European cars hardly ever has clutch interlock switches. The first use on Volvos was on '99 model 70 series and this is not switched on in the models for markets other than North America.

In Europe it is law that you move a disabled car out of roadway and also law that other motorists assist you if needed. The streets are narrow in many of the cities and villages, due to their age, and the fact that the citizenry is so unreasonable as to protest the destruction of these 400+ year old buildings to allow wider roads :).

The starter working w/o depressing the clutch allows you to slip it in gear and motor it out of road with starter. They also don't have a per capita barrister rate as do we.

There is also far less use of warning signs for everything in Europe.

I stayed in a swanky hotel in Gothenburg that had an elevator that only had doors on the walls. The elevator car was open fronted, as the car went up or down, the wall in front of you was moving (it was a brick wall).

Can you imagine the number of dead and maimed persons we would have with such an elevator style in the US?