[Dennis Kalma]

Ditto on the autobahn safety, spent a lot of time there and I feel much safer at 220 kmh there than I ever do in Canada.

One interesting story, family was off to Austria for vacation, I was driving, cruising along at about 200 kmh, both kids and wife sound asleep.

...I got passed by a hearse and funeral procession....had to wake the wife up and point it out. I truly hope to this day that it was just some joker and his friends tooling around for fun, hate to think that it was for real!

Anyway, I am growing to believe that the speeds achieved there are impossible in North America....the roads are designed poorly, the cars are not built for it, the drivers have rotten training and can better be described as "steerers" than drivers, and they are too distracted by everything else, including their coffee, their cell phones, or their riding mates.

As it was described to me by a European policeman - driving is an activity that can easily kill you, treat it with that level of respect and attention - and that sentiment is certainly not believed over here.

Dennis