I received a lot of amused reactions to my last column on life in the American suburb - both from Germans who lived in the US for longer and from Americans themselves. A few readers, however, were of the opinion that I was the American soul did not understand and felt hurt.

Of course I don't want that.

So let's start with the things that make driving a car in America enjoyable:

Tatjana Heid

Editor on duty at FAZ.NET.

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The streets are big and wide.

There is no nerve-racking meandering through old town alleys here.

If this country has one, it's place.

There is ample parking space.

In the beginning I left 20 minutes earlier before each appointment, as in Frankfurt and Berlin I had factored in the search for a parking space.

That was completely unnecessary, I waited all the time.

The cute "All way" stop signs, which give the right of way to whoever came first, mean that you have to take better care of each other.

And nobody waits too long at an intersection.

But!

There are things that are annoying.

1. Turn right at the red traffic light

The intersections are completely confusing. That's because they're huge, especially in the city center. Cars are also allowed to turn right, even if they are actually red. Of course, this is only possible when there is no traffic. At least in theory. In practice, you always have to expect that someone will come out of the cross street and have to brake suddenly. The only good thing is that Americans tend to be patient drivers compared to us Germans. During the many times I've blocked the right-turn lane for an extended period of red, I've only been honked twice.  

By the way, this idiosyncratic red rule is no fun for pedestrians either.

There are actually signs on traffic lights that ask you to make eye contact with the driver before crossing the street so that he doesn't suddenly drive off and rivet you down.

It was almost time for me once.

Only a big jump back on the curb saved me.

It wouldn't have been a pleasant thing, the hood of the car came up to my shoulder.

2. Gas stations!

I don't think I ever refueled without problems. There was always something. In America you pay before you refuel, at the tap and by credit card. The German credit cards are mostly only accepted by the international chains. So you have to go in and pay there in advance. Which leads to the inevitable question: “How much do you want?” The answer “one tank of fuel” doesn't help, the cashier needs an amount. So you do the math. The prices are in dollars, the volume in gallons and the size of the tank in my head when I rent a car in liters. Usually I rolled away with a tank three-quarters full. Once only with a quarter, but the tap was broken. Happened to me a total of four times. Once I almost paid twicebecause my credit card was also registered on a defective tap. The gas station attendant, a patient, white-haired man, was completely at a loss. To apologize, he refueled my car. Fully.

3. Highways !!