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Helping is not optional
Germany is one of a number of countries where failing to help at an accident is a criminal offense. Paragraph 323c of the Strafgesetzbuch covers unterlassene Hilfeleistung — failure to render assistance — and carries up to a year in prison for anyone who walks past an emergency they could reasonably have helped with. Nobody expects medical skill: calling 112 and staying until help arrives is enough to discharge the duty, and someone who helps in good faith cannot be sued if it goes wrong. This sits alongside a second habit. Every German driving license requires a first-aid course, so a large share of the adult population has at some point been taught to check breathing and put someone in the recovery position. A third thing you may witness on the Autobahn: when traffic stops, drivers pull to the outer edges to form a Rettungsgasse, a rescue lane down the middle, and they do it immediately and without being asked. Blocking it is heavily fined. The overall effect is that an emergency in Germany tends to draw competent strangers rather than spectators.