It is a lot slower driving through Darmstadt, Germany, than it is driving through Seattle, Washington. One of the reasons I see is the bad road conditions. The small roads in Darmstadt have a lot of bumps and holes in them, so I tend to drive under 30mph to avoid damaging my car. Because there is a lack of large parking garages many people in Darmstadt park wherever they feel like. Even on small narrow roads people park on the side, which makes it very difficult for me, because I must stop a lot of times to allow oncoming traffic to pass. The final reason and probably the biggest reason is the traffic light system. Most of the traffic lights in Darmstadt are on a timer and not a motion sensor. So as I approach a red traffic light I must wait for the timer to change the light to green, because of this I sit here looking at an empty intersection. Also Darmstadt as no turn-right-on-red law. At the next intersection I intend to turn right, but because the light is red I must wait for it to turn green. Driving in Seattle is much different, the wider and smoother roads let me drive the speed limits, without the fear of damaging my car. In Seattle, people park in parking garages this keeps the roads open and wide, which allows traffic to flow smoothly in both directions. In Seattle the traffic lights have motion sensors, this is good because until a car actives the sensor the light will stay red and will not interrupt the main flow of traffic on the road. Finally, Seattle has the turn-right-on-red law, which means if I want to turn right I could do so on a red light, this is a good time saver. So just by comparing these little differences you can see the traffic flows a lot better in Seattle, than it does in Darmstadt....
