Right of way law is crazy here!

Granted. When I first arrived here there were none whatsoever. And I found myself wishing for them!

I heard that the "rechts vor links" law used to also apply on roundabouts in France for years, before the government decided in making an exception for them. That was back in the eighties sometime.

Never thought before about people deliberatly looking to make insurance claims on that law. Good tip Olli2000

Roundabouts rule, so much smoother than stop signals, they serve other purposes too for your budding hooligan in his holden

There are two rules for this: If you approach a roundabout to enter, and there is a yield or "give way" sign, then cars already in the roundabout have the right of way.

If there is no yield sign when you enter - then you have the right away, and all cars already in the roundabout must give way to you under the 'rechts vor links' law. The second sort of roundabout is not so common. Also, if you have or have not a yield sign, then all of the other entrances will have or have not the same as you.

Since moving to the UK, I have found that I really love roundabouts too! I find the lines on the streets here to be much less of a hassle than the german way of "rechts vor links". That was just something I never could get used to, and had many a near misses!

Perhaps slightly OT, but a tip for any Americans who are planning to get a German drivers license: check out the particulars of transfering your state's drivers license with Germany: http://www.amcham.de/index.php?id=581#16

For example, I originally had a CA DL, and CA has no agreement with Germany, so theoretically I would've had to invest in both the written and practical exams. Arizona, on the other hand (and only a 4 hour drive away) haas agreements whereby your AZ license is completely exchangable for a German one. To make a long story short- I was able to use the AZ address of a family friend to exchange my CA for an AZ license (no test, cost about $25) which I then exchanged in Germany (no tests, I think it was €50) and now use to drive in the UK, being as its an EU driving license. If you are able to do this- it's a much cheaper way round than taking driving courses, and then paying for both of the tests.

you forgot the most important rule! BMW and Mercedes drivers ALWAYS have the right of way. What that guy was yelling was, "get out of my way with your stupid little car! Don't you see that I am driving a big Mercedes?"

The idea of making drivers from UK (or other EU countries) take a course before being allowed to drive here would be contradicting EU law.

As far as I can tell, a large number of Germans don't seem to understand the Rechts-vor-Links rule either: At the end of the cul-de-sac where I live, I have to edge very carefully into the junction if I don't want the front of my car taken off by someone driving straight through. I usually get a little wave as an apology.

The funniest thing is when four cars arrive at an unmarked junction together... :-)

The US has got that sussed, it's marked as a 3-way or even 4-way stop. I've never seen an accident at that kind of junction, everyone waits their turn nicely.

It's not a very efficient system though, forcing everyone to come to an (almost) complete stop regardless of whatever else is about.

One thing I do prefer here (and the US) compared to the UK is the way the pedestrian lights work. In the UK *all* roads go to red while the pedetsrian lights go to green, and there will never be a green pedestrian light while cars could be turning. Safer, but not as efficient.

I am not sure whether you are getting the point:
This feature is exactly WHY this system is used in German residential neighbourhoods etc.
On major roads, rechts vor links is never used.

But what is the advantage of rechts vor links on quiet residential roads? Why not make one road have priority so at least half the traffic can continue without having to stop and look.

Oh I agree! That's why I always hated driving thru unfamiliar residential neighborhoods! My husband (who's German) would always wonder at why I would still stop and look before turning, even when I supposedly had the "right of way". It just seemed logical to me, a car weighs a whole lot more than a "right of way" law on paper!

@sgb27
My friends in the sticks - near Basle, say the RvL is 'supposed' to force people to slow down - i.e. avoid the need for the sleeping policeman...

personally it just seems a good way for the sign makers to make a massive profit... illogical captain... i vote we get those states/countries/empires who insist on driving on the right to convert forthwith to the UK system of driving on the Left and institute roundabouts rather than the bizarrely complex traffic light systems here - including tram control!!!

now hands up who'll vote for that

I am such a convert to roundabouts- I found myself wishing for them on a recent trip back to San Diego. It ends up taking years to drive somewhere because of all the traffic lights! Even the newer "smart" signals waste time- 1 car can pull up to turn left, and everyone going the other directions has to stop, and then the lights are never truely efficient so you wait even after the person had turned left- and then because everyone has humongous SUV's, or automatic transmissions, rarely can 5 cars then proceed to go before *again* someone pulls up to turn left, and it all starts again! I'm convinced that traffic lights, combined with automatic transmissions make people lazy sleepy drivers.

sorry, rant over!

Roundabouts are fine for anything up to medium volumes of traffic. Once you get high volumes then one route becomes dominant and people from the other direction find it very hard to join and a queue builds. Then they put lights on the roundabout, sometimes temporary operation during busy periods. Best of both worlds then.

If the drivers have to slow down and almost stop at every intersection, the
risk that they run over playing children is much smaller.


Signs ? For rechts vor links ?! RvL is the default, so no sign is needed
for a RvL intersection.

The intersection seems a stupid place to play to me

not if you grow up in smaller places ie towns and villages!!!