The laws that govern Germany are numerous (and some say onerous), be they in the tax filing department or in the getting rid of garden trash department. Though not as litigious as the US, friends have told me about complaints that are nothing more than "You broke a rule. It does not affect me at all but I am going to do something about it simply because I can"

Yesterday I go into a bicycle accident. A car cut right in front of me and I could do nothing other than barrel right into it. Thankfully, the damage to me was not too serious. No broken bones. Only my left shoulder, which took the brunt of the impact, is immobile in certain directions.

What it did introduce me to was the myriad of rules that govern fault and health insurance claims in such situations. The police were called and an ambulance arrived shortly thereafter. I was asked around ten times whether I was wearing a bike helmet (thankfully, I was)

At the moment, the fault lies with the driver (which means points on his license, which can result in the revoking of his kicense if he has too many points, a fine possibly, and higher car insurance rates) but all that could have easily changed
if
1. I was not wearing a bike helmet: It does not matter if my injuries were head related or not. Not wearing a bike helmet somehow negates a lot of claims.
2. I was not biking on a marked bike path: Especially if there was a marked bike path that I should've been using. In response to the oil crisis in the late 70s, Germany built bike paths all over the country to encourage ridership. I guess regualting the ridership went along with that
3. If I had been listening to music while biking: that is a big non-no
4. If I had had a drink beforehand: a big big no-no-no

In the event the fault would have been mine, there is insurance one can buy to cover such situations (or at least that is how the insurance is sold) I wish I could remember what it was called.

Onto the health insurance side of things
1. In general, people are covered through the government insurance plan, meaning I hand my insurance card over when I go to the doctor/hospital and that's the last I hear about it. However, I am on private insurance meaning that I will be billed for it and then need to claim a reimbursement (which is generally straight forward)
2. Unless I am no my way to or from work in which case the employer is responsible for covering the costs of any accident
3. Plus there is something called Schmerzensgeld (literally pain-money) which one can apply for to cover pain.
4. I am sure there are other things as well that I have yet to hear of.

For all the stereotypes of Germans being cold and reserved (which is not entirely unwarranted), they can be the exact opposite. After the accident, two strangers pulled over to make sure I was ok and offered their phone numbers to give to the police if the police wanted an eyewitness. The accident happened directly in front a bakery and the women who worked there came out to help me. The police and ambulance were called. I was too dazed and confused and the adrenaline was just shooting right through me right after it happened to really register who was helping and what was actually going on.

The accident happened right here:

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If you are in the area, one of the nicest (and totally local) beer gardens right on the lake can be found here:

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Plus the Thai takeway up the road isn't too bad either (go for the daily menu)

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