Continental Europe's Traffic System

Dear continental Europe,

Let’s talk about your traffic system. So, you drive on the right. That’s a bit weird, but I can deal with it. I’ve been here long enough to know everyone here thinks driving on the left is the ‘wrong’ side of the road. ‘Right is right’ or ‘Recht ist Recht’, as they say. You have a lot of cycle paths. I am a fan of this, though I am intrigued as to what came first- the thousands of people who own bikes and use them as their main form of transport, or the facilities (cycle paths, bike racks and so on) that enable them to do so easily?
Pedestrians are not allowed to cross the road while the Ampelmann* is on red. I’m sure this makes a lot of sense, and as the punishment is a hefty fine or maybe even a jail sentence, it explains why everyone stays glued to the kerb till the Ampelmann turns green, even when there is no traffic in sight or earshot. Just a tip, it does make you appear quite odd to foreigners. Though I suppose when the foreigners get arrested or run over, they might stop laughing at your system.
I do have a question though: If pedestrians aren’t allowed to go when the signal for cars is on green, why are cars allowed to go when the pedestrian light is on green? Maybe you have a different system of physics laws operating here, but I’m fairly certain that if you get hit by something coming from the right, it will still hurt just as much as being hit from the left. So why are vehicles allowed to turn right onto a road even when pedestrians are crossing legally at a crossing?! I know there is sometimes a flashing light alerting drivers to be careful at the crossing, and that pedestrians have right of way, but a big truck and a small person being allowed to cross the same part of road at the same time sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.
Speaking of which, I couldn’t help noticing that some pedestrian crossings seem to beep (and by beep I mean click) when the light is on red, and others seem to beep when it’s on green. Surely that’s just going to get messy? Maybe that’s just Stralsund, or maybe the clicking is caused by the traffic light’s inner workings, and just means that it’s running, but it’s still slightly alarming. On a similar note, I have to say it is a very interesting technique that you use at night, turning off ALL the traffic lights. I’m sure the polar bears will be very happy about all the energy that is presumably being saved, but I can’t help wondering if it’s really a good idea.
Just thought I'd raise my concerns, though I'm sure you have it all under control.
Yours sincerely,

Hazel
A slightly confused exchange student


*Excuse my random insertion of German words, I appear to have forgotten the English word for the man on the traffic lights… I’m sure that’s not a good thing- this year is meant to improve my German, not damage my English!