From the Wort: "Luxemburger sind höfliche Autofahrer". I agree that it's not easy to find an agressive driver in Luxembourg. But "polite", "courteous"? "Höflich" can also be translated has "unrude", which is more appropriate in this case. A tree is unrude. A stone wall is unrude. Luxembourgish drivers (or Luxembourg drivers) are not rude, they drive peacefully and respect traffic rules (when they're aware of them...). But this is not being polite: being polite is to adequate your speed near a junction to let someone turn left in front of you, even if you have the right of way. Being polite is to aknowledge the existence of other drivers and don't wait half a minute before moving so that you don't limit the number of cars that make it through before the light turns red again.
Robert A. Heinlein once said that politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. I totally agree with him.
21.3.08
Luxembourg drivers: are they truly polite?
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Yes! I completely agree. Also, something else I noticed when driving in Lux, although it doesn't fall strictly into the category of "polite/non-rude": when turning left into a two-lane road, they behave as if it's a one-lane road, only wanting to turn into the right lane. If there is a vehicle from the opposite direction turning right (into the right lane), they wait for them until the traffic light turns red again, instead of turning into the left lane! With me, cursing, behind them! Well, just had to get it off my chest.
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