Comment by vertis
3 years ago
I don't think so. Often I see people in the UK breaking rules like that and it's almost never mentioned.
But it wasn't just that he mentioned it. It was the way he mentioned it. That the only possible reason for us to not be following the rules was that we must not know them.
I live in Germany. Our park has a daily meet up of dog owners letting their dogs roam.
The rule says they should be on the leash.
Nobody follows it.
Your anecdote is stronger than my anecdote :)
yea, I'm afraid I'm not adding much to the discussion. In the end, it doesn't matter if Germany really is like this - the idea of an orderly country still exists.
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Wasn't it just being polite?
That's a possible interpretation as well. But having travelled extensively (and I'm not the rule breaker in most cases), there are very very different approaches to rules and laws even within Europe.
There is a section of Europe where following the rules is what you do (to be clear it's not just Germany[0]). It's assumed that you're going to follow the rules. Adults don't need to be policed in this way. The rules are there for a reason (second order thinking).
Then there are large parts of Europe where there are rules but if they're not enforced then people will by and large not obey them. See, for example, the UK putting in smart motorways (aka, average speed cameras), because before that people would fly up the motor way well above the speed limit.
The Autobahn might have areas with no speed limit, but on the sections that HAVE speed limits you'd be hard pressed to find someone breaking those limits.
I grew up in Australia where it's somewhere between the two. The enforcement of the rules is strict. I once got a jaywalking ticket for crossing an empty road in Melbourne (long story, but it's also one of my stupider moments because it wasn't like the police were behind a bush, they hopped off the same tram I did).
I haven't had a speeding or parking ticket since I left Australia.
Though, circling back to my Stuttgart story, if someone approached you about rule breaking in Australia you can almost guarantee that you'd have pissed them off to the point it would not have been polite. In Paris, as well, I have been yelled at (in French) for dog poop on a sidewalk that wasn't even my dogs -- yes, I do always pick up after my dog.
[0]: Even within Germany I'm sure there are variations on this.
In the Netherlands, when riding a bicycle, most people treat most traffic rules as suggestions. Interesting context to explain what's happening.
This is made possible by the fact that cars (try to) follow traffic rules to the letter.
(Essentially every car driver in the Netherlands is also a cyclist at other times)
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A neighbor, who wants to see speed cameras installed to control speeding in our small (250 person) New Mexico village: "I always drive 9mph over the posted limit".
> Often I see people in the UK breaking rules like that and it's almost never mentioned.
Because UK people generally don't care about breaking the rules of no-BBQ in the park. What happens though when someone jumps a queue?