am i driving the right way and how does society requires me to drive.
If i had to generalize and shotgun it by country i would say that the German speaking (Germany, East of France, German-Speaking Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, German-speaking Luxembourg and Czech West countries drive the best and are more predictable. You start going outwards from those countries and you will find out quickly that drivers in those "European"
countries are just as "bad" if not worse than drivers in the U.S in their own European ways...