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Training for the Formula One

Lead Feet and High Blood Pressure

Germans consider themselves among the best drivers in the world. They are certainly among the most aggressive. And every one of them treats German roads as a Formula One race track.

That road through the fields heading to the next town on the Romantic Road may look like a peaceful country lane. There are lines running down the middle. And there are two lanes, one going in each direction. Standard-issue family sedans look as though they might be ferrying the kids to grandma for a weekend visit.

But don't be fooled. Every strip of concrete in Germany actually doubles as a Formula One test track -- and those drivers are all convinced that, given the opportunity, they could rival Michael Schumacher on the racing circuit. They're not taking the kids to granny's. They're practicing for Monaco.

The autobahn, of course, gets all the attention -- and indeed being tailgated by a fist-shaking Dale Ernhardt-wannabe while doing 150 miles per hour in the left lane is an experience not soon forgotten. But it's also comparatively well-regulated. Survival merely depends on hugging the white stripe on the right side of the right lane for dear life.

Passing is easy too:

• Gaze for several seconds into the rear-view mirror to ensure that tiny red speck on the horizon behind you isn't actually a Porsche traveling at just below the speed of light. And remember, sometimes distances are different than they appear in that mirror.

• Signal symbolically in case there's a cop behind you.

• Jam the accelerator to the floor, ignoring the protesting whines of the engine as the tachometer needle in your subcompact rental buries itself in the red.

• At your first opportunity, head back to the safety of the right lane.

And once you've left the autobahn, don't be fooled into thinking that you've returned to automobile civilization. Natural law rules the city streets too: just try merging into rush-hour traffic on a city arterial and chances are you'll have a rear-view mirror filled with headlights blinking frantically just inches behind your rear bumper. Snooze at a stoplight for the smallest fraction of a second, and the cars lined up behind you will erupt in a chorus of honks.

And they're not American "toot-toot-excuse-me" honks. They're not Italian "hey buddy, I'm-here honks." They're German "you just screwed up and I'm here to tell you about it" honks.

German psychologists, sociologists and anthropoligists have made careers out of researching the mentality of the country's tens of thousands of car drivers. One explanation has it that in a German society full of regulations, the relative freedom of the country's streets allows one to be, for once, in full control. And usually they are in control -- the result of strict laws that require first-time drivers to take several dozen hours of behind-the-wheels lessons before they can even take the test to get a license. Drunk driving is hardly a problem, and if you do make a mistake it likely won't end in a fender bender. Germans are extremely attentive behind the wheel and are quick to slam on the brakes. After all, problems develop quickly when you're travelling at over 100 miles per hour.

So, too, does aggression.

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