Right after the reunification in the early '90's there were a lot of
"Trabbies" (Trabant; the little fiberglass two-cycle stinkpot; cute though)
and Wartburgs on the road and they couldn't keep up with the fast flow
(although in later years they were being built with VW engines.)  But the
first thing many former East Germans did was get a new car and the Trabbies
disappeared quickly from the roads.  (There is a wave of nostalgia now and
Trabbies are sought after; there was even a Trabbie Rallye in Arizona a few
years ago.)  As for causing accidents, one hears stories about that, but I
always took them with a grain of salt since the Wessies (West Germans)
ridiculed (still do) the Ossies (East Germans) as ignorant country
bumpkins.  I've never seen any stats on accidents caused by East Germans,
but Germans in general are very good drivers and I think that includes the
former easterners as well, certainly today.  Driver training is mandatory
and is very rigorous, not to mention expensive.

Charles
''85 Westy

At 10:21 PM 6/18/01 +1200, Andrew Grebneff wrote:
> > From my experience people who drive cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volvo,
> >and, of course, Porsche, do so specifically as status symbols.  While it's
> >true that they are capable of cruising at 120mph, few actually do
> >it.  Today most cruise at a comfortable 80-85mph (130-140kph).  While there
> >is some left lane cruising, there's not a lot because it is against the law
> >to drive left except to pass, and Germans are very sensitive to traffic
> >violations since the punishment is so severe (likely loss of license
> >depending of the circumstances).
>
>I have heard from Germand that the reunification of der Vaterland has
>loosed hordes of incompetent East German   drivers who DO clog the
>Autobahns by driving slowly in any old lane.And causing numerous accidents.
>Comments, Raimund?
>
>
>Andrew Grebneff
>165 Evans St, Dunedin, New Zealand
>ph   64 (3) 473-8863
>fax 64 (3) 479-7527
><andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
>www.goingplatinum.com/member/vw1
>www.highyieldcrusaders.ws/ref.html?ref=vw
>www.aciimoney.com/index.shtml?vw1
>VW & Toyota vans, Toyota diesels and Macintoshes rule