they'll honk their horns and blink their lights in a heartbeat, even if you can't move. But that doesn't matter to them. And, driving in Madrid is totally unlike anything in Germany, or here.

OTOH, as long as I passed and then got over, the faster German drivers slowed down and didn't tailgate. In Spain or some people here, well, they'd be a lot more aggressive. Overall, the Germans were much better at merging, too (one of my pet peeves in California).

Yes, there were some rapid slow downs -- and often use of emergency blinkers by the cars in front to indicate them. But, you get that here, everyday -- of course, if you're a local you know where they're likely to be, but that's try anywhere.

I saw a lot of areas with posted speed limits, and many areas don't have electronic signs -- IIRC that was in more congested areas. Traffic densities vary all over the place; for example, Stuttgart to Karlsruhe was quite high, but many areas it's pretty low (most areas outside the major cities) although still much higher than many parts of the US.

It's definitely more stressfull than long distance US driving, and I don't think German style driving would work here -- partly because I think a large country is better suited to more relaxed driving (US style) and partly because people already think driving is a right so there's no way to change to the German system (where a licence costs around $500 and you have to go to driving school).

However, I still think it would be good to seriously upgrade driver education and testing requirements. This would be a much better use of money than most other things the states spend their money on. There are way too many people on the road who simply don't have a clue.

Tony