Bit of both actually, the way that Germans drive is kind of an example for the rest of Europe. I'm sure that high fines have a lot to do with it but many of the best driving habits in my country came from Germany.
The fines are low compared to where I live. One of the precious pictures of my wife is her getting cought speeding in Germany and realizing it at the same time.
Can't stop laughing everytime I look at the picture they sent us with the speeding ticket.
It was surely worth the 15 euro fine.
Speeding fines are cheap. Road tax in a sense.
But if you get into an accident, the fines multiply very fast.
If an accident is caused by the winter tire violation, the guilty must pay a 120 Euro fine in addition to other applicable allegations of the accident.
Killing an animal with your car, you'll be fined the cost of the animals life.
If you damage a tree by crashing into it, you also have to pay for the replacement of the tree.
You can be fined for tailgating above 80km/h.
It's also illegal to run out of gas on the Autobahn.
It's illegal to leave your car unlocked.
List goes on and on, but I've actually never seen many enforced (aside from paying for the tree, it was nearly 2.5k per tree)
So if you hit wildlife you have to pay or does it only count for domesticated animals that aren't allowed on roads in most places? That sounds insane. In most countries if you hit a dog with your car the dog owner is liable for damages to your car in most cases, same with cattle unless it's part of a convoy.
It mostly falls under Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz). I believe it's very localized of the penalties for killing an animal on the road.
Regardless, you'll need to call the police if you kill a domesticated animal or any larger animals. I believe rodents are too small to be reported.
So it's a good time to say it once more, a lot of this is based on myths, not knowledge.
Having no speed limit is a really bad thing for both the environnement AND for public safety.
https://www.datawrapper.de/blog/the-case-for-speed-limits and so many more examples.
Is it working better for the rest of the world?
Germany has fewer than average road fatalities than most of the world. Less than average in Europe too.
It's not really statistically noticable in that regard. Not the best, but far from the worst.
here it's more like follow the speed limit except for when a bicycle is ahead of you. you bike behind a car and they will obey the school zone limit. you bike over the limit ahead of them and they will speed to pass you and kill a child for bonus points.
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