Recently, I lost my German road virginity. Boy, did it ever feel great! And, it was terrible at the same time. As I hunkered down in an Audi TT-RS doing a paltry 190 km/h, safely mind you, I realized that we, in Canada, will never ever be able to safely drive at these speeds.
In Germany, a driver's license is earned (extremely rigorous schooling and testing) as opposed to here where it is a given, literally. The differences are striking; people in Deutschland, for the most part, know how to drive, share the road and are aware of their surroundings. They don't hog the left lane and politely tell the people wanting to drive 110 km/h or more to f-off.
As I was building speed, cars 500 meters ahead of me, still travelling at speeds above 160 km/h, would instantly move over to the middle lane, even slowing down, to allow faster traffic (me and my 340 hp sex-bomb) to fly by. Here, in Canada, in Québec, the person ahead cruising at 108 km/h, would remain in the fast lane until an opening would come up and then move over, maybe...
Our egos having grown to unprecedented size (even as you read these lines you are telling yourself, “not me...”), we have become intolerant, impatient and we just don't give a damn about anyone but ourselves. Our time is more important than others. And no, it's not the others, it's you, it's me, it's everyone.
This is why our actions will continue to be governed by seemingly ridiculous rules and laws; we are unable to govern ourselves, period.
In Germany, a driver's license is earned (extremely rigorous schooling and testing) as opposed to here where it is a given, literally. The differences are striking; people in Deutschland, for the most part, know how to drive, share the road and are aware of their surroundings. They don't hog the left lane and politely tell the people wanting to drive 110 km/h or more to f-off.
As I was building speed, cars 500 meters ahead of me, still travelling at speeds above 160 km/h, would instantly move over to the middle lane, even slowing down, to allow faster traffic (me and my 340 hp sex-bomb) to fly by. Here, in Canada, in Québec, the person ahead cruising at 108 km/h, would remain in the fast lane until an opening would come up and then move over, maybe...
Our egos having grown to unprecedented size (even as you read these lines you are telling yourself, “not me...”), we have become intolerant, impatient and we just don't give a damn about anyone but ourselves. Our time is more important than others. And no, it's not the others, it's you, it's me, it's everyone.
This is why our actions will continue to be governed by seemingly ridiculous rules and laws; we are unable to govern ourselves, period.