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cowlevel | on: Guerrilla bike lanes: San Francisco makes illicit infrastructure permanent (2016)
In Germany! That's a dangerous place to be breaking the law. I hope they knew what they were doing.
holgerschurig | parent
No, actually it's less dangerous to break the law in Germany than in the USA.

In USA, the fines are often higher. And damages to be paid are WAY WAY HIGHER. If you do a criminal offense, then you get way more years in prison in the USA than in Germany. The police treats you even worse in the USA than in Germany.

So if you break the law ... then better do it in Germany.

Also, go around in Germany and ask germans "Did you ever get a fine for walking just over the read? Or by walking over the road when the pedestrian light was red?". I'll wage 50€ that it will take you more than a day until you find the first occurrence. Ask around "Have you ever got speed ticket in a car" will get you however instant answers.

You guys blow some imaginative danger out of proportion. And I really wonder if there is ONE country with laws that written but no one looks after? Isn't that usual? We even have german saying on this: "Papier ist geduldig".

holgerschurig | root | parent
Fun fact: in the USA, each year the various police forces KILL more people than in Germany the various police forces shoot. Where the german police shoots include warning shoots, or killing a dangerous boar. And this "way higher" even holds if we normalize the numbers by population count.

Incarceration rate in the USA is also way higher than in Germany.

I'd wager people to come up with verifiable statistics where "breaking law" is more dangerous than in USA. They probably exist, in niche areas. Would still be fun to learn.