As a foreigner living here in Germany, I have been continually surprised by the level of regulation that is in place here.

I am often doubly surprised when I realise that nearly every single piece of legislation I've come across actually seems to make sense, when someone takes the time to explain it to me.

I personally think that the regulation of public transport is a good thing. The fact that people are insured when they transport me around in a 1 tonne potential deathtrap is a good thing.

The last thing I want to hear when I wake up in hospital gravely injured is "sorry sir, you'll have to sign here to accept liability because the driver of your unlicensed taxi wasn't insured to transport paying passengers".

This isn't a black and white picture though. Couch surfing is very popular in Germany, and the recent rail deregulation allowed for a whole industry of long distance buses to create. But Germans put the law above everything else, as to keep politics, power and everything from derailing like they did in the 20th century.