We Germans really don't care that much about the law and the catch is: we don't have to! The police in Germany is not as powerful as the American police. The law is just not that enforced. You can run over a stop sign as often as you want without getting a ticket, but if you crash into a car, you will be charged. Often, you only have to pay if something happens. An exception would be the speeding tickets. You can get them for just going to fast, but here is another ridiculous issue: The police must have a proof of you going too fast. They can just pull you over and say: "You were going too fast!". No, they need to have a picture of you taken by a "star box" (nickname) and your license plate must be readable. But believe me: If you are going 130 miles per hour, the machine that takes the picture is too slow and the police can't recognize your license plate. So you will get away...

Many Americans think it's amazing: You are allowed to drink beer, wine, or other beverages with an alcohol content of less than 16 percent when you are only 16 years old or older. The law says, if you want to drink drinks that have more than 16 percent alcohol in it, you have to be at least 18 years old. But believe me again: Nobody cares. If you go to a private liquor store, they will sell you the alcohol if you look like a 12-year old because they need the money to run the store. And the police doesn't check store for obeying these laws.
When drinking a beer in the public, you don't have to hide it with one of those bottle covers. I don't see the point of this American law because if somebody holds a hidden bottle in his hand, you automatically know what he/she is drinking...

Another laws that is even more disobeyed by children than the drinking ages. By the law, you are allowed to smoke if you are at least 16 years old. But there are cigarette machines placed at almost every second intersection. And a machine can't card you. Fortunately, many young children cannot afford to buy cigarettes because a pack is about 4 dollars in Germany. The tobacco tax is really high.

In America, people are charged with really high penalties plus court costs and everything. In Germany, a ticket for littering would be about 10 dollars. That's it. An example would be dropping an empty cigarette pack. If you dump large amounts of trash somewhere into the countryside, the amount would be increase of course. A speeding ticket for going 10 miles too fast is about 15 dollars as well as a ticket for parking in the wrong place.

It is true that there is no speed limit for cars on German interstates and people who have really fast cars enjoy this. But again, if you crash and injure somebody else, you will be charged.

The death penalty was abolished a long time ago.