The previous poster's mention of bicycles reminded me of something else...:

When you do a left or right turn into a road you have to give way to pedestrians and cyclists crossing that road. Always look over your shoulder before doing a right turn to look out for cyclists or pedestrians coming up behind and crossing your path.

And I don't think you're going to avoid 99% of cyclists in the winter. True, there are fewer cyclists about (you'll avoid the leisure cyclists) but there are many many MANY people in Germany who use cycling as their primary mode of transport and who cycle to work or school all year.