I haven't driven on the autobahn yet, but I hope to some day. I have driven in Napoli, and on the autostrada in Italy. I was headed the wrong direction so I did a u-turn at a toll booth. I told some of the guys that I was working with at the time, and they were horrified. This is dangerous, they proclaimed! Mind you, driving in Naples is like being amongst a bunch of midget race car drivers hyped to the max on caffeine turned loose in 1.5 litre screamers INSIDE Home Depot. Yet a u-turn on the Autostrada was dangerous. Cracked me up, anyway.
Neat thing about Europe, they know of a thing called "lane discipline". You drive as far to the right as possible, and when you overtake someone you check your rearview mirror for a Mercedes coming up behind you at 180 mph, and if clear, yougas it, move over and, get this, pass on the left. As soon as you pass them you move back to the right to avoid getting hit by the inevitable 180 mph Mercedes closing on you like a missile, with just about as much inclination to slow down as said ballistic device.
It always frightened me to think that we could turn loose 10 bad american drivers in minivans in Germany and bring their whole interstate system to a standstill.
The Italians add a cool twist to this. They drive straddling the lines. That way they are half way there when they need to dodge something, which is aretty normal event. This rule is taken to the limit in the cities, where the number of lanes is dictated by how many cars can fit side by side, and whether there is any oncoming traffic. They never drive straight behind one another, always offset. The main rules seem to be: never stop, never hesitate, and when someone shoots in from the side to merge, let them. It works amazingly well.
rohorn, I am jealous as hell! I wanted to drive jets when I was in high school, but they had that damned 20/20 eyesight requirement. I don't think that I have ever been on the other side of the sonic speed limit. Would love to try it some time. Supersonic, on the deck, inverted has to be the thrill ride of a lifetime!
gerG