Traffic Signs...they are not that intuitive

DAY 4 of “Chancellor Watch” - 12 out of 16 German election experts polled predict Angela Merkel will eventually top incumbent Gerhard Schröder in the fight for the chancellery. Only one analyst believes Schröder has a chance at forming a coalition government and blocking out Merkel in the coming weeks. Merkel and Schröder still both claim Germany's top job after Sunday's election decided nothing. It now appears we are in the phase entitled “there is no ‘new’ news on this situation so we’ll fill our media airtime with ‘expert’ chatter while we wait for the ‘real’ news”.

On to today’s blog post….

Now that the driver’s license and car order are behind us, thought I’d share with you some our recent learnings regarding streets signs. Perhaps the Germans are right to require foreign drivers to take a written test, because I swear, there are at least 60 plus street signs that we had never seen before moving to Germany. For those of you who have lived in other parts of Europe, I’d be interested in knowing your experiences on the subject…did you have a similar reaction?

With that said, we have located this handy-dandy little book that shows all the street signs used on German roadways today, with a brief explanation in English no less. Thank goodness, because we failed our quick quiz on several of them. And yes, let me answer your question upfront: some of the signs are intuitive, some of them are not. Why don’t you try your hand at interpreting the following signs by choosing the best answer…correct answers at the end of the post.



a. this road is not a two lane road
b. no cars allowed to drive side by side on this road
c. no overtaking allowed on this road
d. no red car can drive next to a black car



a. drive ahead only
b. you may drive straight
c. one way road
d. this sign actually should tell me something useful?



a. maximum speed in this zone is 30 kph
b. ending speed in this zone is 30 kph
c. beginning speed in this zone is 30 kph
d. I am confused….aren’t answers a-c very much the same? (if you pick this one, you’re wrong (buzzer sound is going off))



a. maximum speed in this zone is 30 kph
b. ending of speed zone of 30 kph
c. beginning speed in this zone is 30 kph
d. I am really confused now (if you pick this one, you’re technically correct, but it is not the best answer)



a. stay to the right of this sign
b. no parking to the right allowed
c. no stopping here
d. end of prohibition to no stopping



a. no trucks allowed
b. no vehicles or combinations over length shown allowed
c. no trucks or combinations over length shown allowed
d. trucks or combinations over length shown must take this route

How do you think you did? At least you had multiple choice answers. When Buddy and I tried to do this, I think we were unable to accurately interpret over 80 % of the signage. Granted, once you get the system into your head, it actually does start to make sense.

Answers: 1- c, 2 – a, 3 – c, 4 – b, 5 - d, 6 - b