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Take This Car and Park It

Yes, you should be prepared to get a lot of articles about Germany from me. What else am I going to write about while I’m living here? Think of it as a way of understand the Land and the People that lovingly built your Porsche, although technically I’m in Bavaria, the land of BMWs and Audis, but let’s not dwell on that.

What’s so different about living in Germany, you may ask (or not). First of all, it’s my opinion that the United States is the most convenient country to live. Think about all of the conveniences we have there - drive-in banking, 24-hour stores and 100-theatre cinemaplexes. And if we’re not the country that invented the cup holder, I’m pretty sure we lead the world in cup holder technology. Heck, we don’t even have to lick our own stamps anymore.

But the one convenience that I miss the most has to be parking. You may not think about much about parking in America. And especially during this time of the year, you may not consider parking to be convenient as you try to find a spot at your local mall that’s in the same time zone as the store you’re trying to go to. So as you drive up and down your wide parking lanes, let me tell you about parking in Germany.

Parking garages do exist in the most German cities, although they generally tend to be full whenever you need them. The parking spaces themselves are very small. How small, you ask? Cars the size of Escorts and smaller, parked side by side, cannot open their doors all the way. If a car is even slightly misaligned in a parking spot, chances are you will have to let your passenger out before parking the car, or they won’t be able to open the door.

If you park on the city streets, then you’re parallel parking. And the parking here is also tight. The way we parallel park in the Detroit area, Germans can probably park a car in the gap we leave ourselves. (On my website at www.emansworld.com/lefty.html where this article can also be found, I have a picture of a Mercedes that probably has a foot of space ahead and behind it. It parked behind my car, and then got out again with only this much room.)

Parallel Lines
How this car (see arrow) got in AND out, I’ll never know.

While you’re trying to park, think of all the traffic, both cars and bicycles, that is all around you. And although many people here park illegally, I would recommend thinking twice before you do. The “blue jackets,” or parking police, are all over the place. Where the police in America use speeding tickets to generate revenue, they use parking tickets here to do the same.

In the urban sprawl that’s called Detroit, parking is probably the last thing you think of as you drive to the mall or the grocery store. However, don’t forget that there are those less fortunate than you around the world who may not even have a garage to park at night. Think about that next time you park your Excursion or Suburban at the mall this shopping season.

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(The BahnStormer is the official newsletter of the Rally Sport Region (Detroit area) of the Porsche Club of America. You can contact the editor at .)

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November 2000

Take This Car and Park It