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Basically, what you heard about this driver's paradise is true - whenever you don't see a speed limit posted and whenever "weather and traffic conditions permit" (who'll be the judge...) you can make your pedal hit the metal.

Unless, of course, there is yet another traffic jam. These are very frequent, partly due to lots of traffic (duh!) and partly to lots of ongoing construction and maintenance. (Hint: If you notice you're getting to the rear of a "Stau", briefly turn on your emergency flashers to warn people driving behind you.)

Typically, the physical road condition of German Autobahns is excellent, compared to some parts of US interstates. Most cases for which this is not true can be found in the former German Democratic Republic, where some Autobahns are still in the bad condition the socialist government left them in.

There are a couple of rules that may seem new to you and that you ought to obey - even though you will always see people who don't. You don't want to be considered a bad driver, do you? So here's the deal: Do not pass on the right. Even though you may have been practicing this for years: Germans haven't and might be caught off guard - causing a possible accident or at least a "finger".

Same goes for flashing your headlights at people that are blocking the left lane passing. People can get really annoyed by that and might be going even slower just to show you they can.

The next smaller street is the "Bundesstraße", or federal road. Some of these look quite similar to an Autobahn, but usually the speed limit is no higher than 130 km/h (81 mph) and often, you will face stop lights or intersecting streets. Note: Unless you're on an Autobahn or a federal road with a posted higher speed limit, you are not allowed to drive faster than 100 km/h (62 mph) outside city limits.

Okay, moving off the highway into the city. Speed limit here is 50 km/h (around 31 miles an hour, but the Autobahn ought to make up for that, right?). A very German thing are the "30-zones". While basically similar to the US school zones, they are usually located in any residential areas and around schools as well as hospitals, senior citizen centers etc. The whole street or block has a 30 km/ h limit (18 mph), usually enforced by radars and/or speed bumps.

Up next: Parking. It's a mess, really. Germany city centers are usually older than the car as a mass transportation device. So nobody thought of building wide streets with lots of parking space in earlier times. Unless you're willing to pay fees up to 3 Euro an hour for parking your car in a Parkhaus (above ground garages) or Tiefgarage (underground garages), you have to set out for street parking, which usually not only costs a lot too but is also hard to find. So for your Saturday shopping experience - or in bigger cities generally for every downtown trip - you might be better off using the public transportation system - usually available in every city with a population of 30 000+ and a decent city center.

Germans are big on signs and regulations. Among other great traffic ideas, they came up with the "Rechts Vor Links" (Right before Left)-rule. Whenever you see an unmarked intersection or a triangular sign marked with a black x, watch out - the car coming from the street to your right, however small and unimportant both may seem - has the right of way. This is especially important to consider at T-intersections. Unlike in the US, the trough-traffic does NOT have the right of way automatically.

You should also be aware of this: It may take Germans forever to construct a sentence - but they are really fast when it comes to a green light. The time span between when the light turns green and when the guy behind you starts honking his horn because you didn't go fast enough is shorter than anything you have ever experienced. By the way, you might be irritated noticing that the Germans put their stop lights on "your side" of the road and not on the opposite side or hanging right above the intersection. Nobody knows why - so don't ask...

Also important considering stop lights: Do NOT turn right on red unless there is a sign with a green arrow allowing you to do so.

A few more things to note:

• The minimum legal driving age is 18. So you can get drunk off our famous beer for two years before you are even allowed to drive. There are exceptions, but going into details probably wouldn't help you a lot, so I won't.

• Germany has a nationwide requirement for all passengers to wear seatbelts at all times - hardly any exceptions and quite strictly enforced. So go ahead and buckle up - why wouldn't you anyways?

• Speaking of a nationwide requirement - the same is true for the use of cell phones. You may only use them when your car is parked off the street and your engine turned off. Otherwise, a tough fine awaits you.

• This will turn out even higher when you are caught drinking. In Germany, the legal blood alcohol level is .05, so in most cases it is safer to use public transportation or a cab when you had some of the famous beer (did I ever mention that?).

To finish up this chapter, an explanation about German license plates. These are not as vital to your survival in the traffic jungle, but might still be interesting to know.

German license plates (there is no interstate difference as in the US) are usually constructed as follows: X(XX)-X(X)-X(XXX). The first block will represent your city or county/district. For example, people in Cologne will get a K (Köln), people in the Hochsauerland-County HSK. The next letter(s) are either picked by you (extra charge) or randomly assigned by the German city's or county's DMV, same for the final 1 to 4 numbers.

The only letters you cannot get in second place are the Nazi combinations KZ, SS and SA. In some cities, other combinations are blocked as well, for example Dortmund reserved all DO-DS plates for their city's department of works, Dortmunder Stadtwerke. Many people still use these, compared to the US, very limited possibilities to form their own vanity plates (DO-PE or BI-ER, taking your initials and your birthday is quite popular - my plate says DO-CZ-228).

By the way and due to popular inquiry: Yes, we do indeed drive on the right! :-)