I will admit it: I am right-left challenged. Unlike many women, I don’t have a problem with north, south, east, or west, but for some reason I frequently mix-up my right and left. These mix-ups have been the source of many jokes between A. and me and can be frustrating at times, but before I came to Germany I never realized that mixing up right and left could put me in danger.
On German streets, the rule is right before left and they take this rule very seriously. It doesn’t matter if you are on a bicycle or in a car; the American attitude that whoever gets to the intersection first has the right of way is completely unacceptable in Germany. (I believe technically the “right before left rule” is also true in America, but in all of my years driving, I never saw anyone obey it.) In Germany, if you drive on when you should be obeying the right-before-left rule, the other person is extremely unlikely to stop, and if you so happen to get into an accident, it will be your fault.
When I took my written driver’s test here in Germany (I didn’t have take a driving test) I passed with flying colors. In theory I have no problems whatsoever with “right before left.” In practice however, it is another matter. It isn’t because I don’t agree with the rule; it is because of my right-left difficulties.
In fact, A. believes that I am so right-left challenged that he will be the first to admit that he is very uncomfortable with me driving here. Therefore, since we only have one car, Germany has decent public transportation, and to give my husband peace of mind, I don’t drive very often anymore. And honestly, I don’t mind.
It is amazing how lazy I was an American driver. For example, I used to drive one block to the convenience store near my house for a candy bar or a can of Coke instead of walk! But I digress…
Ever since we came to Germany, I have thought I might like a bicycle. It would be great to have one to use as transportation, but also for fun and exercise. I loved riding my bike as a kid and I was never in such great shape as I was the summer that I had no car and had to bike to work everyday.
Whether or not I would actually use a bicycle here in Germany or not is still up in the air. I like to think that I would, but in all likelihood it is probably just another one of my whims.
However, when I mentioned to A. that a bicycle might be something he could get me for my birthday this year, a look of doubt came into his eye. I gave him my reasons for wanting a bicycle and though he listened with skepticism at my eagerness for exercise, in the end he reluctantly agreed that if I wanted a bike I could have one. When I sensed this lack of enthusiasm in his voice, I assumed it had to do with the price. After all, even used bicycles aren’t cheap in Germany.
No, he told me it wasn’t the price that had him concerned. When I quizzed him about what it was, I had to promise not to get mad before he would tell me. As we all know, when a man says that to a woman the chances that she won’t get mad are very slim, but I promised anyway.
He told me that one of the main reasons he wasn’t eager for me to get a bike was because he was concerned for my safety. He said that even though we have lived in Germany for three years and he knows that I am aware of the right before left rule, he still didn’t trust me to always look to my right instead of my left for the traffic!
At first I was a bit irritated. But since I promised not get mad, I stopped and reflected on this statement. And in the end, I had to admit to myself that sadly enough, he probably has a point.
Scott says:
We do have “right before left” in the States, but as I understand it we also have “straight before turns”, that anyone driving straight through an intersection has right of way before anyone making a turn.
This still bothers me when driving here, and at intersections I usually end up waiting for the other car regardless whether it’s on the right or left, just to be sure.
12 May 2005 at 23:24
Dawn says:
I still use my watch to tell between my right and left!
13 May 2005 at 15:30
christina says:
Driving in Germany STILL freaks me out even after 15 years, especially the right before left thing and the narrow streets with only room for one vehicle at a time. My husband says that the guy with the biggest Mercedes wins.
13 May 2005 at 20:57
Ash says:
You should definitely get a bike - even if you have to hesitate in the traffic. We finally caved in and got bikes last summer after 2 years without in Holland (land of bikes
and I could not live without mine now. We don’t own a car and before bikes our horizons were limited to how far we could walk and back. I had to learn to change my traffic rules from being on the left (UK, SA, Zim) to being on the right and I could do it! So can you!
14 May 2005 at 16:54
Martin says:
But - when riding a bike you have much more time to decide where right or left is when entering the intersection…
And - you could tie a ribbon on the right handlebar. For that matter you could put a marker on your favorite side of the car, and just go slow in right-before-left territory.
14 May 2005 at 19:07
Dave says:
Being marginally dyslexic I had that problem when driving here too at first until I decided to forget it and instead remember just to yeild to anyone coming towards the passenger side of the car.
As for bikes, guess the German men are right about warning us about those. My partner cautions me excessively before I go out to ride and it wasn’t until a plowed into a pedestrian a few weeks ago did I appreciate his warnings. (Not my fault, hers for being in the bike path, ignoring my bell until the second time and then stepping illogically toward the grass rather than the sidewalk which is where she should have been in the first place.)
16 May 2005 at 23:39