I am often intrigued and sometimes even puzzled by parking regulations in Germany.

There are some quite simple rules, usually involving a think called a Parkscheibe or quite simply a ticket machine.

But every now and then I come across a sign that causes confusion so that I myself become unsure about where to park.

What is really annoying though, is when I sign is quite definite about whether you can park or not, and people just ignore it.

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This road sign means that you cannot park or wait on the side of the road where the sign is, on the sides of the sign pointed to by the arrow:

It is usually placed at the side of the road so that the sign is parallel to the road with the arrow pointing left in the direction of the traffic.  With both arrows you cannot park on either side of it.

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Many people coming to Germany to live are unaware of the fact that most cars here have two sets of tyres.  The reason for this is the large difference in temperature and therefore road conditions between the summer and winter months.

The winter tyres are made of a rubber mixture that does not because so hard in freezing temperatures, which gives them more grip on cold roads.  The tread has so-called “lamella” shape, which allows it to run better on snow.  Since many side roads do not get gritted or cleared of snow, this can be an important factor.  Cars that are primarily driven on roads in the Alps may even have spiked tyres or snow chains.

The summer tyres are made of a different mixture, that does not become so soft when it gets hot.  This allows them a better grip on hot tarmac in the summer, even when it is wet.

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I’m not sure if it’s just the summer heat, but it seems to me that people’s attention for simple rules of the road has gone out of the window lately.

It all started with the bicycles.  We’ve noticed this year a lack of respect on the part of cyclists for red lights.

It doesn’t matter what kind of red light: pedestrian crossings, crossroads, or even cycle paths.  They just ride straight through them.  It’s a common occurance on the Hohemarkstraße in Oberursel, where I see at least one cyclist every week go through at red light – usually whilst pedestrians are crossing.

But at crossings it can be even worst – they veer off to the right to use the pedestrian crossing across the side road and avoid the red traffic light that way.  Of course, the pedestrian crossing may also be at red, but that doesn’t seem to worry them.

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