Absolutely, this. Also, different standards when it comes to warnings. Munich has a park with a nice "lazy river" style creek, which at some point downstream h

Absolutely, this. Also, different standards when it comes to warnings. Munich has a park with a nice "lazy river" style creek, which at some point downstream has a dangerous "artificial wave". It's perfectly safe under two conditions: You can swim, and you get out before it reaches the dangerous part. The best entrances to that creek and its pools, far from the dangerous part, where you will find dozens of people swimming, are marked with signs saying "DANGER TO LIFE. SWIMMING FORBIDDEN", complete with skulls and everything. Meanwhile, the US is considered, perhaps unjustifiedly, as a country full of meaningless, exaggerated warnings. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to natural dangers. Combine being used to the European level of excessive caution around nature, with the reputation the US has for exaggerated warnings, with the reality that nature-related warning signs in the US tend to not exaggerate, and you get dead people. Imagine seeing a sign "Dangerous. Do not attempt to follow this abandoned trail" - no absolute prohibition, just a soft recommendation, not even "DANGER TO LIFE" just "dangerous" - with this background, and you can see why "Germans die in {death valley, yellowstone, ...}" is such a thing.