Kapitel 4 Kultur - Adam Zientarski

The most interesting, although not surprising thing that the articles taught me about German culture is the pedestrian laws and the use of bicycles. Here in Ann Arbor everyone is guilty of J-walking at their leisure, often stopping traffic when the little red man is brightly illuminated so that they may not be impeded on their way to grab a piping hot Starbuck's latte. It was surprising that people actually try to get as close as possible to hitting you. Here in America people are so afraid to hit you because you might sue them for thousands of dollars.

Riding bicycles is something that I would like to see America adapt to. In terms of transportation the Germans are ahead of us in the game in almost every aspect. It would be a tough transition though because our society is very car dominated since the automobile was popularized here by Henry Ford and government lobbyists wouldn't allow a more intelligent public transit system to be implemented. Most people do not work in large cities in the United States either.