“Foreign visitors frequently wonder why crowds of Germans wait for traffic lights to turn green when there are no cars in sight.”
Because Germans follow rules. In return for following the rules, though, Germany is the sort of place where they allow driving at unlimited speeds on the highway (well, some parts of some highways, anyway). Or where you can show up at a very dangerous racetrack and take your personal car around it, as fast as you like - taking all risk and expenses occurred on yourself. There are other examples of this different approach to freedom and responsibility.
I remember driving some German guys back to their hotel in Dartmouth, NS, after the Shearwater air show post-show party, some years back. It was like 3 in the morning, so when I came to an intersection with a red light and absolutely nothing coming, I said “screw it” and pulled right on through. They were aghast, LOL.