I have relatives there, and as a truck driver I go frequently to Switzerland. I am Hungarian, I got used to the need to bend some rules sometimes in order to keep things going. We had to in the last thousand years. Forget it there.

A couple of years ago I went to a company to load. I was told, it is too late, they can load me the next morning. I can park and sleep in the truck’s cabin on the premises and at 7 am I can load. No problem. It was around October, early November, I had to use the cabin heating at night. The next morning the battery level was low. Since it was already 6:30 I thought it did no harm to start the engine to charge the batteries. I was fully aware that the Swiss people are very sensitive to noises, but it was not night anymore. Buses run on the street, kids on the way to school, pedestrians on the sidewalk etc. The engine was running for 5 minutes when the chief of the loading company ran to me breathless, and told me to stop the engine at once. ‘But why? It is 7 o’clock already, and I need to charge my battery’ I said. ‘I don’t care, just kill the engine right now!’ – hissed the guy. He explained there were many complaints in the past. There are houses nearby, and the people call the police if they hear any disturbing noises, such as diesel engines. The guy was literally begging to me to stop the engine, otherwise within ten minutes the police was going to be there. Crazy.

But the same goes with toilet flushing at night, the neighbours call the police if they think your car’s tyre is too worn out and things.

As a driver if you make some small mistake, there is no mercy. Do not even think of speeding, phoning during driving, parking illegaly etc.

OK, I fully understand the rules are for us. We live in a society not in the jungle. But the Swiss way is simply too much for me. Recently I got a job offer to work there, as a trucker, but no way. It is enough to me to go there once or twice a month.

Jacob Gibbs on Quora