European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Drivers can think what they want about the Edtice who Issue them citations but they better watch what they say. Certain Road signs can Cost you dearly by de Reavis staff writer americans beware a word or gesture issued in anger can be a costly experience in Germany the extended Middle Finger so much a part of daily life in the states May get you hauled int court. One German Driver who displayed the digit disdainfully ended up being fined More than $4,000. Other insults and gestures can be equally hazardous to one s Bank account. Think twice before you angrily make a Circle with a thumb and forefinger or touch an Index Finger to your forehead or comment on someone s in. Quot one should be particularly cautious about insulting the police Quot warns Peter. Sandl a lawyer for the automobile club of Germany. Quot they Are More Likely to take you to court than other Sandl said anyone who feels offended by the words or actions of others should have a witness if he or she intends to seek court action. Quot even your wife or Girlfriend can be a Wilness. The court tries to evaluate their credibility during the hearings Quot Sandl said. A. Adar the automobile club has reported that a motorcyclist in Munich paid a Fine of 1,200 Marks about $000 for telling a police officer who gave him expensive insults mocking a stranger especially a policeman can be. A costly Endeavor. Hera Are some recent fines imposed by German couns. Offending gesture extending Middle Finger tapping forehead passing hand before eyes making Circle with Thum b and Index Finger verbal insult a dumb cow a a slut Quot you Jerk off Quot Quot the Sun must have melted your brain Quot Quot you idiots belong in an insane asylums a Quot idiots in uniform Quot addressing a policeman in the info mar do Quot Quot idiot Quot victim Fine another Driver $1,450 policeman 990 policeman 1,320 a another Driver 890 policeman 590 female Driver 100 policeman 1,320 policeman 790 policemen 1,975 policemen 1,975 policeman 790 another Driver 330 making Circle with thumb and Index linger is considered an insult in Germany and can Cost a Driver in court source adar. A ticket that he must be suffering brain damage from too much Sun. Another Munich Driver paid 3,000 Marks $2,000 for telling a policeman he was an idiot and in need of psychiatric treatment. A Volkswagen bus Driver paid 7,200 Marks for Quot flipping the Bird Quot at another Driver on the Highway near Recklin Hausen in the Ruhr Valley area. The court said it w As being particularly Tough on the Driver because he had been cited several times previously for the same offence. Sandl said there Are great regional a. V a is amps differences in insults. Quot for example the everyday language Here in Bavaria is quite a bit More earthy than in Northern Germany Quot he said. Quot the words you old idiot passes Here As a mild censure a up North it s a deadly . And an insult in Germany can be a compliment elsewhere. A in Germany if someone glares at you and forms a Circle with the thumb and Index Finger you can assume you Are being unfavourably compared to a certain aperture on the human derriere. In fance or Italy How Ever the gesture signifies excellence. Closer look driven crazy beware of fellow motorists by Frank Kastner Deutsche Presse Agenter if you think you encountered some strange Drivers on the Road during the past year consider these curious mishaps recorded by european police in 1994 a it was just a routine trip for two German Navy pilots who flew an injured person to a clinic in Mogadishu Somalia and parked their Rescue helicopter outside. They checked the patient in and returned to find a ticket under the Windshield wiper issued by . Military police for parking in a no parking zone. The Good news they said was at least the Craft had not been booted or towed away. A police in Offenbach Germany spotted an 11-year-old who was driving his father s car and refused to Stop for traffic lights or police car sirens. After tearing through the Center of town ignoring one Way s Igns violating pedestrian zones and grazing a parked vehicle in a narrow Street crossing the boy abandoned the car and ran until police caught up with him. As police listened in amazement the boy explained that he had just dropped off his younger brother at the bus station and was on his Way Home. A an 89-year-old Retiree driving on the autobahn Between Wurzburg and Frankfurt Germany pulled up at the curb stopped another car and asked for directions to Klagenfurt Austria. Upon receiving them he got Back in his car made a a turn and proceeded to drive South on the northbound Side of the Highway a in the fast Lane. He did t even notice an. Oncoming car that overturned while avoiding him. Police were Able to Stop him before anything worse could happen. A a Lovesick 12-year-old in Leeds England decided to borrow his fathers car to visit his Girlfriend in Plymouth 300 Miles away. All he said on the note he left behind was a i love Phillipa. In be got to see after covering More than 90 Miles on the Highway the boy lost control of the car which swerved off the Road and landed in a ditch just Short of a Gas station. While the boy suffered Only bruises his father got a repair Bill of 1 $4,000. A it was to be a Short fishing trip to a Lake 60 Miles away for a Man and his grandson in sundsvall in Central Sweden. But the 72-year-old Retiree and the 16-year-old youth got a Quot Little lost on the Way Back and ended up at the Arctic Circle after three Days of trying to find their Way Back the two were found in a ditch on a Street near Birkenes in Northern Sweden 960 Miles from their destination. A a 41-year-old Man in the Hague Netherlands was arrested for Drunken driving and his blood test showed 5.1 parts per thousand of alcohol a the highest level of alcohol Ever measured in a Driver in the Netherlands police said. Quot if a person unused to alcohol drank that much he d go into a coma immediately Quot a stunned doctor said. Scripps Howard news Sorivi Quot wednesday january 18,1995 the stars and stripe5 15
