It’s hard to escape cigarette smoke anywhere you go in Berlin; people seem to light up in every possible moment and situation. (Statistics show that about one-third of Germans smoke, compared with about 21 percent of Americans.) Smoking packages have the same dramatic warnings on them as in the U.S., but seemingly to little effect. Even the well-educated young professionals I have met here, almost without exception, smoke at least occasionally. Price may be one factor–a pack here goes for about four Euros, making them a little cheaper than in the U.S. compared with other items.
But more generally, Germans seem far less health- and safety-conscious than Americans. Somehow I didn’t expect this, given the Germans’ generally well-earned reputation for being obsessed with social order. But it turns out that there is little correlation, or at least a complicated relationship, between social order and individual risk. It seems that people here generally take risks to the extent allowed by law or convention.
For example, the lack of speed limits on the German autobahn is famous. On some stretches people can drive as fast as their cars allow – and they do. One of my language teachers told us about a terrible accident that killed a mother and her two children who were driving on the autobahn and were rear-ended by a professional “test-driver” testing out a new model sports car. (Can you imagine Ford testing how fast a new Mustang could go on an Interstate highway?)
Or take bicycle helmet-wearing; it’s not required here, and I have seen only a handful of people wearing helmets (among thousands and thousands of cyclists) since coming here. I even saw a man riding with three small girls precariously balanced on his bicycle in the middle of a commercial street, and not one of the girls (or the man) wore a helmet.
On the other hand, almost no pedestrians here in Berlin cross against the light, even when no cars are coming in either direction. According to a book I am reading on German culture, such behavior arises largely from the widespread respect for the law and social order. But when there is no law or rule against something, it seems, people gladly take sizable risks with their lives.
On July 1, a six-month grace period ends on a new law prohibiting smoking in Berlin’s bars and restaurants. This will mean a clash between the Germans’ strict adherence to the law and their thorough devotion to smoking. People I’ve talked to say that they expect the law will be generally ignored and seldom enforced. But I hope the lack of enforcement won’t keep Germans from following the law. After all, people said the New York smoking ban would fail, and the law turned out to be a great success. I’m hoping for a similar outcome here.
