Word of the Day

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

They're the bane of every driver suffering from Bleifuß: speed traps. In Berlin these are usually mobile units on tripods, manned by a couple of policepersons and set up at random locations throughout the city to keep drivers on their toes, or at least with their toes hovering over the brake pedal.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Bleifuß - "lead foot" (that's "lead" in the sense of the heavy, poisonous metal) sounds like a terrible thing to be afflicted by. It's certainly common amongst Germany's drivers, who usually suffer from it in their right foot, which causes it to fall heavily onto the accelerator (gas pedal) and drive at high speeds.