Why does practically everyone break he speed limit and tailgate?

Ozzie wrote:

I've never seen a ticket given for this, but about 10 years ago, driving west on Interstate 80, just west of Davis, California. I was in the left lane of a line of cars coincidentally going a little over 80 miles per hour. The speed limit was 70 mph. There were probably about 10 cars going about the same speed. A highway patrol officer pulled up behind the line of cars, but the front car wouldn't have been able to see him and so, did not react. The car in the back moved into the right hand lane to let the officer by, the next car did not. I felt reasonably comfortable at the time that I would not get a speeding ticket because the officer was still two cars behind me and I was driving with the flow of traffic. One by one the officer used his loud speaker to tell the car in front to move over and let him through and we all did. Some of us then moved back to the left lane to follow the police officer. When the officer got to the driver in the front, he instructed him to move to the right and that he should not let a line of cars form behind him when there is no one in the right hand lane. That stretch of interstate 80 is often a traffic jam, but when it's not, it can be a very fast stretch of road. I would characterize myself as a fast driver who is usually doing the passing, but on that stretch of road, I get passed. It was still surprising though, that a CHP officer would move a driver who is going 10+ mph over the speed limit to the right so that other drivers could get by at an even faster rate, but that is what happened. I will never forget that because I thought it was so weird.

Cheesy DMV protocol wrote:

ex-runner wrote:

Filling your car with petrol isn't part of the standard UK driving test, maybe our test is a bit more involved than yours.

I drive on the motorways a lot. People in the overtaking lane in nice cars consistently do 90mph and everything is totally fine. I drive at 80-90mph usually and will be moving aside for faster traffic all the time.

The autobahn has no speed limit and they are no less safe than any other road.

Germany is a whole different situation. They just don't hand out driver's licenses to anyone that can pass a cheesy written test and drive a few times around the block like they do here in many States.

For starters, in Germany it costs about 2 Grand in U.S. $$$ to get a license, the written test is more difficult to pass, the driving test is tough which includes testing on the autobahn, and vehicle inspections are very strict before you can take your ride out on the road. If the U.S. implemented Germany's standard probably a quarter of the people currently with a DL couldn't pass and another 5 - 10% couldn't afford to get a license.

https://www.studying-in-germany.org/driving-germany/

ex-runner wrote:

The license doesn't cost $2000. Thats the average a person pays in Germany to learn to drive, as in paying for all your lessons etc. How much you pay depends on your skill i.e. how many lessons you need.

In the UK lessons are usually in the region of £24 an hour and according to the DSA you should expect to have 47 hours on average. So that's about £1200 when you add the cost of taking the theory test and practical test. Which is $1600.

Even if your tests are piss easy in the States I'm sure most kids will be paying $1k all in by the end.

Plus having an expensive license isn't the reason the roads are more safe. It's not like rich people are more safe than poor people.

It's simply that everyone knows the rules and sticks to them. The speed limit is irrelevant. You travel at a speed that is safe for the traffic conditions regardless of what the speed limit is and that goes for any country on Earth.

Also nobody tries to play cop like Jonny by sitting in the overtaking lane with a Ferrari approaching from behind at 200km/h

Tell It Like It Is wrote:

ex-runner wrote:

The license doesn't cost $2000. Thats the average a person pays in Germany to learn to drive, as in paying for all your lessons etc. How much you pay depends on your skill i.e. how many lessons you need.

In the UK lessons are usually in the region of £24 an hour and according to the DSA you should expect to have 47 hours on average. So that's about £1200 when you add the cost of taking the theory test and practical test. Which is $1600.

Even if your tests are piss easy in the States I'm sure most kids will be paying $1k all in by the end.

Plus having an expensive license isn't the reason the roads are more safe. It's not like rich people are more safe than poor people.

It's simply that everyone knows the rules and sticks to them. The speed limit is irrelevant. You travel at a speed that is safe for the traffic conditions regardless of what the speed limit is and that goes for any country on Earth.

Also nobody tries to play cop like Jonny by sitting in the overtaking lane with a Ferrari approaching from behind at 200km/h

Take a hike ex-runner...you're becoming a real chump. This site says it costs over $2,000 smackers:

https://www.german-way.com/travel-and-tourism/driving-in-europe/driving/

"Germany is a country that takes its driving very seriously. This is understandable when you realize that a German driver’s license costs over $2000, after a minimum of 25-45 hours of professional instruction plus 12 hours of theory, and such a license used to be good for life. Beginning in 2013, the German license had to conform to the EU term of 10 or 15 years. German licenses issued before 2013 will become invalid by 2033 and must be replaced by the new European (EU) driver’s license."

Even Wikipedia states that it's an average of $1,800 bucks:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_Germany